9. Other features of the bill deserve mention, as well. The requirement that households have access to cooking facilities has dropped from 65 to 60. Reimbursements to volunteers--many of whom are elderly--for expenses incurred will not be counted as income. The more generous assets limit of $3,000 for households of two or more persons, one of whom is over 60, has been retained. The limit for all other households has been increased from $1,500 to $1,750. The law continues to permit the use of food stamps to pay for meals served by private establishments (including restaurants) which contract to offer meals for the elderly at concessional prices, (persons 60 or over and their spouses). The elderly may also purchase meals from authorized home meal delivery services such as Meals on Wheels. Previously only persons who were both elderly and disabled were given this option. We hope this will encourage the development of more meals on wheels services. For persons 60 or over and their spouses, food stamps may be used to purchase meals prepared by and served in senior citizen centers, apartment buildings occupied primarily by such persons, and to residents of Federally subsidized housing for the elderly. Finally, I want to turn back to the subject of outreach. While the new act deletes the requirement that State agencies "insure participation," it specifically directs them to inform households about the availability, eligibility requirements, and benefits of the program, with specific reference to SSI recipients. Again, while this informational outreach is important, I want to stress that outreach in the largest sense means designing a program that is genuinely responsive to the varying needs of its target population. We believe the provisions of the act I've outlined for you go a long way towards this goal. Once it is signed into law, the challenge to us will be to make that law a reality at the local level, where people are served. We appreciate your concern in this matter and will be glad to keep you informed of our progress. In terms of actions the Department of Agriculture plans to implement in order to be more responsive, to the spirit and intent of the Age Discrimination Act: 1. We presently prohibit discrimination by USDA employees on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin in all direct assistance programs and activities (7 C.F.R. 15.50). Using the authority available to all executive department heads in 5 U.S.C. 301, we plan to add an age discrimination prohibition to these regulations. 2. In response to the President's August 26 Memorandum on sex discrimination we are currently conducting a review of all USDA programs to identify regulations, guidelines or policies which result in unequal treatment based on sex. We plan to include age discrimination problems in this review. In terms of recommendations to the Commission regarding the coordination of intergovernmental processes for implementing the Age Discrimination Act, we recommend: 1. Every Federal Agency administering programs subject to the Act assign responsibility for assuring compliance to appropriate staff within the Agency's civil rights office. OMB and Congress should be requested to support additional staffing requests necessary to carry out this function. During the Department's testimony on September 27, questions were raised by the Commission regarding (1) differences in the age used for reporting different USDA programs and (2) availability of selected program data by age. Enclosed are responses to these inquiries from the three USDA agencies referred to in our statement for the record. In general, age requirements for the programs referred to that are administered by the Forest Service and the Farmers Home Administration were established by law. The breakouts for reporting by age in the plans and surveys administered by the Agricultural Research Service were established to provide comparability of data to previous plans established by the National Research Council or to conform to survey requirements established by the Social Security Administration. On related matters, as promised in our testimony, the Secretary has issued orders for a comprehensive review of laws, regulations, guidelines, programs and policies which may result in unequal treatment because of age (copy enclosed). In addition, the Department is preparing to publish notice of intent to add age to the list of prohibited discrimination in its direct assistance programs, 7 CFR 15.51 (copy enclosed). I trust that this is responsive to your requests and interest in the Department of Agriculture's program for implementing the Age Discrimination Act. Please contact my office if we can be of further assistance. Sincerely, JAMES FRAZIER Director Enclosures UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOREST SERVICE WO REPLY TO: 1860 Senior Community Service Employment Program SUBJECT: Inquiry from Civil Rights Commission Hearings on Age TO: James Frazier, Director The following information is provided in response to your letter of 1. 2. Is the age 55 limit in the program established by the law itself or by administrative regulation? The age limitation of 55 years of age or older was established Is information available for the total program participation The following represents age, race, and sex data for the Forest for: Under 55* The Forest Service as of June 30, 1977 had 24 persons JOHN R. MCGUIRE Chief |