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75–462 PDF 2001

S. HRG. 107–145

OUR GREATEST GENERATION:

CONTINUING A LIFETIME OF SERVICE

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING

UNITED STATES SENATE

ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

INDIANAPOLIS, IN

AUGUST 9, 2001

Serial No. 107–12

Printed for the use of the Special Committee on Aging

(

SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING

JOHN B. BREAUX, Louisiana, Chairman

HARRY REID, Nevada

HERB KOHL, Wisconsin

JAMES M. JEFFORDS, Vermont

RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin

RON WYDEN, Oregon

BLANCHE L. LINCOLN, Arkansas

EVAN BAYH, Indiana

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware

DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan

JEAN CARNAHAN, Missouri

LARRY CRAIG, Idaho, Ranking Member

CONRAD BURNS, Montana

RICHARD SHELBY, Alabama

RICK SANTORUM, Pennsylvania

SUSAN COLLINS, Maine

MIKE ENZI, Wyoming

TIM HUTCHINSON, Arkansas

PETER G. FITZGERALD, Illinois

JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada

CHUCK HAGEL, Nebraska

MICHELLE EASTON, Staff Director

LUPE WISSEL, Ranking Member Staff Director

(II)

C O N T E N T S

Page

Opening Statement of Senator Evan Bayh ........................................................... 1

PANEL I

Estella Smith, volunteer, Senior Companion Program, Sponsored by Catholic

Charities and Faith-Based Organizations .......................................................... 6

Ellen Brown, Project Director, Senior Companion Program ................................ 8

Gequetta ‘‘Grandma Jo’’ Littrell, Foster Grandparent Program; accompanied

by Caleb ................................................................................................................ 9

Marilyn Morin, Director, Foster Grandparent Program, Columbus, IN ............. 11

David Knight, volunteer, Retired and Seniors Volunteer Program ..................... 14

Ceil Sperzel, Director, RSVP of South Central Indiana, Interfaith Community

Council, New Albany, IN ..................................................................................... 17

Judge Webster Brewer, volunteer, Big Brothers Program ................................... 21

PANEL II

Alan Solomont, member, Board of Directors, Corporation for National Service;

accompanied by Les Lenkowsky and Tess Scannell, Acting Director, National Senior Service Corps ................................................................................. 24

Marc Freedman, President, Civic Ventures and Author ...................................... 27

Kenneth B. Smith, AARP Board of Directors ........................................................ 30

James L. Perry, Associate Dean and Chancellors’ Professor of Public and

Environmental Affairs, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis . 33

(III)

(1)

OUR GREATEST GENERATION: CONTINUING A

LIFETIME OF SERVICE

THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 2001

U.S. SENATE, SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING, Indianapolis, IN.

The committee met pursuant to notice, at 2:16 p.m., in the Union

Federal Southwest Pavilion, Indiana State Fair Grounds, Indianapolis, IN. Hon. Evan Bayh presiding.

Present: Senator Bayh.

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR EVAN BAYH

Senator BAYH. If I could go ahead and call this special meeting

of the United States Committee on Aging to order and welcome all

of you, I’d like to thank all of you for being here today. I’d like to

think that you’re here because of the importance of the subject

matter and your willingness to share a few thoughts with me. I

also realize this is one of the few air conditioned buildings at the

fair, and I’m sure that has something to do with it as well.

So whatever the cause or the reason, I’m glad you’re with us.

This is an important subject.

It’s the third time I’ve been privileged to have hearings of the

Special Committee on Aging here at the state fair on Senior’s Day,

and it’s a tradition I hope to continue as long as I am privileged

to serve on the committee.

I would like to thank everyone here at the state fair who’s helped

to bring us together and make this facility available starting with

Bill Stinson right on down.

Geneva Shedd has been so helpful. She’s going to serve as a moderator a little bit later on when we get to the question and answer

part of the program.

And I’ve had a good opportunity to see some friends. I saw Mary

Jane Phillippe out there in the audience—there she is—a little bit

earlier when I was here with Susan and the boys.

And by the way, I apologize if I’m looking a little worse for the

wear. I went in and put on a fresh shirt. I was with my two 6-yearold boys out there on the midway, and made the mistake of going

on some of the rides with them after eating lunch. So it was, with

the heat and everything else, suffice it to say, quite an experience.

They’ve got more energy these days than their father it seems. So

in any event, it’s good to be back with all of you.

Just one quick note about last year’s hearing. We were very successful. The testimony that we had submitted here at the hearing

was very convincing to the U.S. Senate. And it’s not very often you

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can see a hearing like this translated into action, but we were fortunate to get a million dollars appropriated for fraud prevention efforts to the TRIADS across the country. We lose $14 billion annually of fraud perpetrated against seniors—let me interrupt here. I have the stars of the family here.

Dear, you want to say hello to everybody?

SUSAN BAYH. Hi.

Senator BAYH. Beau, you want to say hello?

I can’t believe they’ve still got any energy left.

Say good-bye to everybody, boys.

I can’t believe they’re still running after the morning we put in.

Ah, to be 6 years old again.

In any event, we were successful in getting a million dollars ap- propriated to combat senior fraud. We lose about almost $15 million annually—particularly some of these unscrupulous telemarketers who target senior citizens and try and take the value

from people’s homes, try and take their life savings. It’s really one

of the most horrendous crimes that can be perpetrated against

unsuspecting people who have worked hard, saved their money, are

looking forward to retirement, then have one of these shysters

come along and take it away from them. Here in Indiana alone last year we lost $80 million to this kind

of fraud. But because of the testimony last year, we’ve started a national clearinghouse. We have money going to the TRIADS.

And it’s not very often—this is actually a copy of the law that

was signed into law by President Clinton, last year after our hearings. And so you can see that we’ve actually done some good. And

I hope that the hearing we’re having today will lead to some similar results.

We have Les Lenkowsky with us today. Les, why don’t you just

stand and be recognized.

Mr. Lenkowsky has been nominated by President Bush to be the

head of the National Corporation for Public Service.

And while he hasn’t been confirmed yet, Les, I want you to know

you can count on at least one vote in the U.S. Senate. That will

be me. I look forward to supporting you.

Why don’t we go ahead and get on with the program. We’re highlighting today the importance of public service. And particularly as

this poster over here indicates, ‘‘The greatest generation continues

to serve.’’

You know, seniors have contributed so much to our society already, and have so much to continue to offer. We’d like to make

it as easy as possible in providing as productive ways as possible

for seniors to continue to serve our community as we possibly can.

It’s not only good for the seniors—you get the satisfaction of

helping others—but it’s good for the children, one of whom we have

with us here today. It’s good for the other seniors with the longterm care that can be provided. It’s good for all of the services that

can be provided to the community. And ultimately it’s also good for

the taxpayers.

I’m going to be mentioning in just a few moments the kind of leverage that we have. For every dollar invested in service by seniors, we get many, many times that amount of money in benefits

and value back to the community in terms of educational services,

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care services, other services. And that’s money that otherwise the

taxpayers would be having to put up.

So it’s good for everyone, and that’s why we’re here today.

Senator McCain and I will be offering legislation later this year,

Senator John McCain from Arizona. It’s going to be bipartisan, obviously.

He’s focusing in particular in a military service component. We

want to create a track where those who want to defend our Nation

by entering the armed services can do so, and then when they

leave the armed services, if they’re so inclined, can pursue a career

and a lifetime of public service.

That’s a good idea, yes. Thank you, ma’am. I’ll tell Senator

McCain that you’re supportive. And I appreciate that, too.

I’m focusing on the senior service component. And together I

hope that we can build upon the great track record of the National

Corporation for Public Service and expand the efforts, deepen the

efforts, and really make this an integral part of the fabric of American society.

There are many avenues of service available under the Corporation for National Service. We have the National Senior Service

Corps, and this includes the Senior Companion Program to provide

long-term care services for other seniors; the Foster Grandparent

Program designed to provide assistance to at-risk youth, and the

Retired and Senior Volunteer Program which provides services in

many areas including the environment and others across Indiana

and across the country.

