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PRESS RELEASE
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
|
| Thursday, October 9, 2003 |
Contact: AoA Press Office
(202) 401-4541 |
The U.S. Administration On Aging Awards $3.6 Million To Support Consumer Protection And Assistance Projects For Older Americans
The Administration on Aging (AoA), part of the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS), awarded grants totaling over
$3.6 million to support consumer protection and assistance projects.
Protecting the rights of older people and preventing their exploitation,
abuse, and neglect is one of AoA’s most important goals.
These new demonstrations and continuing projects will assist
older Americans in the key areas of elder abuse prevention, women
and retirement information, pension information and counseling,
and legal assistance.
“It is clear that we need to do more to protect vulnerable
seniors today and into the future.” said Assistant Secretary
Carbonell. “AoA is committed to preventing all forms of
abuse and to ensuring the rights of older Americans.”
National Center on Elder Abuse
AoA has awarded a cooperative agreement in the amount of $815,250
for a National Center on Elder Abuse. The National Association
of State Units on Aging, in partnership with the American Bar
Association Commission on Law and Aging, the National Association
of Adult Protective Services Administrators, the National Committee
for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, and the University of Delaware,
will carry out the work of NCEA. The project will provide the
public and professionals with information, training and technical
assistance concerning elder abuse trends, policy and legislative
developments, research that impacts on prevention, promising
practices, and key issues for the field. The Center will also
collect and disseminate elder abuse information relevant to rural
and minority seniors and faith-based communities.
Women and Retirement Resource Center
AoA awarded a cooperative agreement in the amount of $248,376
to the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER)
to establish a National Resource Center on Women and Retirement.
The Center will provide up-to-date information to women and their
families, especially low-income women of color and women with
limited English proficiency to build and strengthen their capacity
to plan for their economic security in later life. WISER will
operate the Center as a national clearinghouse for tools and
information on retirement planning and related financial matters.
The Center will also provide technical assistance and consultation
to state and area agencies on aging and other public and nonprofit
private agencies to help implement related programs.
Pension Information and Counseling
The new pension information and counseling demonstrations will
assist older Americans in accessing information about their retirement
benefits and negotiating with former employers for due compensation,
where appropriate. The AoA pension information and counseling
projects are designed to reach out, educate, and promote pension
awareness and protection among older adults.
AoA first funded pension information and counseling projects
in 1992. The success of the original projects resulted in Congress
incorporating the program permanently into the Older Americans
Act. The program now includes two new regional projects, three
on-going projects, and a national training and technical assistance
project.
New pension projects include:
Legal Services for the Elderly New York, NY $149,974
Older Women's League, Gateway Chapter St. Louis, MO $149,614
Pension Rights Center Washington, DC $400,000
The following programs also received awards to continue their
pension projects:
Elder Law of Michigan, Inc. Lansing, MI $150,000
Minnesota Senior Federation St. Paul, MN $150,000
University of Massachusetts-Boston Boston, MA $150,000
Senior Legal Services
Funding for the new senior legal services demonstrations will
strengthen and improve the delivery of critical legal services
to hard-to-reach, frail, socially and economically disadvantaged,
and otherwise at-risk individuals. Legal staff and specially
trained volunteers provide advice on legal questions or problems,
distribute self-help materials, and refer older individuals to
legal aid offices, pro-bono, or reduced-fee private attorneys
who specialize in elder rights protection.
New senior legal services projects include:
Legal Services of Northern California Sacramento, CA $135,000
New Hampshire Legal Assistance Manchester, NH $90,000
Northwest Justice Project Seattle, WA $100,000
SE Louisiana Legal Services Corporation Hammond, LA $95,000
The following programs received funding to continue their projects:
AARP Foundation Programs Washington, DC $100,000
Access to Justice Foundation Lexington, KY $100,000
Connecticut Legal Services, Inc. Middletown, CT $125,000
Elder Law of Michigan, Inc. Lansing, MI $149,711
Idaho Legal Aid Services, Inc. Boise, ID $110,000
Legal Aid Bureau, Inc. Baltimore, MD $125,000
Legal Counsel for the Elderly Washington, DC $110,000
Legal Services for the Elderly, Inc. Augusta, ME $110,000
South Carolina Centers for Equal Justice Greenville, SC $104,040
Note: All HHS
press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are
available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.
| Last Modified: 7/16/2009 9:06:11 AM |
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