May 1, 2007
Urge Congress To Provide At Least A 10 Percent Increase ($185 Million) For All OAA Programs In The FY 2008 Labor-HHS Education Appropriations Bill
ACTION NEEDED
Today, please contact your Senators and Representative to urge them to:
Provide an increase of at least 10 percent in appropriations ($185 million) for all Older American Act (OAA) programs in the fiscal year 2008 (FY 2008) Labor-HHS Education Appropriations bill.
DEADLINE
Please contact your Senators and Representative as soon as possible but no later than
May 31.
The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.
Too Busy To Write Congress? Let Us Do It For You!
Visit the NASW website and add your name to a draft letter that you can edit and email to your Members of Congress from the advocacy section of the website. The draft email/letter is available at: http://www.congressweb.com/cweb4/index.cfm?orgcode=nasw&hotissue=182
Background
The Older Americans Act (OAA) authorizes programs that deliver human, social and nutritional services for older persons. It provides funding for such critical programs as Meals on Wheels, congregate meals, senior center services, transportation, protection against elder abuse and support for family caregivers. The Congress must now provide adequate funding for the core OAA programs.
There now are over 37 million Americans over the age of 65, 12.4 percent of the U.S. population, and this demographic is growing at a faster rate than any other population group. As the Baby Boom generation retires, the number of older Americans will increase to more than 75 million over the next two decades.
NASW Involvement
When the Older Americans Act was debated last year, NASW provided comments to the sponsors of the bill to include legislative provisions of importance to social work. In addition, as a member of the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations, NASW has advocated for the passage of OAA through hill visits, telephone calls and other advocacy efforts. The Older American Act was signed into law last year. However, additional funding is needed for full implementation of the legislation. Now is the time for your legislators to hear from you regarding the importance of funding for this bill. Please contact your Senators and Representative to increase funding for all existing OAA programs by at least 10 percent in FY08.
If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thanks for your advocacy!
Asua Ofosu, JD, NASW Senior Government Relations Associate
202-336-8237
aofosu@naswdc.org |