Today we have more that 9,500 Hoosier volunteers through the

National Senior Service Corps, and their services contribute over

$29 million to Hoosier communities each and every year. That’s

more than 9500 Hoosier seniors volunteering with a value of

almost $30 million each and every year to the State of Indiana. So

you can see it is a major, major benefit to our State and something

that we would like to see expanded both here and abroad.

For example, seniors are helping to combat the long-term care

crisis by providing relief services for care givers, some respite care,

and assistance with daily activities.

Last year, nationally, over a total of four million hours were provided to frail adults so they could remain independent in their

homes by the senior companion volunteers. The value of services

provided by the Senior Companion Program is estimated at $185

million, and that’s a rate of return on the taxpayers’ investment of

5 to 1. I can think of very few investments we make as a country

that generate that kind of return of 5 to 1 return.

In Indiana our two senior companion programs, we have 187 volunteers providing services valued at $2.5 million, a rate of return

of three times the Federal investment. So it’s good for the Federal

Government; it’s good for the State; it’s good for seniors; it’s good

for all of us.

I am going to skip over most of my prepared remarks. I have got

a lot of facts and figures here. For those who are interested, I

would be happy to get into it.

And at the end of this, we are going to have as much time as

we can for questions and answers. For those of you if we don’t have

time to get to your questions, please give us on the forms—I think

4

they’re passing out, Sohini—please give us your address, your

phone number. We will get back to you. If we can’t answer your

question here orally today, we will get back to you with an answer

to your question in writing, Geneva, so I want to make sure that

if you can on the materials, please give us your address so that we

can respond.

There are several barriers or challenges that remain. Part of

what our proposal will help to accomplish is to make clear that all

seniors 55 and older are welcome and encouraged to volunteer.

Currently, the age limit is occasionally somewhat more restrictive

than that.

We’d like to provide seniors with more incentives to volunteer

such as increasing the availability of stipends to low income seniors

to 200 percent of the poverty level, and making volunteer hours

more flexible. And we’d like to provide seniors with additional

training in areas such as physical and mental health, nutrition,

child psychology, looking for signs of child abuse, and the provision

of long-term care, and other educational services that will be good

for the community and that seniors would be readily able to contribute.

We would like to create a demonstration project to fund innovative projects that do not traditionally recruit seniors but respond to

an unmet social need. And I think we are going to hear a little bit

later this afternoon about the Big Brothers Program, Sohini, which

has done great, great work in that area and would qualify for this

type of demonstration grant.

Finally we would like the legislation to reauthorize the programs

for funding levels that are considered to be necessary, which from

my point of view would consider a significant increase. We don’t

have a particular appropriation number today, but I’d frankly like

to see us do substantially better than we have done to date.

I believe there is a chart below me just over here. I can’t see it,

but on there is a 1–800 number. And I hope our friends from the

press who are with us today will focus on that 1–800 number.

For those of you in the audience who are interested in volunteering, this is a national number; it is a clearing house. If you feel

that you have some talent and some time that you would like

to dedicate, you can please call this number 1–800–424–8867, or

visit the National Senior Service Corps web address at

www.seniorcorps that’s C-O-R-P-S www.seniorcorps.org.

Either way we’d be delighted to get you involved with our volunteer efforts. And again, I want to thank you for your presence

today.

Having said all of that, let’s get right to our panels. And I want

to thank our panelists for taking their time to share with us their

experiences today. You know, I get to get up here and give—I suppose it would qualify as a small speech, but these are the folks who

are really providing the services and making a difference in our

communities each and every day. And I hope it can serve as a

source of inspiration to all of us here to get out and do likewise.

First we’re going to hear from the Senior Companion Program,

the program designed to help with long-term care needs.

5

Estella? Where is Estella? Estella, thank you for joining us

today. I didn’t get down there to shake your hand before we started, but I want to thank you.

Estella is our volunteer for the program and has been helping

two women at least twice a week, Rose, who is here with her today,

and another woman who has Alzheimer’s.

Where is Rose, Estella? Rose, thank you for coming today.

Estella is 80 years old and takes care of Rose who is going to be

90 in September.

The Senior Companion Program is sponsored by Catholic charities and faith-based organizations that have actually sponsored

several of the volunteer programs funded through the Corporation

for National Service.

So, Estella, I am going to look forward to hearing from you. I will

start with you first after I have introduced the other three panelists on our first panel.

We will then hear from the Foster Grandparent Program represented by—and I’m going to refer to her as Grandma Jo Littrell.

Is Grandma Jo—is that OK if I call you Grandma Jo?

Ms. LITTRELL. That’s fine.

Senator BAYH. OK. Thank you.

She serves as a grandmother for Caleb who is 8 years old. Caleb

is with us here today. She tutors Caleb in reading, and as a result

of their relationship and time together, Caleb’s reading has improved dramatically.

So thank you, Grandma.

Caleb, congratulations to you. I spend a lot of time reading with

my boys, and I hope you enjoy it as much as they do.

Next we are going to hear from David Knight. He is a volunteer

from the Retired and Seniors Volunteer Program. And David is

going to share with us his work about the computer and technology

training he was provided with so he could maintain contact with

his family and continue earning money with his at-home business.

So where is David? David, thank you for being here. We are looking forward to hearing from you third.

And then finally in our first panel from the Big Brothers Program, we have Judge Web Brewer, someone I have known for

many, many years.

Judge, I am grateful to you for your service to the community

and today for your words about the Big Brothers Program.

Judge Brewer has been volunteering for 2 years and has

previously tutored young children. This coming fall he will be volunteering in a program that has not traditionally recruited senior

volunteers. It is called, ‘‘Talks my father never had with me.’’ He

will be able to mentor young males from single parent homes.

And this is increasingly important in many of our urban areas

where frankly young men bring children into the world and then

just walk away from their responsibilities, Judge, and it’s important we try and fill that gap in those young men’s lives and give

them the kind of role models they can look up to. And so I am

grateful to you for participating in that effort.

So let’s give a big round of applause to our panelists and thank

them for being with us today.

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And, Estella, why don’t we begin with you. And you can tell us

about the service, the volunteer service, that you provide with Rose

and others.

STATEMENT OF ESTELLA SMITH, VOLUNTEER, SENIOR COMPANION PROGRAM, SPONSORED BY CATHOLIC CHARITIES

AND FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS

Ms. SMITH. I started with Rose in 1995. When I first went to her,

she would not talk, she would not eat. She would lie in bed most

of the time. But one day I went, and she was up and dressed and

ready to tell me what she wanted to eat. And she started talking,

and she’s been talking ever since.

I take her to all of her doctor’s appointments, her dentist appointments, her hairdresser, take her out it eat, and she’s having

a good time. She’s not sitting home pining away because she’s 90

years old. She lives alone, and she’s getting along well.

Now she tells me that I am part of her family. Every year they

have a birthday party for her, and she will not take no for an answer if I don’t come. So I have to be there.

And I think that this program is very good for people who are

living alone because these things they could not do if they didn’t

have someone to help them. Many times they go in the doctor’s office and they move around so much, when they come out of that

office they are distraught and they don’t know which way they

want to go. So they need someone to guide them and to help them.

I also have an Alzheimer’s patient as a client of mine, and I’m

learning how to work with her. She will not go out of the house.

She will not do anything. But whenever she does decide something,

then I work with her. And most of the time she just want me to

fix her something to eat.

And she’s in the first stage, the stage now that she’s accusing everyone of taking her things which are still there, and she can look

at them, but she doesn’t recognize they are hers.

And I think this program is very good because we do make a difference.

[The prepared statement of Ms. Smith follows:]

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8

Senator BAYH. I would like to thank Ellen Brown for being here.

She is the project director that helps make this possible for Estella.

Ellen, is there anything you’d like to add to what Estella had to

say?

STATEMENT OF ELLEN BROWN, PROJECT DIRECTOR, SENIOR

COMPANION PROGRAM

Ms. BROWN. I just wanted to let you know that we have presently 109 companions such as Estella serving in the greater Indianapolis area, and they serve 164 clients.

However, we have a waiting list of over 200 people, people who

are as deserving as Rose who need the help, who need the care that

are provided by these generous, wonderful people that we call companions.

And I hope that there’s some way that we could understand their

living circumstances, because they all live on a very fixed budget.

