devastate the effectiveness of the support we could render the volunteer programs. Without a fiscal year 1983 floor, the VISTA program will be closed down at the end of fiscal year 1982, 6 months earlier than currently planned.

Question. What effect will the establishment of the Peace Corps as an independent agency have on the ACTION agency in general?

Answer. Pursuant to the requirements of section 2.A of the International Security and Development Cooperation Act of 1981, 283 permanent positions along with related property and 6,478 cubic feet of records were transferred from ACTION to Peace Corps. New accounts were established at Treasury for all unexpended Peace Corps funds. About 80,000 square feet of office and special purpose space was made available to Peace Corps to augment space already used by Peace Corps.

Prior to enactment of the legislation separating Peace Corps from ACTION, the two agencies shared a wide range of cost-effective support services. Provision had existed for joint support of ACTION and Peace Corps in the areas of accounting, contracting, health services, library, mailroom, computer services, print shop, personnel security, and other administrative services. Although ACTION and Peace Corps have entered into an interagency agreement to maintain joint support for the balance of fiscal year 1982, fiscal year 1983 will witness duplication of certain functions.

The immediate effects of the separation of the Peace Corps from ACTION are reflected in attachments itemizing personnel transferred, contract management, interagency agreements, jointly funded purchase orders, contracts transferred, property transferred, records transferred, and appropriation and fund transfers.

The short-term effects of the separation of Peace Corps from ACTION are organizational disruption, increased costs, tension among staff and cleavage of field program and recruiting operations, many of which will continue to share the same office space. Longer term effects of the separation are more difficult to assess. The arguments pro and con over these issues as raised during the debate in the Congress are fresh in memory. Ultimate costs and lessons learned will doubtless be realized long after the damage has been done.

[CLERK'S NOTE.-A list of ACTION property, personnel, contract, and other matters transferred to the Peace Corps and interagency agreements is available from the subcommittee's files.]

Question. The justification submitted with our budget mentions a reprograming request to be submitted shortly. Could you provide us some details in this regard?

Answer. The continuing resolution under which the agency is operating through March 31, 1982, provides that the funds available are based on the Senate mark (which is less than the bill approved by the House), less 4 percent, a formula which results in an annualized funding level of $128,906,000. While we are able to operate within this total amount, the way in which the Senate committee allocated the resources by activity, especially program support, causes us significant problems.

As I mentioned previously, due to our ongoing requirements plus such extraordinary factors as uncontrollable cost increases, startup costs for support systems separate from Peace Corps, and obligations deriving from last fall's reduction in force, we find it vir tually impossible to reduce our support needs below $28,784,000, which is $3,121,000 more than the Senate allocated for this activity but $1,307,000 less than we originally requested for this purpose. We have, therefore, requested a change in our authorizing legislation or a clause in the next continuing resolution which will remove the funding minimum for VISTA, thereby enabling us to take the necessary funds from that program activity to meet our support requirements.

The only other alternatives we have are taking the necessary additional funds from the older American volunteer programs, which under our current proposal we are able to maintian at 98.7 percent of the level stipulated in the Senate mark, or the drastic measure of instituting a furlough of as many as 8 unpaid weeks for every ACTION employee, which would reduce their base pay by 40 percent each pay period for the remainder of the fiscal year. We feel that neither of these options is as viable as that offered by phasing the VISTA program out in fiscal year 1982.

SENIOR COMPANION AND OLDER AMERICAN VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS

Question. Could you briefly describe how the senior companion program functions and whether you anticipate any changes in its method of operation in the near future? Answer. Senior companions are low-income persons, 60 years and older, who provide personal assistance and companionship primarily to older persons. These older persons have mental, emotional and physical impairments, and need help to achieve and maintain their fullest potential, to be healthy, and to manage their lives independently.

The program also provides volunteer opportunities for low-income older people which enhance their ability to remain active and provide critically needed community

services.

Senior companions serve three to five clients 4 hours a day, 5 days a week, and receive a stipend of $2 per hour. Projects assist with transportation and lunch expenses, and provide an annual physical examination and liability insurance. An amount equal to 90 percent of Federal funding must be distributed to volunteers as direct benefits. The program coordinates and places volunteers through direct health service care providers, social service agencies, and Federal and State long-term care networks.

