Older Americans Act Amendments of 1987

Older Americans Act Amendments of 1987 - Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 (the Act) to include within the Act's declaration of objectives the protection of the elderly from abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Establishes a direct reporting relationship between the Commissioner on Aging and the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary). Requires the Administration on Aging to annually collect, and include in its annual report to the Congress and the President, data on: (1) expenditures for and utilization of services funded by this Act; (2) the number of senior centers supported by this Act; and (3) the extent to which area agencies on aging comply with certain requirements regarding the delivery of services. Adds the Veterans Administration to the list of Federal agencies with which the Commissioner may consult in carrying out the Act's programs. Includes, where appropriate, a representative of veterans' health care on the advisory councils which serve area agencies on aging.

Authorizes appropriations for the Federal Council on Aging for FY 1988 through 1991.

Directs the Secretary to issue proposed regulations for the administration of the Act within 120 days of this Act's enactment and final regulations within 90 days thereafter. Requires the Commissioner to publish by September of each year the proposed specific goals to be achieved by implementing the Act.

Directs the Commissioner to conduct a study and report to the Congress concerning the unsatisfied demand for supportive services provided at senior centers. Requires the Secretary to conduct a study and report to the Congress on the impact of the prospective payment system on community-based services for Medicare patients who are discharged from hospitals. Requires the Commissioner to conduct a study and report to the Congress within two years on the efficacy of: (1) using State and areas agencies on aging to develop a nationwide system for providing geographically remote members of an older individual's family with information regarding the availability of in-home, legal, referral, and access-related services; and (2) requiring each area agency on aging to list its telephone number in each telephone directory covering areas served by such agency.

Includes Indian tribes and organizations among the organizations administering the services funded with the Act's grants for State and community programs on aging.

Authorizes appropriations for State and community programs on aging for FY 1988 through 1991. Increases the percentage of funding for such programs that may be expended by area agencies on aging for administrative purposes from 8.5 percent to ten percent.

Requires area agencies on aging to: (1) hold periodic hearings on activities carried out under area plans; (2) coordinate in-home services, services providing access to old age services, and legal assistance provided under the Act with the activities of community-based organizations established for victims of Alzheimer's disease and their families; and (3) conduct a survey of post-secondary schools in their area and provide information to older individuals regarding tuition-free or low cost educational opportunities available in the area.

Directs the Commissioner to report to the Congress and specified public agencies and private organizations by January 15 of each year on problems and issues concerning State long-term care ombudsman programs and the quality of care provided to residents of long-term care facilities. Requires the Commissioner to conduct a study and report to the Congress before 1989 on the ombudsman programs' impact on problems affecting long-term care facility residents and the effectiveness of recruiting, supervising, and retaining volunteer ombudsmen. Authorizes appropriations for the State long-term care ombudsman programs for FY 1988 through 1991.

Requires that State long-term care ombudsman programs be carried out through an Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, with local ombudsman entities being designated as subdivisions of such Office. Directs States to: (1) identify and remedy conflicts of interest which arise in the appointment of ombudsman personnel or in the pursuit of ombudsman duties; (2) ensure that Office personnel will not be liable under State law for the good faith performance of official duties; (3) provide the Office with adequate legal counsel; (4) ensure that the Office has the ability to pursue remedies on behalf of residents of long-term care facilities; (5) prohibit willful interference with Office personnel in the performance of their official duties, or retaliation by a long-term care facility or other entity against residents or employees who file a complaint with, or provide information to, the Office; (6) provide Office personnel with access to long-term care facilities, their residents, and, with the resident's approval, a resident's records; and (7) expend at least as much on the Ombudsman program as was expended in FY 1987 if the State allotment for supportive services under the Act is at least as much as it was in FY 1987. Requires the Office to: (1) report annually regarding problems experienced and complaints received by or on behalf of individuals residing in long-term care facilities; (2) analyze and monitor the development and implementation of Federal, State, and local laws, regulations, and policies with respect to such facilities; (3) provide information to public agencies, legislators, and others regarding the problems and concerns of older individuals residing in long-term care facilities; (4) train Office staff; and (5) coordinate ombudsman services with the protection and advocacy systems for developmentally disabled and mentally ill individuals established under specified Federal laws.

Gives individuals and service providers hearing and appeal rights if they are from an area subject to a waiver of the requirement that an adequate portion of an allotment for supportive services be expended on in-home services, legal assistance, and services providing access to old age services. Specifies what shall be considered adequate expenditures for legal assistance. Sets forth special reporting requirements when a waiver applies to legal assistance.