And although the stipend helps, an increase in the stipend would

make a big difference in helping them to meet their own needs

such as their prescription drugs which are escalating, and fuel and

food costs.

These are the kinds of the things that we appreciate because

they come to us with such a big heart. And as she said they create

a family. And we are very grateful that we have them to serve the

community.

Thank you, sir.

Senator BAYH. Thank you, Ellen.

I’m going to ask each of our panelists a quick question when

they’re done testifying rather than save them all for the end. I

think it might flow a little bit better that way.

Estella, let me ask you, this is so marvelous, the work that you

do. Can you tell everyone here, and I think particularly for folks

who aren’t here but might read about this or see this tonight on

the news, why do you do it? You must get a lot of satisfaction from

this. But tell us why do you volunteer and help Rose?

Ms. SMITH. I volunteered—I had become a widow, and I was

lonely and devastated, and I needed something to keep me going.

And I started with this program, and it has been a blessing to me.

Senator BAYH. Grandma Jo, we’re going to go with you next. But,

Marilyn, I skipped over you. You’re the project director, and I’d like

to thank you for making her service possible.

Grandma Jo, why don’t you share your words with us. And I’m

sure we’d also enjoy hearing from Caleb.

9

STATEMENT OF GEQUETTA ‘‘GRANDMA JO’’ LITTRELL,

FOSTER GRANDPARENT PROGRAM; ACCOMPANIED BY CALEB

Ms. LITTRELL. By joining the Foster Grandparent Program I fulfilled my dream of being a community volunteer.

After my training, I started at Lincoln Elementary School in August of 2000. Marilyn Morin approached me about a new reading

program called Early Steps at Clifty Creek Elementary——

Senator BAYH. Can we move that mike a little bit closer so—

there we go.

Ms. LITTRELL [continuing.] Which was closer to my home and

asked if I would help with the program.

Being able to help children succeed and achieve really makes my

day, every day. Children challenge you, and to see them make better grades and learn more makes me feel really great. This gives

me a wonderful feeling of accomplishment.

Caleb Allen is one of the children I worked with this year. His

story is a real success story. Caleb’s grades went up after I worked

with him, and he now reads so well. He scored 355 points on his

final reading test in May versus 139 points on the test in August.

His reading is now at the right grade level, and he reads with 98

percent accuracy. His teachers have said he will not need any further help in third grade. Caleb is on the right track to succeeding

in school.

The Foster Grandparent Program gives people a chance to get

out and to make a difference in the community. Foster Grandparents love to give hugs, and we love all of the hugs we receive

every day from the children.

Senator BAYH. Marilyn, would you like to add a word? And then

we’ll hear from Caleb.

[The prepared statement of Ms. Littrell follows:]

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STATEMENT OF MARILYN MORIN, DIRECTOR, FOSTER

GRANDPARENT PROGRAM, COLUMBUS, IN

Ms. MORIN. Grandma Jo is typical of the 92 grandparents we

have. We cover Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Jackson, and Jennings County, and we have 30 schools, abused children shelters,

teen pregnancy programs, and Head Starts. Every one of the facilities we serve ask for more grandparents. That seems to be the No.

1 need.

We all know, and I think our grandparents are very aware, when

you touch tomorrow, you touch a child. So we would love to see this

program expand so we can touch more children to better tomorrow.

I think we all know that our Nation’s history isn’t in this room—

or our future. Our future is in the classroom, and it is in the

abused children shelter. And these children do need more help. So

expanding this program would really help.

Thank you.

[The prepared statement of Ms. Morin follows:]

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Senator BAYH. Thank you, Marilyn.

We, I think it’s safe to say this may be the youngest person to

testify before the Senate Committee on Aging, but what he has to

say is equally or perhaps more important than most of the others.

So, Caleb, we’d love to hear from you.

CALEB ALLEN. I’m 8 years old, and I go to Clifty Creek Elementary, and I love my foster grandparent, Grandma Jo. She has

helped me a lot this year. I really look forward to seeing her every

day. She sits by me and we read and did spelling and wrote together.

She gives me hugs and tells me I am doing really good. She has

really helped me learn to read better this year. I think it is really

great to have a school grandma. I am glad I had a grandma with

me this year. I will miss her next year. I wish all the kids could

have foster grandparents.

Senator BAYH. Caleb, that was very, very good. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Grandma Jo, let me just say, just as Estella, one of the most

pressing challenges we have is the need to help with long-term care

for seniors, one of the most accurate predictors—the single most accurate predictor of how our children do in school is whether there’s

an adult actively involved with that child’s education and the

home, with the family.

And where a parent can’t be involved, a grandparent can. And

so if you would just maybe take that microphone and just share

with us one more time, you recited how his reading scores have

gone up and that kind of thing.

Ms. LITTRELL. OK.

Senator BAYH. Just give us your thoughts about how Caleb is

learning, his reading ability has improved because of the kind of

special attention he’s gotten.

Ms. LITTRELL. Caleb has really been a real good student. At first

he was kind of shy, and I had to get to know him; he had to get

to know me. My first intentions is to get the trust of each child and

to learn what they are interested in, and then we start to work.

And this helps me to understand each one.

And his score was 355 points at the end of May, and it went up

from 139 points on the test in August which was 98 percent reading accuracy.

Senator BAYH. Caleb, do you like reading with Grandma Jo?

[Caleb Allen nodded yes.]

Good. Good. Thank you.

Grandma Jo, thank you.

David, why don’t you share with us the services and training

you’ve been able to get.

Ceil, you want to share some thoughts, too?

Ceil, excuse me, Sperzel is the program director. Which of you

would like to begin? Here, David, grab ahold of this microphone

here. Tell us about the services you’ve received from the program

and the difference it’s made for you.

14

STATEMENT OF DAVID KNIGHT, VOLUNTEER, RETIRED AND

SENIORS VOLUNTEER PROGRAM

Mr. KNIGHT. The difference it has made for me—in 1993 I retired. I had two massive heart attacks back to back and a quadruple bypass at Jewish Hospital.

I started a home-based business last year. Things started jumping. I started selling a hot weight loss product where people in the

United States was losing ten to twenty pounds a month. Their

health was improving tremendous.

I knew I needed a computer. I had to have a computer. I came

home one afternoon, there was a message on my door. ‘‘You’re eligible for free computer classes.’’

I drove my car two blocks, signed up for the free classes. They

were not wall-to-wall classes. These were superb, professional

training classes on a one-to-one basis.

I took the classes, and I’m so glad I did. I’ve benefited greatly.

I get on-line today. I order products on-line. I know my conference

calls, where they’re all over the United States. I view my downline.

I’m updated on all price listings of products. It’s just great. One of

the greatest benefits I received is I’m able to help other people.

I went to our national director’s home, taught her a three-way

system how to find people no matter where all over the United

States whether they’re living or deceased. What a great benefit.

Thanks, Lifespan, and thanks to the Indiana State. Thanks so

much.

Senator BAYH. Thank you, David.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Knight follows:]

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STATEMENT OF CEIL SPERZEL, DIRECTOR, RSVP OF SOUTH

CENTRAL INDIANA, INTERFAITH COMMUNITY COUNCIL,

NEW ALBANY, IN

Ms. SPERZEL. I’m the RSVP Director for four counties in the

southern part of the State, and we have several programs in addition to placing volunteers in all of the other nonprofits and

healthcare agencies in our area. And David is a recipient of services of one of those programs. And as you can imagine, there are

thousands of people who are recipients.

In Indiana, there are over 9,000 RSVP volunteers who contributed 1.4 million hours of service last year and every year to their

neighbors in need, not just in a technology training program, but

in all sorts of helping services.

RSVP volunteers deliver meals, they push wheelchairs, they

raise money, they fix houses, they sort books. I could go on forever

but obviously I won’t.

But the question is why is that important. Why is it important

that these people do these things? And the answer is because most

of it would not happen if they did not.

Last week when seven senior homeowners called me and said,

‘‘My air conditioning is broken in this heat, and I cannot afford to

fix it,’’ I wouldn’t have had anybody to call if not for our senior volunteers.

The last week of July when 98 families came to our agency’s food

pantry for help, we wouldn’t have had anybody to call if the volunteers hadn’t packaged that food.