During fiscal year 1982, the senior companions will concentrate its efforts in three major areas: Improve management to maximize volunteer opportunities within existing resources; support and expansion of new initiatives in drug abuse, and promotion of increased non-ACTION support for the program. Private sector funding will continue to be explored and supported through a variety of mechanisms.

Question. What has been the impact of the senior companion program in avoiding long-term institutional services?

Answer. A longitudinal research and evaluation effort is in progress which will soon provide comprehensive information about the program's impact on the avoidance and the delay of institutionalization of persons served by companions.

ACTION is conducting a 4-year study on the relationship between senior companions' activities and the physical and mental health status of their clients. By July 1983, when the study is finished, comprehensive data will be available on an estimated 1,300 to 1,500 functionally impaired older persons served by 300 to 370 companions. The client sample includes both institutionalized and noninstitutionalized persons.

This representative sample will provide ACTION ample information from which accurate statements can be made about the impact of the program nationwide. A subpart of the study will relate specifically to the impact on in-home clients who might otherwise become institutionalized.

Since 1976, ACTION has directed most of its resources in support of noninstitutionalized senior companion client placements. In recent years, a number of model projects have been initiated to test the feasibility of integrating companions into health and social service care plans for in-home clients. These and other projects have demonstrated that concerned and knowledgeable older persons can perform a unique role in moderating some of the consequences of growing old alone, frail and afraid.

Another indicator of the usefulness of the program has been the multiplier effect of the program nationwide. Five State agencies on aging and three Department of Labor funded senior community services employment programs are operating programs modeled after senior companion program. In addition, there are three non-ACTION funded projects that operate under senior companion program's guidelines, drawing on support for direct volunteer benefits from non-Federal sources.

Question. How many older Americans are participating in the program at this time? Will the number of participants be increased during fiscal year 1983?

Answer. During fiscal year 1982, an estimated 4,200 senior companions will serve approximately 15,000 persons in a total of 77 projects located in 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. We do not anticipate any change in this volunteer level in fiscal year 1983.

Question. How many older adults were served by senior companions during the last fiscal year?

Answer. Approximately 13,000 older adults were served by senior companions in fiscal year 1981.

OLDER AMERICAN VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS

In the past there has been discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of transferring the programs for the elderly to the Administration on Aging.

Question. Do you think it would be more efficient if these programs were transferred, especially now that the VISTA program is being scaled back?

Answer. No, the older American volunteer program would not be more efficient if transferred to the Administration on Aging.

The primary focus of ACTION's older American programs is on the concept of the older American as a productive resource not as a dependent client.

The Administration on Aging is principally concerned with providing services to the low-income and frail elderly. However, the 1980 census figures show that 83 percent of the elderly are above the poverty level and that 69 percent enjoy fair to good health. The older American volunteer programs are unique in providing volunteer service opportunities to the majority of the elderly. Transferring the programs to the Administration on Aging, a much larger agency with a client-dependent philosophy on aging issues, could risk endangering this uniqueness.

It is significant that, the aging constituency, including leaders of the Western Gerontological Society, the American Association of Retired Persons, and the project directors of the foster grandparent program, retired senior volunteer program, and senior companion program, as well as the volunteers themselves, are opposed to transferring the older American programs from ACTION to the Administration on Aging.

Question. To what extent is the older American volunteer program designed so that community efforts could take them over?

Answer. Each foster grandparent project and senior companion project is required presently to achieve a minimum of 10 percent local funding. Many achieve a higher level, the average amount of local support is 16 percent for the foster grandparent program and 13 percent for the senior companion program. Eleven projects are totally funded by the State. The volunteer stipends in the foster grandparent program and the senior companion program involve costs which make them viable under State funding but are expensive for most communities.

The retired senior volunteer programs, however, presently average over 40 percent local support. Community commitment increases with the age of the project in most areas. The average Federal funding is $30,000 to $35,000, an easier burden for the local community to assume.

