Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the
Corporation’s Strategic Plan. As you know, with
almost 430,000 volunteers, who receive no stipends,
in approximately 800 programs and with a network of
almost 65,000 of community partners, RSVP is the
Corporation’s largest volunteer program.
Approximately 430,000 seniors -- including a growing
number of “baby boomers” – volunteer annually in
RSVP at an average federal cost of less than $140
per volunteer. In addition, according to the most
recent available data, RSVP raised $52 million, or
46 percent of grant funds in 2007, far exceeding the
program’s required 30 percent match.
We believe that RSVP is an underappreciated resource
and that if properly utilized, it can play a key
role in achieving the Corporation’s goals.
Therefore, we hope that the Strategic Planning
process results in the Corporation taking greater
advantage of RSVP’s many strengths.
We have one transcendent concern and several
specific ones that are presented below.
The Corporation must
demonstrate that it values all of its programs
equally. Given the Administration’s funding requests
for FYB 2010 and FY 2011, it is hard to avoid the
sense that the entire Senior Corps has been
relegated to the status of “junior partner.” We
believe that it is incumbent on the Corporation to
reverse this process. Without additional funding,
RSVP programs cannot afford to meet the mandates the
Corporation imposes.
Program improvement and
implementing new and innovative approaches and
projects require funds. The average RSVP grant is
only $76,000 (and half as much in rural areas) and
there is a real danger that program sponsors will
withdraw their support. The macroeconomic situation
has adversely affected our community partners,
imposition of competition has led to confusion, and
burdensome record keeping increases the cost of
programming. A freeze in funding will not even allow
RSVP programs to run in place. Already, many RSVP
programs are being forced to curtail vital
programming and cut staff.
With some 70 million “baby
boomers” expected to retire in the coming decades we
will need RSVP to provide them with volunteer
opportunities to serve their neighbors. RSVP
programs deliver extraordinarily high quality
volunteer opportunities. In a recent study, CNCS
reported that RSVP has increased the number of baby
boomers in the program and provides those volunteers
with activities that make use of their skills. Baby
boomers in RSVP volunteer over 100 hours more than
counterparts who are not in RSVP and virtually all
of RSVP baby boomers who recruit/coordinate other
volunteers are likely to continue in the program.
Thus, RSVP is doing a good job of attracting and
retaining baby boomers even under the funding
constraints under which programs operate.
In fact, RSVP is the only
national infrastructure we have capable of
performing the important job of providing
meaningful, structured volunteer opportunities for
seniors at a low cost. But, lack of funds threatens
our continued viability.
We are also concerned, however, about five specific
aspects of Corporation policy with respect to RSVP.
First, we are concerned that the efforts underway to
implement competition are moving too slowly and that
the result will be a chaotic process. We urge the
Corporation to follow Congress’ guidance as
expressed by Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY), Ranking
Member of the Senate Health Education Labor and
Pensions (HELP) Committee:
The process by which the
Corporation develops regulations and performance
measures should be open and inclusive. As the
Corporation for National Community Service moves
through the regulatory process, we expect them to
take seriously the public comments they receive for
how best to move forward with greater competition in
this program. There is a lot of on-the- ground
expertise within the community of RSVP directors,
and we expect the Corporation will listen to their
recommendations, the recommendations of the National
Association of RSVP Directors, and involve
representatives from these communities in the peer
review process.
And to heed the remarks of
Senator Mikulski (D-MD):
[The Serve America Act] … also
includes requirements for the Corporation to provide
technical assistance to those programs that are
struggling. It is able to obtain the support that
they need from the Corporation to be successful. We
have built in sufficient time so that the process is
not rushed, and the legislation also ensures that
every effort be made to minimize disruption to the
volunteers and the communities they serve.
We continue to make ourselves
available for meaningful discussions about how to
best implement competition so that it achieves the
Congress’ goals while minimizing “disruption to the
volunteers and the communities they serve.”
Second, we understand the
Corporation’s goal of reducing the focus of programs
to make data collection easier, more comprehensible,
and more useful in telling the story of service. We
certainly support the end result, but are worried
that this may be a case of two worthy goals in
conflict.
With regard to senior
programs, the language of the Kennedy Serve America
Act is extremely broad. Sec. 200 of the Domestic
Volunteer Service Act (Statement of Purpose) reads
that “It is the purpose of this title to provide (1)
opportunities for senior service to meet unmet
local, State, and national needs in the areas of
education, public safety, emergency and disaster
relief preparedness, relief, and recovery, health
and human needs, and the environment.” The second
purpose is (2) … “to empower people 55 years of age
or older to contribute to their communities through
service, enhance the lives of those who serve and
those whom they serve, and provide communities with
valuable services.” Finally, the Domestic Volunteer
Service Act (DVSA)calls upon RSVP volunteers (4) …
to share their knowledge, experiences, abilities,
and skills for the betterment of their communities
and themselves; …”
Unlike the AmeriCorps section
of the Serve America Act, the authorization of the
Senior Service Corps in the DVSA do not include any
indicators by which the success of the programs can
be judged.
The great strengths of the
RSVP program are its volunteers, its “bottom up”
flexibility in meeting local needs and its network
of 65,000 nonprofit partners. We are certainly
willing to work with the Corporation to try to bring
sharper focus to what RSVP programs achieve, but
urge the Corporation to be sensitive to the
open-ended language in the statute. We believe that
RSVP must remain responsive to local needs and local
partners rather than try to dictate to them what
their priorities should be.
It is worth noting that the
Congress had the opportunity to narrow the focus of
senior programs and include indicators of success,
but obviously chose not to do so.