In this entire spring semester of the year, retired senior volunteers helped in the special ed classroom at one of our local high

schools in North Harrison 7 hours a day, 5 days a week. There

would have been nobody to do that if it hadn’t been for those retired senior volunteers.

We need our retired people to give our country their time, their

experience, and their talents, and otherwise nobody else is going to

do it. They have all that skill for us, and we need it.

And the other part of the bottom line is that the retired senior

volunteers are served themselves. As Estella so eloquently told us,

you feel better and you are healthier and you live longer if you

have something useful to do.

I was asked in this testimony to tell how to get more seniors into

senior service, and the bottom line of getting people to do anything

is—80 percent of people do so because they were asked personally.

And only 36 of the 92 counties in Indiana are covered by RSVPs,

and even fewer in the SCPs and FGPs.

And so I would say to you we would ask Congress to allocate

more resources for more programs.

[The prepared statement of Ms. Sperzel follows:]

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19

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Senator BAYH. And if we do, you’ll put them to good use?

Ms. SPERZEL. Absolutely.

Senator BAYH. Very good. Thank you, Ceil. David, thank you.

Judge, tell us about the Big Brothers. That’s a great program,

and it’s great of you to volunteer. Tell us what kind of difference

it’s making.

STATEMENT OF JUDGE WEBSTER BREWER, VOLUNTEER, BIG

BROTHERS PROGRAM

Judge BREWER. I have been volunteering in the Big Brothers

Program and tutoring in School 43. I’ve tutored two separate kids

once a week for 1 hour. We’ve made a tremendous difference in the

lives of these kids. I’m just one of a hundred volunteers.

But I come to this program kind of naturally. I started out my

career in the juvenile court. I went on to the Federal Bureau of

Prisons. I went over to the Federal court as a Federal probation officer. Elected judge in 1974, served for 25 years.

One thing I determined in my career is that youngsters who

don’t learn to read prior to the fifth grade are likely to become

dropouts, and also a lot of social problems of which you’re aware.

My wife was an educator for 35 years. A number of years ago

when our senator was Governor, he spoke to a number of teachers.

My wife was in the audience; I was not. And one thing our Governor, and senator now, said was that you can determine the number of prisons you have to build by the number of people in the

third grade. That stuck with me then.

So I’m about the business of trying to help youngsters to read.

And come the fall, we’ll be working a new program working with

mentoring four or five youngsters who don’t have fathers in the

home.

The two factors that I have discovered in my career that matters

most in terms of making the person a worthwhile citizen is learning to read and having a male mentor.

I lost my dad last year at the age of 89 years old, and Reverend

Hasburg once said the best thing a father can do for his children

is to stay with their mother. And I remember Father Hasburg saying that years and years ago.

But my experience has taught me that we must work one-on-one

with children. It’s a very impressive thing to do. And there’s something about just any kind of special attention. I’m convinced that

you don’t have to have a degree, that you don’t have to be an expert in that area, but having that youngster read to you and to

have his face light up when you respond to him, I think is a great

thing in helping that youngster learn to do.

When I was in the third grade, I simply couldn’t get fractions,

and I thought I was the dumbest kid in the school. We had a member of the family who was in education. My mother asked her to

tutor me. I found out that repetition is what learning’s all about.

And it was through her and the flash cards in determining the difference between one-third and one-fourth and one-fifth, and all

those kinds of things, that got me through fractions.

Had I not gotten through fractions, I would have internalized the

fact that I’m a dumb kid and I’m a mentor.

22

This has been a worthwhile experience for me. I didn’t do it because I was bored or didn’t have nothing to do. Hell, I’ve got more

to do than I know what to do with. But it just comes as a natural

to me that doing—just helping one person, I’m just convinced that

if all of us just touch the life of one person, we can make this a

much better world.

And they told me to limit my comments to 5 minutes, there’s a

guy over there with a light who blows a horn when you get beyond

that, so I will cease my comments.

It’s such a pleasure being here, and I encourage you if you’re not

a volunteer, get on board. It’s fun.

Senator BAYH. Thank you. Judge, thank you very much.

He mentioned something that’s true. Back when I first became

Governor, we had an overcrowding crisis in our prisons, and I

brought in a national expert to help us plan for the capacity we’d

need in our prisons.

And he put together a big equation—I see Joe Smith sitting

here—he put together a big equation, and you look at about ten or

fifteen different variables. But the single most accurate predictor of

how many people you’re going to need to lock up in prison fifteen

years later are the number of at-risk children in third grade.

We look at 9 year olds and the circumstances in which they’re

being raised to predict how many inmates there will be fifteen

years later.

And so if there was ever an argument, Judge, for early intervention, reaching out to young men like you’ve done, like Grandma Jo

has done, that’s a very good one.

And it’s a symptom of a broader problem. And I won’t give another speech here, but just suffice it to say there has been a growing trend in our society for the last 15 years or so of particularly

very young men who bring children into the world and then just

walk away leaving the mothers and the taxpayers to try and pick

up the pieces. And the consequences to the children and to society

are very, very adverse.

And so if we can get Big Brothers involved, if we can get people

like Judge Web Brewer involved to try and fill that gap, I mean,

hopefully we can convince more of these young men to do right by

their children, to do right by the mothers of their children as Father Hasburg would say, and as the judge mentioned, that’s the

ideal solution.

But while we’re still working on that, Big Brothers and senior

volunteers can really make a big, big difference in our young children’s lives. I’ll just read you just a couple of the statistics.

A child growing up without a responsible male presence—mothers are doing a great job. They are just performing heroic work.

The men need to do better.

Where there’s no responsible male figure in the young child’s life,

they’re five times more likely to live in poverty when the fathers

run off, twice as likely to commit a crime, twice as likely to drop

out of school, twice as likely to be abused, much more likely to commit suicide, over twice as likely to be involved with alcohol or

drugs, and if a young girl, much more likely to become pregnant

as a teenager.

23

Those are obviously very serious social problems, and we need to

try and fill that gap in many of our young people’s lives, and Big

Brothers and this volunteer effort is doing a good work at that.

Web, I wish we could clone you and spread you around.

I was interviewed out here by the media earlier. I said I’m opposed to human cloning, and I am, but in Judge Brewer’s case we

might make an exception.

You’re doing such good work.

So the last thing I’ll say, and then I am going to thank our panel

and ask the second panel to come up, you know, very often I’m

asked—they say, ‘‘Well, Senator, what is this public service? What

is this volunteering all about? That sounds kind of general. That

sounds kind of vague. Does it really make a difference? Do these

dollars really go to something important?’’ Well, ladies and gentlemen, you’re seeing it right here. What they do, they go to Estella

to allow her to help provide long-term care to Rose and another

woman. That’s making a real tangible difference for Rose and for

the society and for our taxpayers.

They go to Grandma Jo to help Caleb and other young people,

and that’s making a big, big difference and improving the quality

of education.

They go to help David get the kind of skills he needs to be independent and work out of his home and to help others. That’s making an important difference in his community.

And they go to help the Big Brothers and people like Judge

Brewer make an important contribution in the lives of young people without whom they might grow up to become juvenile

delinquents and end up in those prisons we were just talking

about. Those are real tangible meaningful contributions to

bettering our society. That’s what volunteering is really all about.

And I want to thank our panel today for helping us shine the

light on the kind of difference you make for our State. I’m very,

very proud of you all. You’re really the kind of heroes that we

ought to applaud. And let’s do that right now. Thank you all for

being with me today.

Senator BAYH. All right. If I could have everyone’s attention, we

have our second group of panelists with us today. And I want to

thank each of these gentlemen for their time. I know they’re very

busy and could be doing many, many other things.

That applies to all of them, but especially Alan Solomont who is

all the way down at the left in terms of the audience. He’s come

all the way from Boston to be with us here today.

Alan has been a long time advocate of public service. He’s one

of the most philanthropic and dedicated public servants I know.

And I want to personally thank him for making the trip to be with

us today.

Alan is a member of the Corporation of National Service’s Board

of Directors, and he’s going to provide us with updates of the corporation’s activities and suggestions for what we can do to expand

upon them.

Next, we’re going to hear from Marc Freedman, president of

Civic Ventures and author of the book Prime Time: How baby

boomers will revolutionize retirement and transform America.