Question. With the phasing down of the VISTA program, to what extent will volunteer services to older persons performed by VISTA volunteers be continued?

Answer. One major premise of the VISTA program is that its volunteers should not be regarded as permanent resources of any community, but should transfer their expertise to local residents who would be able to carry on the efforts long after the VISTA's leave. This principle enables communities to continue services begun by the volunteers.

Additionally, ACTION's older American volunteer programs have demonstrated through the years that services to older persons can be performed by older volunteers. The retired senior volunteer program volunteers are active nationwide in the meals-onwheels program, in food and crop gleaning programs, in energy conservation assistance, and so forth. In addition, the senior companion program volunteers serve mostly the frail elderly, preventing institutionalization and expediting deinstitutionalization.

Question. Will the over age 60 VISTA volunteers be able to transfer to one of the older American volunteer programs?

Answer. Approximately 15 percent of VISTA volunteers are over 60. There is no guarantee every older VISTA volunteer will be able to transfer instantly to one of the older American volunteer programs. There are geographic limitations; older American volunteer projects are not located everywhere. However, there are 727 retired senior volunteer projects nationwide, all of which are capable of enrolling new volunteers upon request. Foster grandparent program and senior companion program projects are more limited due to cost per volunteer and low income requirements. Many foster grandparent program and senior companion program projects maintain waiting lists. Both programs have a marginal turnover rate due to deaths and retirements, and VISTA volunteers who qualify should not experience a lengthy delay in being placed.

Question. What is the demand for participation in the older American volunteer program; for example, how many persons apply to become volunteers under each of the programs each year, and what is the extent of the waiting lists for the programs? Answer. Each older American volunteer project is responsible for recruiting its own volunteers. To avoid creating false expectations for applicants beyond the projects' abilities to accommodate a certain number of volunteers, most local projects coordinate recruiting efforts with their attrition experience.

Foster grandparent and senior companion programs have minimal recruitment activity for operational projects. When a new project is started, the demand for enrollment is generated. There are 18,100 foster grandparents and 4,200 senior companions enrolled in their respective programs. The annual attrition rates are well below 10 percent. We have no data relating to the number of foster grandparent applicants each year. However, of 400,000 eligible and willing low-income elderly, only 4.5 percent are now serving as foster grandparent volunteers. As for senior companion program, in 1981, 67 local projects reported 1,946 applicants put on the waiting lists, an average of almost 30 per project.

The retired senior volunteer program is another matter. Project enrollment for retired senior volunteer program volunteers range from a low 100 to a high of 7,400. Recruitment and enrollment is always based on community demand for their services and the availability of funding. According to a Harris poll conducted for NCOA, only 3.5 percent of 9 million willing and able to serve are now enrolled as retired senior volunteer program volunteers.

Question. What effect will the phase-down of the VISTA program have on the recruitment of volunteers for the older American programs in ACTION?

Answer. None. Each foster grandparent program, retired senior volunteer program, and senior companion program project recruits its own volunteers. There is no ACTION recruitment service for older American volunteer programs.

Question. What new initiatives are planned in ACTION programs?

Answer. With exception of the Vietnam veterans leadership project, a common thread runs through all of ACTION's recent initiatives. They are intended to help young people overcome the problems peculiar to their generation and, at the same time, to call upon their idealism and energy in service to their communities-a natural civic impulse we believe they must begin to fulfill when they are young, if we are to preserve it for the Nation's future.

Young volunteers in ACTION-ACTION has developed a new program called young volunteers in ACTION, which is currently in place at 12 sites nationally and which we hope to expand to approximately 30 locations during fiscal year 1982. This program is designed to enlist young people aged 14 to 22 in part-time, nonstipended service to their communities. Young volunteers perform a wide range of community service, from visiting the elderly in nursing homes, weatherization and neighborhood cleanup, to tutoring those even younger who need academic assistance. The projects operating under this program are expected to pay special attention to the needs of the poor and to the problems of troubled young people their peers.

