Older Americans Act Amendments of 1984

(Conference report filed in House, H. Rept. 98-1037)

Older Americans Act Amendments of 1984 - Title I: Objectives and Definitions - Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to declare as objectives of such Act that our older people should: (1) have available a comprehensive array of community-based, long-term care services adequate to appropriately sustain them in their communities and in their homes; (2) participate fully in the planning and operation of community-based services and programs provided for their benefit; and (3) receive community services which place emphasis on maintaining a continuum of care for the vulnerable elderly.

Title II: Amendments Regarding the Administration on Aging - Specifies that there is a direct reporting relationship between the Commissioner on Aging and the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Directs the Administration on Aging (the Administration) to consult with national organizations representing minorities to develop and disseminate training packages and to provide technical assistance efforts designed to assist State and area agencies in providing services to older individuals with the greatest economic or social needs. Requires the Commissioner of the Administration to develop linkages with utilization and quality control peer review organizations under the Social Security Act in order to insure the development of community alternatives.

Increases the number of programs related to the purposes of the Act, for purposes of Federal agency cooperation.

Revises provisions relating to the appointment of members to the Federal Council on Aging. Authorizes appropriations for the Council for FY 1985, 1986, and 1987.

Directs the Secretary of the Health and Human Services, within a specified time period after the enactment of this Act, to issue regulations for the administration of the Act.

Prohibits the Secretary from making grants or contracts for training, research, and discretionary projects and programs under the Act until general standards have been developed and published for evaluating such projects and programs. Reduces the amount the Secretary is authorized to use for program and project evaluations from one percent of the funds appropriated under the Act or $1,000,000, whichever is greater, to one-tenth of one percent or $300,000, whichever is lower.

Requires the Commissioner of the Administration on Aging, within two years after the enactment of this Act, to prepare and submit to Congress a report on the extent to which the need for services for the prevention of the abuse of individuals is unmet.

Requires the Commissioner to make use of uniform service definitions to the extent that such definitions are available in order to reduce paperwork.

Title III: Grants for Programs on Aging - Deletes references to local agencies and substitutes the term "area agencies."

Defines the term: (1) "older individual" as any individual who is 60 or older; (2) "multipurpose senior center" to mean a community facility for the organization and provision of a broad spectrum of services, which shall include, but not be limited to, provision of health, social, nutritional and educational services and the provision of facilities for recreational activities for older individuals; and (3) " focal point" to mean a facility established to encourage the maximum collocation and coordination of services for older individuals.

Authorizes appropriations for FY 1985, 1986, and 1987 for grants for: (1) supportive services and senior centers; (2) congregate nutrition services; and (3) home delivered nutrition services.

Requires each State agency on aging to provide assurances that it will give particular attention in providing services to low-income minority older individuals.

Requires a State agency, whenever it designates a new area agency on aging, to give the right of first refusal for area agency designation to a unit of general purpose local government if: (1) the unit can meet the applicable existing requirements; and (2) the boundaries of the unit and the boundaries of the area are reasonably contiguous.

Requires a State, upon publishing its formula for the distribution of funds for aging programs, to include certain information.

Defines the terms "greatest economic need" and "greatest social need."

Requires each area agency on aging to: (1) provide supportive services for families of elderly victims of Alzheimer's disease and other neurological and organic brain disorders of the Alzheimer's type; (2) specify annually in its area plan the amount of funds spent for each category of services in the preceding year; (3) provide assurances that it will give particular attention in providing services to low-income minority older individuals; (4) include minority individuals on the advisory councils which the agencies are required to establish; (5) conduct efforts to facilitate the coordination of community-based, long-term care services designed to retain individuals in their homes, thereby deferring unnecessary, costly institutionalization, and designed to emphasize the development of client-centered care management systems as a component of such services; (6) facilitate the involvement of long-term care providers in the coordination of community-based long-term care services and work to ensure community awareness of and involvement in addressing the needs of residents of long-term care facilities; and (7) identify the public and private nonprofit entities involved in the prevention, identification, and treatment of the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of older individuals, and based on such identification, determine the extent to which the need for appropriate services for such individuals is unmet. Requires an area agency on aging, before it can request a waiver of the requirement that an adequate proportion of its funds must be spent on priority services, to conduct a timely public hearing.

Requires a State's plan under such Act in planning and operating its long-term care ombudsman program to consider the views of area agencies on aging, older individuals, and provider agencies.

Repeals the authority of grant recipients to charge for meals. Permits grant recipients to request voluntary contributions for meals.