Marc, thank you for being with us today.

24

Marc’s going to provide some data on the positive outcomes associated with senior service and his thoughts on ways to better utilize the programs.

Kenneth Smith from the AARP Board of Directors is with us and

will inform us about the AARP senior service activities and how

the AARP plans to advance and promote senior service.

Kenneth, thank you very much. AARP does such good work.

We’re looking forward to hearing from you.

And last, but by no means least, we’ve got James Perry with us.

Thank you for being with us, Dean. Associate Dean of the School

of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI here in Indianapolis.

He’s going to provide us with concrete data that show the importance of senior service both for the senior and for the community

at large.

Dr. Perry, thank you very much.

Alan, why don’t we begin with you. And again, I want to welcome

you to our State.

He’s from Massachusetts, but I think it’s fair to say, ladies and

gentlemen, we’ve given him a warm Hoosier welcome here today at

the State fair. So let’s thank Alan Solomont for being with us.

STATEMENT OF ALAN SOLOMONT, MEMBER, BOARD OF DIRECTORS, CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY

SERVICE, ACCOMPANIED BY LES LENKOWSKY AND TESS

SCANNELL, ACTING DIRECTOR, NATIONAL SENIOR SERVICE

CORPS

Mr. SOLOMONT. Thank you very much, Senator. I’m delighted to

be here with all of these wonderful examples of senior service. I’m

also pleased to be here with two of my colleagues from the Corporation, Les Lenkowsky, who you recognized earlier and who is about

to become the Corporations CEO, and also Tess Scannell who is the

Acting Director of the National Senior Service Corps.

I have had the pleasure of witnessing firsthand the benefits to

communities when seniors are tapped to meet pressing social needs

and the benefits to seniors themselves when they are actively engaged in serving their communities.

But since we are here today to discuss the value of service, permit me to say what a great example you have set in the area of

public service. Your career demonstrates the difference one person

can make, and you teach us all a lesson about dedicating one’s life

to the common good.

I was a great admirer of your father’s courageous public service,

and I’m honored to know his son and to acknowledge your contributions.

Senator BAYH. Thank you, Alan.

Mr. SOLOMONT. Senior service in the National Senior Service

Corps are of special interest to me on both a professional and a

personal level. I am a businessman and an entrepreneur focused on

developing innovative ways to provide health services and elder

care to senior citizens.

Although my business interests are mostly in New England, as

you know, issues regarding healthcare and long-term care for the

elderly are national.

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I’ve spent most of the last 25 years of my professional life caring

for frail elders in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and in

the community. And although I describe myself as a businessman

and an entrepreneur, I’ve always felt more comfortable in a room

full of white hair than a room full of white shirts.

In the late 1970’s as the administrator of a nursing home in Massachusetts, I worked closely with the local Retired Senior Volunteer

Program, RSVP, and I saw firsthand how important volunteers

were to enhancing the quality of life for residents of that nursing

home.

RSVP is just one of the programs of the National Senior Service

Corps administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service. The other programs are the Foster Grandparent Program, and the Senior Companion Program. Each of these valuable

programs uses the power of senior service to address pressing community needs and brings comfort and support to people in our society who are frequently left behind.

When I talk about people left behind, I mean the tens of thousands of special needs children like Caleb who receive the love,

care, and support of a foster grandparent, or the thousands of frail

elders like Rose and their caregivers who receive services of senior

companions, a program that makes it possible for frail elders to

stay independent in their own homes.

And there are tens of thousands of community agencies and individuals that have benefited from the myriad of services provided by

RSVP volunteers.

Senator, you could not have picked a better time for this hearing.

The Nation and the world’s populations are aging at an unprecedented rate. Our generation, the baby boomers, the healthiest,

wealthiest, and most highly educated generation in this country’s

history will soon be retiring. And we don’t plan to spend our retirement years relaxing.

Retiring baby boomers are starting new careers, enrolling in universities, learning new skills, and most of all taking what they

have learned from their life’s experiences and applying them to social causes.

A 1999 survey conducted by Peter Hart for Civic Ventures found

that older Americans are seeking volunteer activities that take advantage of their special skills rather than activities that merely fill

time.

As a Nation we should seize the experience, energy, and excitement that mark this generation of retirees. The key challenge for

the future of the National Senior Service Corps will be to provide

opportunities for this very special generation of seniors that will

take advantage of their skills and all that they have to offer.

I have provided you and the Committee with a copy of recommendations from the Corporation’s Board of Directors which was

sent to the President and the Congress earlier this year on the future of all of the Corporation’s programs, including AmeriCorps,

Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve America.

We recommend that in order to make service an expectation for

all people in later life, we must expand service opportunities for all

senior citizens. We need to increase resources to expand options

and incentives to attract a broader base of seniors, and we have to

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get organizations that have not previously used seniors to get involved with the National Senior Service Corps.

We have to remove any barriers in our current programs and

program structure that artificially limit the appeal of opportunities

for senior involvement in Corporation programs. The Corporation

for National and Community Service and the National Senior Service Corps are ready to make senior service meet the needs of the

new century.

It was delightful for me to come here from Boston today, and I’d

be happy to answer any questions or provide you and your committee with any information that you desire.

Thank you.

Senator BAYH. Thank you, Alan. Let’s express our appreciation.

Alan, I just had two brief questions. I would like to thank you

for your testimony. The first is in my opening remarks I shared

some data about the return of the investment to the taxpayers that

comes from our investment in service, that’s senior service. Has

that been your experience at the Corporation, that it’s a good investment for the taxpayers in terms of the return of our dollars?

Mr. SOLOMONT. It gets tremendous leverage. As you said, a

return of 3 to 1, 5 to 1. If you just look at the Senior Companion

Program and the benefit of providing seniors who are typically living alone, who with a little support can stay living in their own

homes, not a burden on publicly financed programs, through the efforts of volunteers or volunteers who are paid a rather modest stipend, and you think of the thousands or the tens of thousands of

frail seniors who are staying independent through that sharing and

that caring, I don’t know that you can find many better investments of our taxpayer dollars at a time when the need for longterm care is going to absolutely explode.

Senator BAYH. It is costs that we avoid and the benefits we incur

as a result of the investment.

My second question is about incentives. What sort of incentives

are ordinarily the sort of thing we’d look at to encourage seniors

to get involved? What would be helpful?

Mr. SOLOMONT. Well, one of the great things that we have done

is to make service opportunities available particularly to low income seniors. And we’ve done that by offering stipends, and modest

as they may be, they target our programs to that population.

I think at this point, given the huge need and opportunity for

senior service, we also ought to be about removing barriers to service and expanding opportunity for senior service to all income

groups.

Not to lose the benefit of making this available to lower income

seniors, but also to look to seniors like my 82-year-old mother who

needs to get out of the house, who wants to be useful, and whose

skills as a registered nurse could be put to good use in a program

such as Senior Companions.

Senator BAYH. No question. Thank you again, Alan.

Mr. SOLOMONT. Thank you, Senator.

Senator BAYH. Mark Freedman, thank you for being with us.

We’re looking forward to your testimony.

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STATEMENT OF MARC FREEDMAN, PRESIDENT, CIVIC

VENTURES AND AUTHOR

Mr. FREEDMAN. Thanks. It’s a great pleasure. I wasn’t exactly

sure of that when I left San Francisco yesterday and it was 70 degrees with no humidity, but now I can tell you there’s absolutely

no place I would rather be than in Indianapolis.

Senator BAYH. Welcome to the Midwest in August, Marc. [Laughter.]

Mr. FREEDMAN. Thank you. And thank you also for your leadership on this issue.

As Alan Solomont suggested, the timing just could not be better.

Right now this country is on the verge of a demographic revolution.

And that word ‘‘revolution’’ is much overworked in our society. But

in this case, if anything, it might be an understatement.

We currently have half the people who have ever lived to the age

of 65 alive at this time, half the people who have ever lived to the

age of 65 in the United States. And we are at a point where life

expectancy in the last century has increased by three decades

which is greater than all of the increases for the previous 5,000

years.

The population of older adults since we started the National Senior Service Corps 35 years ago has doubled, and that number is

going to double again over the coming 30 years, so that by 2030

between a fifth and a quarter of the entire country is going to be

over the age of 65.

