Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Rangel commemorated the 46th anniversary of the Older Americans Act which was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 14, 1965.

“Over the last 46 years, the initiatives created under the Older Americans Act and its amendments have enhanced the lives of millions of elderly Americans,” Rangel said.  “These programs, from Senior Centers to Home-Delivered Meals to the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, allow seniors to be at home instead of moving into institutionalized settings, improving the quality of life for them and their families.”

The Older Americans Act created the Administration on Aging, which provides a national center for key aging initiatives, and authorized funding for 56 state agencies and more than 600 area agencies on aging.

New York has 36 agencies across the state, with New York City's Department of Aging handling the needs of over 1.3 million elderly New Yorkers.

In February, the Republican-controlled House passed a 2011 funding bill that would have cut Administration on Aging programs by $71 million or 5 percent below the 2010 level.  However, President Obama and Congressional Democrats were successful in reducing the cut to 1 percent.

“I urge my colleagues to continue to fight to ensure adequate funding for critical Older American Act programs,” Rangel said.  “In these tough times, we must work to ensure that America’s seniors can live with the dignity and the wellbeing that have worked hard for and deserve.”

The following are some of the critical programs under the Older Americans Act that we celebrate today on its anniversary:

• Supportive Services and Senior Centers:  The supportive services program provides formula grants to states to fund such things as multipurpose senior centers, adult day care, transportation and in-home assistance.
• Transportation Services:  In 2009, funded over 27.5 million rides to doctors’ offices, grocery stores, pharmacies, senior centers, and meal sites.
• Personal Care, Homemaker, and Chore Services: In 2009, funded more than 28.7 million hours of assistance to seniors unable to perform daily activities.
• Adult Day Care/Day Health Services:  In 2009, funded nearly 8 million hours of care for dependent adults in a supervised group setting during some portion of the day.
• Nutrition Services:  The nutrition services program provides meals and related nutrition services to older individuals in a variety of settings including congregate facilities such as senior centers and delivery to the homes of seniors who are homebound due to illness, disability, or geographic isolation.
• Home-Delivered Nutrition Services:  In 2009, provided 149.1 million meals to 880,135 seniors.
• Congregate Nutrition Services:  In 2009, provided 92.5 million meals at senior centers and other congregate facilities to more than 1.7 million seniors.
• Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP):  The Senior Community Service Employment Program provides subsidized worker training in a community services setting for low-income individuals 55 or older who are unemployed. It is intended that community service training serves as a bridge to unsubsidized employment opportunities.
• SCSEP:  In 2009, funded subsidized training for 77,758 seniors.
• Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program:  This program funds Long-Term Care Ombudsmen, who are advocates for residents of nursing homes and other adult care facilities.  They work to resolve problems of individual residents and to encourage changes needed to improve residents’ care and quality of life.
• Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program:  In 2009, ombudsmen visited 81% of all nursing homes and 45% of all board and care, assisted living, and similar homes at least quarterly; also worked to resolve 233,025 complaints of residents.