Requires a State plan, with respect to services for the prevention of elder abuse, to: (1) contain assurances that any area agency on aging carrying out such services will conduct a program consistent with relevant State law and coordinated with existing adult protective service activities for public education to prevent and identify elder abuse, receipt of reports of elder abuse, and referral of complaints to law enforcement agencies; (2) not permit involuntary or coerced participation in such program of services; and (3) keep confidential all information gathered in the course of receiving reports and making referrals, except in specified situations. Requires a State plan to provide assurances that each State will: (1) provide inservice training opportunities for personnel of agencies and programs funded under the Act; and (2) assign personnel to provide State leadership in developing legal assistance programs for the elderly throughout the State.

Requires each State to provide for the establishment of at least one demonstration project for health and nutrition education to be conducted by one or more area agencies on aging.

Repeals provisions which provide that for the administration of State plans each State will be allotted funds on the basis of its population over age 60. Provides that if for any fiscal year the aggregate amount appropriated for services does not exceed $800,000,000, then the greater of five percent of a State's allotment or $300,000 shall be available to the State for plan administration. Provides that if for any fiscal year the aggregate amount appropriated for services exceeds $800,000,000: (1) then the greater of five percent of a State's allotment or $500,000 shall be available to the State for plan administration; and (2) a State may apply to the Secretary for amounts in addition to those allotted under clause (1). Sets forth special provisions for Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Raises from 20 percent to 30 percent (by FY 1987) the percentage of funds a State may transfer between social services programs and nutrition projects.

Authorizes funds to be appropriated for FY 1985 through 1987 for the surplus commodity program under such Act. Prohibits a State from receiving reimbursement under the surplus commodity program unless the State submits final reimbursement claims for meals within 90 days after the last day of the quarter for which the reimbursement is claimed.

Prohibits State agencies and area agencies on aging from requesting information or data of providers which is not pertinent to services furnished pursuant to the Act or a payment made for such services.

Directs the Commissioner to make grants to States with approved State plans for any of the following supportive services: (1) services for the prevention of elder abuse; (2) inservice training and State leadership for legal assistance activities; (3) health and nutrition education services; (4) services designed to enable mentally impaired older individuals to attain and maintain emotional well-being and independent living through a coordinated system of support services; and (5) counseling regarding appropriate health and life insurance coverage.

Title IV: Training, Research, and Discretionary Programs Related to Aging - Revises provisions of the Older Americans Act of 1965 relating to training, research, and discretionary programs. States that the purpose of such programs is to expand the knowledge and understanding of aging and the aging process, to design and test innovative ideas in programs and services for older individuals, and to help meet the needs for trained personnel in the field of aging. Directs the Commissioner to administer such programs through the Administration on Aging. Directs the Commissioner to make grants and enter into contracts for education and training related to aging in order to: (1) provide comprehensive and coordinated nondegree education, training programs, and curricula at institutions of higher education and at other educational organizations for practitioners in the fields of nutrition, health care, supportive services, housing, and long-term care; (2) provide inservice training opportunities to the personnel of State offices, area agencies, senior centers, and nutrition sites to strengthen their capacity to remain responsive to the needs of older individuals; and (3) provide courses on aging and the dissemination of information about aging. Directs the Office on Aging to conduct both: (1) long-term educational activities to prepare personnel for careers in the field of aging; and (2) short-term inservice training and continuing education activities for State and area agency personnel, and other personnel, in the field of aging.

Requires the Commissioner, in making grants and contracts for education and training discretionary programs related to aging, to: (1) give special consideration to the recruitment and training of persons to care for sufferers of Alzheimer's disease and other neurological and organic brain diseases and providing family respite serivces for such sufferers; and (2) ensure that all personnel training projects include specified information.

Requires multidiscriplinary centers of gerontology to: (1) conduct research and policy analysis and to function as a technical resource for the Commissioner, policy makers, service providers, and Congress; (2) recruit and train personnel; (3) conduct research toward the development of information related to aging; (4) stimulate the incorporation of information on aging into the teaching of biological, behavioral, and social sciences at colleges and universities; (5) develop training programs in the field of aging; (6) serve as a repository of information and knowledge on aging; (7) provide consultation to organizations servicing older individuals under provisions of this Act; and (8) provide data to the Commissioner on projects and activities for which training, research, and discretionary program funds are provided.