Finally, we urge you not to forget the volunteer. By
keeping senior volunteers vibrant and engaged,
participation in RSVP benefits the individual as
much as it helps the community. In this regard, it
is particularly important that the Corporation
recognize that RSVP is not like AmeriCorps in which
volunteers serve for a defined period of time,
usually one year. For many RSVP volunteers, service
starts upon retirement and continues until they are
no longer able to volunteer. As the DVSA indicates,
any meaningful evaluation of the value of RSVP must
include an assessment of the direct and indirect
benefits RSVP contributes to the volunteer as well
as to the community.
RSVP programs will continue to
meet real needs in the areas of improving the
education of our children, Falls prevention and
other health care initiatives, educating seniors
about disreputable financial services products, and
hastening the transition to the green economy.
Third, we support the
Corporation’s interest in outcomes based reporting.
In fact, RSVP programs have been programming for
impact for the better part of the last decade. We
want the Corporation to collect only the data that
it uses and to use the data that it collects. We do
not believe that has been the case in the past.
Nevertheless, we are encouraged by recent efforts to
reduce the amount of paperwork the Corporation
requires of programs and look forward to working
with you to ensure that this trend continues.
Fourth, in discussions at the
recent national conference, the Corporation seems to
have taken the position that it “owns’” volunteer
files. We are concerned that this position will
undermine our relationship with current, and
prospective, volunteers who understand their
relationship to be with the RSVP program with which
they volunteer and its community partners and not
the Corporation. Further, there are RSVP programs
that are not funded by the Corporation. It is
difficult to understand how the Corporation can
claim records of volunteers that it does not
support.
We strongly support the Corporation’s strategic
priorities as you have laid them out:
We share your vision of
service as a solution and urge the Corporation to
recognize the many ways in which RSVP already solves
problems and the ways in which it can do even more.
To take but two examples:
-
RSVP can play a major role
in helping seniors live independently by
promoting falls prevention programs. Each year
approximately 16,000 older adults die from
falls, which are the leading cause of both fatal
and nonfatal injuries for those 65 and over. CDC
reports that $19.2 billion annually is spent on
treating older adults for the effects of falls:
$12 billion for hospitalization, $4 billion for
emergency department visits, and $3 billion for
outpatient care. If we cannot stem this rate of
increase, it is projected that the direct
treatment costs will reach $54.9 billion
annually in 2020, at which time the cost to
Medicare would be $32.4 billion. Clearly, the
cost-benefit ratio for reducing falls among
older adults represents a wise investment of
public funds. Results of pilot programs,
including those operated under the auspices of
RSVP programs, offer promising directions for
simple, cost-effective interventions through
eliminating known risk factors, offering
treatments that promote behavior change, and
leveraging community networks to link clinical
treatment and social services. These programs
include comprehensive clinical assessments,
exercise programs to improve balance and
strength, management of medications, correction
of vision, and reduction of home hazards.
-
Many criminal efforts are
aimed at the elderly who are often devastated by
the financial losses they sustain. Millions of
Americans 65 and older are victimized by mass
marketing frauds, estimated to cost $60-100
billion dollars each year that harm the
macro-economy and the financial well being and
security of seniors. While those 65 and older
are 12 percent of the population (and growing),
it is not uncommon to see 75-80 percent of the
victims in fraud cases in this age group. As the
baby boomer cohort begins to retire and looks
for sources of income to support its retirement,
these issues will become more pronounced because
a majority of Americans lack basic financial
literacy. Older consumers were less
knowledgeable than younger ones. Research has
shown that consumer education can reduce an
older person’s likelihood of being victimized by
over 50 percent. Effective fraud prevention
includes tips on understanding the persuasion
tactics used by con-criminals; learning how to
say no to solicitations and registering for
services like the National Do Not Call service;
and giving consumers information about the most
recent scams. Volunteers provide advice to
consumers on how to avoid these kinds of scams,
understanding the persuasion tactics used by
con-criminals, and how to report cases of fraud.
The Corporation can play an important role in
bringing these, and other, initiatives to scale by
bringing RSVP’s national reach to the attention of
other Federal agencies like the Department of Health
and Human Services, the Department of Justice, the
Department of the Treasury, the IRS and working to
create innovative partnerships that can make a real
difference in the lives of seniors. Similarly, the
Corporation can play a similar role with the
Department of Education so that seniors can continue
to be used effectively in turning around failing
schools, and the Departments of the Interior and
Agriculture and other land management agencies so
that RSVP volunteers can play an even greater role
in preserving our lands and national patrimony.
Doubtless, there are still other opportunities.
We suggest that the Corporation work with NARSVPD to
develop a comprehensive list of issues that would
benefit from the participation of RSVP volunteers so
that seniors can more systematically be integrated
into CNCS initiatives.
We also support expanding opportunities to serve and
applaud the Corporation for changing its policy to
allow existing RSVP programs to compete for all
funds except those specifically identified in law as
being reserved for new programs. We believe that
this decision will allow strong and proven RSVP
programs to expand into unserved or underserved
areas to offer meaningful volunteer options in
previously new areas.
We also support building enduring capacity.
Therefore, we want to remind the Corporation of its
responsibility under the DVSA to provide technical
assistance to programs to prepare them for
competition.
Finally, we want to assure the Corporation that we
also embrace innovation as evidenced by our work in
falls prevention and fraud prevention. The next step
is to take these, and other innovative programs to
scale and that requires the financial,
administrative, and organizational support of the
Corporation.