The demographers have a phrase for that. They call it the

Floridadation of America. A phrase——

Senator BAYH. Say that again, Marc. By 2030 what percentage

of the population——

Mr. FREEDMAN [continuing.] By 2030 between—depending on

which predictions you believe, between 20 and 25 percent of the entire population.

And now, when you think about that, 18 percent of Florida is

over the age of 65. So the entire country will have a larger proportion of older adults than Florida does today. And we’ve heard a lot

of hand wringing about what a great burden and cost that’s going

to be on this country.

But I’m here, along with my colleagues and the people we heard

from in the first panel, to suggest that the reality might be quite

different, especially if we play our cards right, that this population

is really our country’s only increasing natural resource.

And you talked before about—in asking Alan Solomont about

what the benefits are. The Foster Grandparent Program has a

great expression. They say, ‘‘Every dollar spent twice.’’ And when

we think about not just what the older adults themselves get out

of it, but what the young people like Caleb who are receiving the

service get out of it, but also what the broader society gets out of

closer ties between the generations and a sense of community

where everybody feels like they have a part, it’s truly an extraordinary opportunity.

And not only do we have great numbers of people coming down

the road, but people who are healthier, better educated, in better

shape economically than ever before.

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When the Foster Grandparent Program was started, 35.8 percent

of the older population was living in poverty. Today that number

is hovering between 10 and 12 percent.

People are healthier than they’ve ever been before in later life.

The Los Angeles Times just did a survey which showed that Americans over the age of 60 feel 19 years younger than their chronological age. So essentially a 60 year old of today is like a 40 year

old of the generation past. And this is a population which is poised

to give back, that wants to give back.

The survey that Alan Solomont mentioned, we discovered that

giving back through national service, through volunteerism,

through paid employment that has a socially redeeming component

was a top priority for the current and coming generation of retirees.

So this really is an extraordinary resource, but I’m a little chagrined to have to say that it’s probably not only our only increasing

natural resource, but our greatest squandered national treasure.

We are not making great use of the talent and energy and civic

commitment in this segment of the population.

For years we really basically told people to go to the sidelines,

that they’re no longer valued, that we don’t need what they have

to offer, and that’s been a tragic mistake. And no more so with the

current population which is the best educated population of older

adults we’ve ever seen, four times the level of college education

than just a generation back.

The social scientists talk about structural lag. They say basically

that populations change their talents, their energy, their wellbeing, but we don’t have the kind of images and opportunities that

go with that.

And I think that just the timing of looking at the National Senior

Service Corps legislation couldn’t be a better opportunity to rethink

that gap and find a way to close it.

This is our greatest, largest, most impressive national effort to

remedy that situation and put the talents of older adults to use.

It’s a program that has increased from a few hundred people in

1965, to over half a million people.

And yet now on the verge of this demographic revolution, it’s a

good time to step back and see how these programs can be brought

up to date and put in a position so they’re going to best serve the

coming generation of older adults. And the recommendations you

set out earlier I think are exactly the ones that we’re going to need.

And this opportunity to step back and look rationally at the programs is needed from another perspective as well. When writing

Prime Time, I got a chance to look at the history of the National

Senior Service Corps. And while there were many good intentions

in the early days, there was also a big role for accident.

One of the great stories, LBJ, when he announced the formation

of the Foster Grandparent Program in 1965, he did it on the day

of his 58th birthday. And in the speech in which he was extolling

the great wonders of the older population and how much they had

to offer, the age of the program had been set at 55 back then. He

changed it to 60 in every place because he didn’t want to be considered an older adult himself, and he was particularly sensitive beVerDate 11-MAY-2000 10:07 Nov 14, 2001 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 75462.TXT saging1 PsN: saging1
29

cause he had no grandchildren at the time, and he was announcing

the Foster Grandparent Program.

So there are many ways where a good look at what we’re going

to need in the future will help.

But I want to close by just saying that along with expanding and

strengthening the existing opportunities that are out there, we

need to create more options for people. This is an extremely diverse

population of older adults with extraordinary skills ranging from

those we heard with Judge Brewer, and we need to create a range

of opportunities so that people will have choices where they can put

into action their great skills.

And I think that there’s a chance now to invest in a lot of grass

roots activity, much of it happening in Indiana. There’s a great program in Columbus called Volunteers in Medicine where retired doctors and nurses are coming together to provide free healthcare to

the poor, many other examples of that.

And I think a fund for innovation would go a long way toward

widening those kinds of opportunities. And making it—we’ve heard

from a lot of critics of the aging America that graying means paying. But I think the graying of America could be a great payoff.

And we could finally redeem the promise that JFK gave us in the

very first White House Conference on Aging in 1960 when he said,

‘‘We’ve added years to life, now it’s time to add life to those years.’’

And I think if we do that, we’ll not only enrich the lives of older

Americans, but all generations.

Thank you.

Senator BAYH. Marc has touched upon a very important subject

that frankly doesn’t get as much attention in Washington as it deserves. You look at the great challenges that face our country

today. We have the globalization of the economy where we’re not

just competing with each other in this country or our immediate

neighbors, but are competing with nations around the world.

We have the technology revolution with information technology,

telecommunications that has changed the way we live, we work,

and we recreate.

But of all the different changes we face, probably the demographic challenge may be the most profound of all. And we’re really

not devoting the attention to that that we need.

We have a debate about what to do about Social Security and

Medicare, but that’s a fairly narrow debate. And I think the point

that Marc made about looking at our seniors not as a burden or

a problem to be managed, but instead as a resource that can participate in improving the productivity of society and thereby helping us to meet those challenges is a very good one.

We ought to look at this in more of a positive light instead of a

negative, the negative light in which it is all too often presented.

And you’re right. We’re squandering the resource currently. I’d

like to follow up on your comment about innovation. The Experience Corps I understand is an innovative program.

Mr. FREEDMAN. Yes.

Senator BAYH. And can you build upon that a little bit and tell

us what role can the Federal Government play in fostering innovation in terms of senior volunteerism?

30

Mr. FREEDMAN. Well, the Experience Corps Program—actually,

Judge Web Brewer is part of the Experience Corps here in Indianapolis which is run through Big Brothers Program—is now in seventeen cities. And it exists for one reason, because there was a

small pot of money within the National Senior Service Corps for

demonstration projects.

And beginning in 1995, that money went into creating the Experience Corps. And we focused entirely on low income inner city elementary schools because we’ve heard so much about this coming

generation was that the generations of older adults are taking the

younger generation to the cleaners. We wanted to show a very different image, how the generations could support each other.

And Experience Corps is focusing on creating a caring, humane

environment where lots of one-on-one personal attention exists for

young people in inner city schools in those seventeen cities.

Senator BAYH. Wonderful. You know, in my introductory remarks

I suggested one of the things we want to do is expand the funding

available for demonstration projects like that to hopefully accelerate the innovation, and trying some different avenues to encourage

seniors to participate.

So I think that’s completely consistent with what you’re saying

and what you’re advocating.

Marc, thank you for coming all the way from San Francisco. Alan

came from Boston; you came from San—east meets west right here

in Indianapolis, IN. So we appreciate your making the long trip.

Thank you very much.

And I’m glad with the heat we’re having that we don’t have the

sort of energy shortage you have in California. We’d be in big trouble today. Thank you for coming.

Let’s give him a round of applause. [Applause.]

Do you prefer Kenneth or Ken?

Mr. SMITH. Either.

Senator BAYH. Either one. All right.

Well, Kenneth, thank you for being with us. I’m looking forward

to your perspective. And thank you for representing AARP here

today.

STATEMENT OF KENNETH B. SMITH, AARP BOARD OF

DIRECTORS

Mr. SMITH. Thank you. On behalf of the association and my fellow members who are here in the audience, I want to thank you,

Senator, and the Committee, for recognizing the valuable, untapped human resource that America’s seniors represent to assist

in meeting the challenges of our communities and which our communities face today.

We hope that your leadership in this area, Senator, will increase

opportunities for older Americans to contribute their talents and

reap the satisfaction of knowing that their efforts are valued. Community service has been a part of AARP’s vision since our organization was founded with the motto to serve not to be served.