Drug abuse prevention.-The drug abuse prevention projects will focus on youths, their parents, their schools, and communities. ACTION will test peer guidance and educational models utilizing teenage volunteers who can offer accurate information and positive images to their peers. It will also support volunteer activity involving parent groups educating themselves about drugs in order to work with the school and the community and to support one another in attempts to create a drug-free environment for their children. ACTION will provide technical assistance information on forming volunteer organizations and will support dissemination of the most recent scientific and medical information regarding the harmful effects of drugs on children and youth. ACTION will also assist local businesses and major corporations in designing and implementing prevention plans for themselves and their communities.

Runaway youth.-ACTION will support technical assistance to organizations seeking to establish shelters in cities where concentrations of runaway youth create severe problems. The agency will also fund volunteer training models for runaway shelter and group home personnel in order to help them make effective use of volunteers who are able to provide highly specialized services to residents of shelters and group homes.

Literacy.-ACTION will fund the expansion of tutoring programs currently sponsored by volunteer organizations, enabling these projects to reach previously unserved locales, explore joint projects with a varitey of tutoring programs, and develop corporate support and involvement with a view toward a national campaign to increase literacy.

Refugees.-The refugee youth employment support program is the agency's newest initiative. ACTION volunteers assist Cambodian youth (ages 16 to 21) on a one-to-one basis in seeking jobs and providing followup support once they have found a job. The program operates with $115,000 remaining from an interagency agreement with the Department of Labor and is administered by mutual assistance agencies in the Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles-Long Beach, Calif., areas.

In addition, the Cuban-Haitian entrant program is being funded with a transfer of $500,000 from the Department of State's Bureau of Refugee Programs. This project enables volunteers to work with local refugee assistance agencies in Florida in areas with large Cuban and Haitian refugee populations.

Vietnam veterans leadership project.-The Vietnam veterans leadership project enlists the experience and understanding of those who have served in Vietnam and who have made a successful transition to civilian life. The volunteers assist their fellow veterans in obtaining counseling, employment, and other forms of support in their communities. The program has begun with several pilot projects throughout the United States with prospects of rapid expansion.

ACTION volunteers use their leadership and professional skills and community and local government contacts to encourage Vietnam veterans to fully use community, government, and veteran organization resources. Recognizing the differences amoung communities, the program assists local initiatives, as opposed to imposing a single design on all communities.

Question. What plans are being made to facilitate the availability of unpaid volunteers to help staff programs as Federal funds are withdrawn?

Answer. Regardless of the level of Federal funding available to programs which provide social services, ACTION continues its commitment to the encouragement of their use of volunteers. That is, volunteering under any circumstances is both a civic obligation and a personally rewarding experience for the volunteer. Nonetheless, we recognize that some social service programs have become in great measure dependent upon Federal funding which is now less available. Therefore, ACTION is assisting those programs, both public and private, which are highly regarded by their communities and thus merit continued existence to expand their use of volunteers and to generate expanded private sector support. At the same time, and more importantly, we are directing a portion of our resources to the expansion of private voluntary associations which have proven effective and which have historically relied upon local or private support. To achieve these goals, ACTION has undertaken the following initiatives:

A series of national workshops on volunteerism, cosponsored by the White House. These workshops bring together local, county, and State government officials, corporate leadership, and representatives of exemplary private sector volunteer programs, to explore ways in which governmentally funded social service programs may enhance delivery of services through effective use of volunteers and increased private support.

Planning for the establishment at ACTION of a national clearinghouse for model volunteer programs. This clearinghouse will gather and disseminate information related to the broad range and goals and techniques of volunteer programs, including methods of recruitment, fundraising, commuity relations, and organization.

Leading an interagency working group on volunteerism, to explore with other Federal agencies methods by which they can employ their resources in support of the expansion of volunteers for the delivery of social services within each agency's domain. Assisting the President's Task Force on Private Sector Initiatives. The Director of ACTION is the sole representative of the Federal executive branch on the task force, which is mandated to discover and promote exemplary private, public/private, and volunteer models for social service delivery.

Demonstrating, through grant awards, that training of volunteers can allow nonprofit organizations and local governments to use volunteers effectively in sophisticated capacities. An example is a grant to the National Youth Work Alliance, an umbrella agency for organizations involved in addressing the problems of troubled youth. Under