Requires that area and State plans identify the number of low-income minority older individuals within service areas and describe how their service needs have been met. Requires that nutrition and supportive services provided under the Act be targeted to older individuals with the greatest economic or social needs, with particular attention to low-income minority individuals.

Directs the Administration on Aging to distribute written information on eligibility requirements for benefits under the Food Stamp Act of 1977 and titles XVI (Supplemental Security Income) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to area agencies on aging. Requires area agencies on aging to inform older individuals regarding their eligibility, and assist them in applying for such benefits. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1989 for such outreach activities, provided funding for grants for State and community programs on aging under the Act exceeds 105 percent of the amount appropriated in FY 1988.

Requires State and area agencies on aging to represent the interests of older individuals by reviewing Federal, State, and local actions affecting older individuals and recommending appropriate changes in local programs, laws, and policies. Directs the State agency to conduct periodic public hearings on activities carried out under the State plan. Requires area agencies on aging to facilitate the coordination of community-based, long-term care services for those who are at risk of institutionalization or who could be returned to their communities if provided with community-based services. Directs such agencies to coordinate mental health services funded from allotments for supportive services with mental health services provided in the community.

Preserves the confidentiality of information related to legal assistance provided to individuals under the Act.

Modifies the method of reducing a State's allotment of grants for State and community programs on aging under the Act when funding from State sources is less than in previous fiscal years.

Directs the Commissioner to implement programs making grants to States for the provision of: (1) in-home services to frail older individuals (including individuals with Alzheimer's disease or similar disorders); and (2) services designed to satisfy the special needs of older individuals. Requires the Commissioner to make grants to States to support the development of comprehensive, coordinated systems of community long-term care for older individuals.

Directs the Commissioner to make annual grants over a four year period to no more than five eligible States for the creation and operation of volunteer service credit demonstration projects through which homemaker services, respite care for families, adult day care, educational services, and transportation and delivery services are provided by volunteers to older individuals in return for the receipt of similar services when they grow old. Sets forth application and reporting requirements.

Requires the Commissioner to conduct a study to determine for FY 1988: (1) the extent to which funding for the Act was used for transportation services (including the delivery of goods and services) benefiting older individuals; and (2) the relative importance of such transportation services for older individuals. Requires the Commissioner to submit a report to the Congress by March 31, 1989, summarizing the results of such study and containing recommendations for improving such services.

Authorizes appropriations for training, research, and discretionary projects and programs for FY 1988 through 1991.

Amends the Older American Community Service Employment Act to freeze the cap on the percentage of Federal funds for community service employment projects for older individuals which may be used for administrative costs at 13.5 percent, but permits the Secretary of Labor to increase such limit to 15 percent given certain circumstances. Authorizes appropriations for the community service employment program for FY 1988 through 1991. Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to specifically include literacy tutoring as part of the educational services included in community service employment projects. Excludes funds received by individuals by reason of their participation in the community service employment program from consideration in determining their eligibility for federally subsidized housing.

Permits Indians to receive benefits from both the program providing grants to Indian tribes and organizations for the delivery of supportive and nutritional services to older Indians and the program providing grants for State and community programs on aging under the Act. Authorizes appropriations for grants to Indian tribes and organizations for FY 1988 through 1991.

Authorizes appropriations for the older Americans personal health education and training program for FY 1988 through 1991.

Authorizes the President to call a White House Conference on Aging in 1991 the purpose of which shall be to: (1) increase public awareness of the contributions of older individuals to society; (2) identify the problems and examine the well-being of older individuals; (3) develop recommendations for the coordination of Federal policy with State and local needs and for executive and legislative action designed to maintain or improve the well-being of older individuals; and (4) review the status of recommendations adopted at previous White House Conferences on Aging. Sets forth reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations for such Conference for FY 1989 through 1991. Establishes an advisory committee to the Conference.

Amends the Native American Programs Act of 1974 to require the Secretary to establish a formal process for reviewing applications for financial assistance for proposed native American projects under which a review panel ranks each project in accordance with its merit in relation to other projects for a fiscal year and submits a list of such projects, arranged by rank, to the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to provide the Congress, upon its request, with written notice of approved projects and a statement of the Secretary's reasons for approving a project lower in rank than other projects which have not been approved. Sets forth additional procedural requirements under such Act, including the requirement that general notice of proposed rules (including interpretive rules) and statements of policy be published in the Federal Register. Authorizes appropriations under such Act for FY 1989 through 1991.

Amends the National School Lunch Act to make adult day care centers eligible under the child care food program for reimbursement for meals or supplements served to elderly or chronically impaired disabled persons.