Today I will present an overview of some AARP volunteer activities, the implications for volunteerism in an aging society, what we

understand about the change in volunteer experiences sought by

31

today’s over 50 population, and future roles and opportunities for

seniors.

AARP has traditionally been and is now engaged in recruiting,

training, and deploying volunteers in a wide variety of service

roles.

For example, AARP members in over 3,000 chapters across the

country currently play an active role in serving their communities.

Through each chapter, an average of over 700 hours of service is

contributed annually.

Our National Retired Teachers Association has over 20,000 volunteers working with 500,000 youth in 1,000 communities.

Our AARP tax aid program offered free personal and confidential

assistance to over 1.6 million persons last year.

Our AARP Senior Community Service Employment Program,

CSEP, helped low income job seekers age 55 and older to gain job

skills and experiences that enabled them to transition into permanent unsubsidized jobs.

And the AARP Public Benefits Outreach, PBO programs helps

potential beneficiaries learn about and receive benefits available

through such programs as the Medicare savings program, supplemental security income, and Medicaid, while also educating consumers about their money and management choices.

AARP is proud of these continuing contributions to communities

across the country; however, the unmet needs of individuals and

communities in contemporary society are daunting.

The challenge we all face is to increase volunteer efforts in ways

that build on current successes without limiting the volunteer pool

to traditional modes of service, modes that sometimes do not appeal to today’s midlife and older volunteers.

American society is changing, and so must our approaches to volunteer service. We believe that more can be done both in mobilizing seniors to serve and in generating service opportunities that

are both rewarding and relevant. Both aims are important given

the rapid movement of baby boomers into retirement and the

changing demographic profile of the volunteer pool.

I would note a few points in this regard. There are twice as many

older adults today as compared to 1960, as we’ve already heard.

And by the middle of the next century, America’s elders will outnumber its children and youth for the first time in history.

Today’s over 50 population is the healthiest and best educated

and wealthiest the world has ever seen, as has already been mentioned. They represent a tremendous untapped reservoir of experience and talent.

By the end of the twentieth century, 20 to 30 years of productive

living was added to the average lifespan. This means more work

years without serious cognitive or physical limitations.

In short, traditional volunteer experiences must be reevaluated

for their relevance to human need and adoptability to achieve what

appeals to a more robust senior service pool. We must create new

roles and outlets that foster personal renewal and provide positive

benefits for others in our society.

There is evidence that service provides significant benefits to

those prepared to serve such as structure, interaction, a feeling of

usefulness.

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A 1998 independent sector report found that older adults are extremely willing to serve if they are asked. Continued learning and

skills development eases the transition from the workplace to retirement and combats feelings of isolation and loss of purpose that

can result after retirement.

Many national organizations in America are experiencing

changes in their volunteer force because of the mismatch between

the service opportunities offered and those sought by volunteers.

The challenges of facilitating and supporting and encouraging

creativity in quality service experiences differ among national,

state, and local organizations.

Any endeavor that does not recognize and accommodate these

differences may find itself short-lived. We must look to new forms

of public interest work. These alternative approaches and roles

must include activities research that indicated that seniors today

feel about 19 years older than their chronological age?

Mr. FREEDMAN. Younger.

Senator BAYH. Oh, I’m sorry. Nineteen years younger. Yes, I

meant to say 19 years younger. That’s a marvelous thing, and it

I think proves the truth of what Kenneth is saying. As you mentioned, we’re dealing with a healthier, wealthier, longer living senior population, and therefore we have to rethink the types of service opportunities available to seniors.

Kenneth, AARP is already providing, as you’ve indicated, service

opportunities in so many ways. What can the government do to

amplify the kind of things that you’re already involved with? Are

there things that we can——

Mr. SMITH. I think encouraging. I think the very fact that your

committee is holding a hearing like this encourages the organizations that do the recruiting and the training. That’s very, very important.

And there are other ways in which we can partner which will be

revealed to us as we move along, but I think the encouragement

is very important. I mean, look around here. You’ll see the usefulness of all of these people in this room. And life isn’t over for any

of them.

Senator BAYH. In interest of full disclosure, I think I should indicate to everyone that upon my being sworn into the U.S. Senate

I received an honorary membership in the AARP.

Mr. SMITH. Good for you.

Senator BAYH. So I’m 45, but I’m on my way, and I’ll be there.

Thank you very much, Ken. I appreciate your time and your

presence here. As a matter of fact, I feel a little bit guilty. I should

have told all of our panelists that since we’re at the State Fair, you

could have left the ties at home, but you’ve been very good in

dressing up for the hearing.

Jim, thank you for your time today. We’re looking forward to

hearing from you, and I’ll be interested in hearing your testimony.

But you’ve done so much work in this area, I’d first just like to ask

you a question before you get into it.

Does your research indicate—back up the public opinion data

that Marc cited about people feeling significantly younger than

their chronological age in retirement these days? That’s great news.

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Mr. PERRY. Well, the evidence certainly indicates that people are

better off from a health perspective both physically and mentally,

but the research does not try to translate it into the same chronological improvements. Individuals who have been involved in national senior service are healthier, both physically and

mentally——

Senator BAYH. Also there’s a psychological effect.

Mr. PERRY [continuing.] Apparent in those individuals of similar

age.

Senator BAYH. Great.

Mr. PERRY. And there has been some fairly rigorous research

that’s focused on that particular individual benefit. So it is entirely

consistent with that as well as the testimony of the panel that preceded ours.

Senator BAYH. Good. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony.

I look forward to it.

STATEMENT OF JAMES L. PERRY, ASSOCIATE DEAN AND

CHANCELLORS’ PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS, INDIANA UNIVERSITY-PURDUE UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS

Mr. PERRY. I am going to focus on something more esoteric than

the other panelists. I have no public opinion data to present. But

I am going to talk about some of the evaluation research, some of

the scientific evidence, and even though it’s esoteric, I think it’s important because Congress obviously has to justify appropriations

and decisions it makes about increasing support for senior programs and other national service programs.

So it’s important not only to have the anecdotal evidence which

we have received in the earlier panel, but also to look at the scientific evidence. So I am going to do that.

I also want to make one disclaimer—I got pushed to the end of

the infield when I came in. I pulled up here, and they said, ‘‘No,

you’re in the wrong spot,’’ so I wound up at the other end of the

infield.

And in the process I managed to go past one of the traditions

here at the Indiana State Fair which I hope our friends from the

coast have an opportunity to take in, and that is the world’s biggest

boar.

And at the risk of joining the world’s biggest boar, I’m going to

talk about the scientific evidence. So bear with me. [Laughter.]

Senator BAYH. I was under the impression he was in congress,

Dean, so I was glad to see him out there at the hog barn. [Laughter.]

Mr. PERRY. Although the total volume of research about senior

service is modest, a significant consistent body of evidence has accumulated about senior service since the founding of the Foster

Grandparent Program service in 1965.

In my written testimony, I have appended a bibliography of more

than 35 evaluation studies that have been done over the last 30

years. Permit me to summarize a few of those results. I would also

be happy to elaborate later during the question and answer session.

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In the assessments of national and senior service, a good deal of

attention has been given to how service benefits the individual

server. One if the examples is Senator Bayh’s question about the

health and the individual consequences.

Less attention, particularly for senior programs has been given

to what service means to the beneficiaries of service and to the

larger community. Let me illustrate some of the ways in which senior service has made an impact in the areas of both the beneficiaries as well as the community.

One of the program venues for senior service is Head Start, the

early childhood education program. In a 1997 study of what foster

grandparents do in Head Start programs, researchers from Westat

Corporation looked at education outcomes.

They conducted intensive observations of foster grandparents in

six programs, in six classrooms. In effective classrooms, they observed foster grandparents engage in a range of positive interactions with children over the course of the day, including listening

attentively and acknowledging their progress and accomplishments.

The foster grandparents helped to develop and reinforce prosocial

behaviors through modeling, encouraging children to try new activities, and acknowledging individual contributions to group activities.

Foster grandparents also help children make productive choices

and redirect misbehavior by providing children with constructive

guidance and feedback.