Sets forth the purposes of research and development projects under the Older Americans Act of 1965. Directs the Commissioner to select for research assistance those research activities which will, within three years of enactment of this Act: (1) contribute to the establishment and maintenance of a demographic data base which contains information on the population of older individuals; (2) identify the future needs of older individuals; (3) identify the kinds and comprehensiveness of programs required to satisfy such needs; and (4) identify the kinds and number of personnel required to carry out such programs. Authorizes making grants and contracts for demonstration projects for projects designed to meet the supportive services needs of elderly victims of Alzheimer's disease and other neurological and organic brain disorders of the Alzheimer's type and their families.

Requires grants and contracts for long-term care projects to include provisions for the appropriate dissemination of information.

Revises provisions relating to special demonstration projects on legal services for older individuals. Directs the Commissioner to make grants and enter into contracts to: (1) provide a national legal assistance support system of activities to State and area agencies on aging for providing, developing, or supporting legal assistance for older individuals; and (2) support demonstration projects to expand or improve the delivery of legal services to older individuals with social or economic needs.

Authorizes funds to be appropriated for FY 1985 through 1987 for training, research, and discretionary programs under the Older Americans Act of 1965. Directs the Commissioner to: (1) be responsible for the administration, implementation, and making of grants and contracts for such programs; and (2) annually provide a report on the expenditure of funds for such programs.

Title V: Community Service Employment - Amends the Older Americans Community Service Employment Act to: (1) authorize funds to be appropriated for FY 1984 through 1987; (2) increase the number of part-time employment positions provided under such Act; and (3) require a community service employment program project to post in the project workplace and to make available to each person associated with the project a written explanation clarifying the law with respect to allowable and unallowable political activities applicable to the project and to each category of individuals associated with the project. Limits to 13.5 percent of Federal funding for FY 1986 and to 12 percent of Federal funding for FY 1987 and beyond, the amount which shall be available for the costs of administration of a State's older American community service employment program, except that such amount may be increased to 15 percent, if determined necessary by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Authorizes the Secretary to coordinate such employment program with programs of the Job Training Partnership Act, the Community Services Block Grant Act, and the Vocational Education Act of 1984, if the Secretary determines that to do so would increase job opportunities available under the Act. Requires each State receiving funds under the older American community service employment program to report to the Secretary annually concerning the equitable distribution of funds within the State. Directs the Secretary of Labor to: (1) conduct a study to identify additional mechanisms, supplementing the existing program under the Older Americans Community Service Employment Act, to increase community service employment opportunities for eligible individuals; and (2) report to Congress describing the results of such study and proposing draft legislation.

Title VI: Grants for Indians Tribes - Decreases to 60 the number of individuals in a tribe who must have attained age 60 in order for a tribe to be eligible for a grant under the Older Americans Act of 1965.

Authorizes appropriations for FY 1985 through 1987.

Title VII: Personal Health Education and Training Programs for Older Individuals - Adds a new title to the Older Americans Act of 1965 entitled "Older Americans Personal Health, Education and Training." States that such title may be cited as the "Older Americans Personal Health Education and Training Act." Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) establish, within the Administration on Aging, an older Americans personal health education and training program in order to foster and promote the design and implementation of a health education and training program for older Americans who are 60 or older; (2) enter into agreements with public or private institutions of higher education with capability in public health, the medical sciences, psychology, pharmacology, nursing, social work, health education, nutrition, or gerontology, to carry out such Act; (3) pay no more than 90 percent of the cost of any project which is the subject of an agreement; (4) report to Congress and the President concerning the projects; and (5) disseminate to State agencies on aging information relating to such projects. Sets forth requirements a project must meet in order to receive payments. Authorizes the Secretary, with respect to such projects, to use, with their consent, the services, equipment, personnel, and facilities of Federal and other agencies with or without reimbursement.

Authorizes appropriations for FY 1985 through 1987.

Title VIII: Amendments to Other Laws; Effective Dates - Sets forth conforming amendments and effective dates.

Amends the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 to add to the definition of the term "employee." States that such term includes any individual who is a U.S. citizen employed by an employer in a workplace in a foreign country. Provides that the provisions of such Act shall not prohibit the compulsory retirement of any employee between 65 and 70 years of age who, between the two year period immediately before retirement, is employed in a bona fide executive position, if such employee is entitled to an immediate nonforfeitable annual retirement benefit of at least $44,000. (Current law provides that the benefit must be at least $27,000). Provides that if a U.S. employer controls a corporation incorporated in a foreign country, any prohibited practice shall be presumed to be the practice of the employer.