The researchers concluded that the caregiver behavior has contributed to positive developmental outcomes for children in four

areas, (1), emotional well-being; (2), social and behavioral skills development; (3), language development, and (4), cognitive development.

Now that’s, again, fairly esoteric scientific language, but again,

I think it relates very closely to the example we had earlier from

Grandma Jo and Caleb about what happens in the interaction between the tutor and the person doing the reading and the young

person who is the beneficiary of that service.

Another example of the impacts on beneficiaries comes from Seniors for Schools which is an initiative for the Corporation for National Service as part of the America Reads Challenge. It sought

to recruit adults over age 55 to help children read independently

by the end of the third grade.

Sites in nine States participated in the first 2 years of the program. Each of the nine sites conducted local evaluations using

standardized and nonstandardized reading skills tests.

Project Star, the evaluator for the project, synthesized results

from the nine studies. They found that 88 percent of the students

improved their reading skills during the 1998–1999 project year.

Sixty-nine percent of the tutored students whose grade level

change was measured recorded an increase of one full grade or

more.

There are not only benefits for the individuals targeted by service, but there are also benefits for what might be called indirect

beneficiaries. Again, Seniors for Schools is one example. Its primary emphasis is student outcomes, especially reading and literacy.

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But in the course of trying to achieve those outcomes, seniors

also worked with parents and families. Each of the four Seniors for

Schools sites sought to involve parents in the schools. Sites also developed activities to promote literacy enhancement in the home.

The reported result was that parents took a more active role in

the schools and were better prepared to support their child’s development. So the impacts are not only tutor to the child, but also

tutor to the larger social network that supports the child in his or

her learning.

The benefits of senior service have also been found to go beyond

the direct and indirect beneficiaries to organizations and communities. Senior service has been found to produce community-wide

impacts.

A common benefit is that senior service permits organizations to

expand service. For example, several studies have included that the

Senior Companion Program has helped local service providers increase the services they provide.

Another impact of senior service is volunteer leveraging. This refers to the extent to which senior service participants are able to

involve other volunteers. One of the best ways for senior service

participants to enhance a civic ethic lies in their potential to engage other citizens in voluntary activity. The research provides

many examples of how national service participants leverage other

volunteers.

This brief summary of the research about senior service shows a

broad range of positive effects. The positive results reach direct and

indirect beneficiaries, organizations, and communities, and they

are only part of the systematic research that has been conducted

on senior service.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Perry follows:]

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Senator BAYH. Let’s thank Dean Perry for his testimony.

Dean, it seems to me that the essence of your testimony here

today is that service can be considered a win-win-win investment

for society. It’s good for seniors with the health and the psychological effect; it’s good for the direct beneficiaries, Caleb, the Head

Start students you mentioned, others, and it’s good for society in

a broader sense, and in that sense, the taxpayers because we’re

getting the benefits to the broader public.

Is that a good summary of your testimony?

Mr. PERRY. I think it’s an excellent summary.

I think one of the reasons the senior programs have been highly

successful is they have been highly focused. Senior programs, particularly the Foster Grandparent and Senior Companion Program,

benefit the caregiver by providing some income and support, some

meaningful activity. They also benefit the beneficiaries.

In recent years the Corporation for National Service has focused

on an idea they call programming for impact which says that the

benefits ought to go not only to the senior who is a participant in

the senior programs, but it also ought to go to the individuals who

are the recipients of service, whether they be other seniors or

young people in reading programs or in other service delivery contexts.

Senator BAYH. Well, for the benefit of our out-of-town guests,

Alan, Marc, and others, I, Dean, would just like to say how proud

I am that someone who’s devoting such thought and research to

this important subject resides right here in Indiana. So we’re very

proud to have you on the panel today.

Mr. PERRY. Thanks.

Mr. SMITH. I think what I’ve heard from my fellow panelists

demonstrates that we don’t live by bread alone. We live by giving

of ourselves. And when that ends, purposefulness in living ends.

Senator BAYH. Very well said, Ken. Very well said.

I’d like to thank the members of our second panel for their testimony today. I believe that the members of the first panel have also

remained with us.

And, Geneva, we’ve reached that part of the hearing. We’re winding down. We don’t want to keep everyone all afternoon, but we’re

winding down now. But we’re going to have a couple of questions

from members of the audience for our panelists.

I, ladies and gentlemen, will stay around after the hearing is

over down in front if you have questions for me. And for those of

you who submitted questions in writing that we don’t get to, we

will definitely answer you by mail. I don’t want you to think you’ve

been forgotten.

But, Geneva, why don’t you have the questions for our panelists.

Ms. SHEDD. OK. Great. Thank you very much. And thank you for

holding your U.S. Senate Field Hearing right here in Indiana again

this year. We really appreciate this opportunity.

The first question is for Rose, Rose Thurman of the first panel,

and the questions is, ‘‘How did you find out about the Senior Companion Program? How did it help you in your specific situation?’’

As Rose is coming forward, ‘‘Rose, how did you find out about the

Senior Companion Program? How did it help you in your specific

situation?’’

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Ms. THURMAN. I found out about the Senior Companion through

my daughter, Bobbi Brown. She was a social worker for the welfare, and she got me into it. And I have really enjoyed. Please keep

it going.

Ms. SHEDD. Thank you, Rose.

The next one is for Marc Freedman and Kenneth Smith. And it

is, ‘‘Due to my mother’s health, she must spend the majority of her

time inside her home. How can she volunteer?’’

Mr. SMITH. You can volunteer in a variety of ways, and sometimes you can do it by the phone. Calling somebody every day

who’s shut in is a form of volunteering. And someone who is shut

in at home can do that.

Mr. FREEDMAN. I was going to say the same thing. Telephone reassurance programs are all over the country and are enormously

beneficial for both sides.

Ms. Shedd. OK. Thank you. I believe because of the time that’s

the number that we can ask, and that I’m going to turn it back to

you.

Senator BAYH. Oh, Geneva, ask one more.

Ms. Shedd. OK. ‘‘I would like to volunteer. I do not know where

to start. Where can I go to learn about volunteer opportunities in

my community?’’ And that’s for Marilyn Morin from panel one.

Senator BAYH. If I could say just one thing first, don’t forget our

1–800 number which will provide information. It’s a national tollfree number. We can provide information that way.

Would any of our other panelists like to—yes.

Mr. PERRY. The Points of Light Foundation. I don’t know whether that’s the same number. I don’t think it is. It’s 1–800–VOLUNTEER. And it will connect you with volunteer opportunities in your

communities.

Points of Light is one of the recipients of support from the Corporation for National Service and a partner in national and voluntary service. But 1–800–VOLUNTEER is another avenue.

Ms. SHEDD. OK, Marilyn, did you want to say something about

that? And the number is 1–800—for the volunteer number up here

is 1–800–424–8867.

Ms. MORIN. I agree. The 1–800 number is the best way. But if

you are in Columbus, our numbers are Aging and Community

Services. Also in the State of Indiana and nationwide, there are

area agencies. The Triple A’s all have volunteer opportunities.

Thank you.

Senator BAYH. Thank you.

Again, I am going to be standing down in front for anyone who

wants to ask me questions when we’re done. The others we will all

answer by mail. You will receive a response to your question.

I’d like to thank the members of both panels again for joining

with us today. Let’s give them another round of applause.

Senator BAYH. I’d like to thank everyone from the area agencies

on aging. Anyone here from the area agencies on aging today?

Raise you hand. I’d like to thank all of you for your help that you

provide.

Les Lenkowsky, again, Les, you’ve been so good. We’re looking

forward to working with you.

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State Director Bill Stinson who is not with us but provided

much, much help, and everyone from the State fair.

Tom Haskett, the Indiana Senior Service Director. Tom,

thanks—raise your hand. This good man is doing a lot of great

work here. Tom Haskett, thank you.

And last, but by no means least, I’d like to thank the Chairman

of the Committee on Aging, Senator Breaux and the ranking member Senator Craig. They give me one field hearing a year to conduct, and I’m grateful for them allowing us to have it here at the

Indiana State Fair. And I know I speak for them when I say I

think this has been our third consecutive successful hearing.

Thank you all again very, very much for your presence today.

This hearing of the Special Committee on Aging is now adjourned.

[Whereupon, at 3:42 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]

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