AoA Programs

The Administration on Aging (AoA) has been involved in pension issues since the 1992 amendments to the Older Americans Act. Recognizing that adequate pensions are a key factor in helping older persons maintain financial security and independence, Congress called for AoA to establish a demonstration program to assist older Americans in accessing information about their retirement benefits and negotiating with former employers for due compensation, where appropriate. The AoA pension information and counseling projects are designed to reach out, educate, and promote pension awareness and protection among older individuals.

The Administration on Aging originally funded seven demonstration projects and one technical assistance grantee - the Pension Rights Center - through Title IV of the Older Americans Act. Due to the success of AoA's Pension Counseling Demonstration Program, Congress provided funding in 1998 to expand the number of projects to ten. In Fiscal 2000, the Pension Information and Counseling Projects were incorporated into Section II of the Amendments to the Older Americans. In FY 2001 and FY 2002, AoA moved to funding regional pension counseling projects: projects that serve entire state or several states.
There are currently nine pension information and counseling projects. All of the old and the new projects are required to provide the same core services:

• Counseling and assistance to older individuals who need help in determining their rights and the process for filing claims or complaints relative to pension and other retirement benefits;
  
  
• Information on sources of pension and other retirement benefits;
  
  
• Referrals to attorneys, actuaries, legal services and other advocacy programs;
  
  
• Outreach programs to provide information, counseling, assistance and referral regarding pension and other retirement benefits with particular emphasis on outreach to female, minority, rural, and low-income retirees; and
  
  
• The further development of a comprehensive referral system to federal, state, and local agencies relative to pensions and other retirement benefits.

Outcomes
Since the beginning of the Pension Counseling Program, approximately 25,000- people have been served by the projects in one way or another, resulting in a total estimated $50 million recovered for individual claimants. Since the inception of the program, the demonstration projects and the Technical Assistance Projects have received approximately $8.5 million in Federal funds, which translates into a six to one dollar rate-of-return. As a result of investigations on their behalf, most of the pension clients have received increases in their pensions in lifetime amounts ranging from $36-60 per month in pension benefits, not insignificant amounts for persons living on fixed incomes.

In addition to financial sums received, a greater number of individuals have become better educated about pension rights, documentation needed to establish claims, the legal loopholes created by divorce and widowhood, the advantages and disadvantages between lump sum payments and annuities, and other issues.

The outreach and education extended through AoA's Pension Counseling Program have been highlighted in local and national articles, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and USA Today.

AoA's Pension Counseling Projects
The Pension Rights Center, Washington, DC; (202) 296-3776
http://www.pensionrights.org/, is AoA's Pension Counseling Program technical assistance grantee. It provides technical assistance to individual pension projects, State and Area Agencies on Aging, legal service providers by providing assistance on pension issues and encouraging coordination among these groups. In addition, the Center provides training for staff and volunteers working in the demonstration projects.

Below is a description of individual AoA demonstration projects:

1. The University of Alabama School of Law, Tuscaloosa, AL (205) 348-1136; Utilizes law students to provide pension counseling, assistance and pension outreach to older Americans in both rural and urban communities in Alabama.
   
   
2. The California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, San Francisco, CA (415) 474-5171; Trains other agencies within California using their model pension advocacy approach to provide counseling and train lawyers about pension benefits issues.
   
   
3. The Area Agency on Aging of the City of Chicago, IL (312) 744-2676; operates its Pension Information and Counseling program to assist Chicago seniors to understand and obtain their pension benefits and access retirement income.
   
   
4. The New York Pension Hotline (Legal Services for the Elderly) Mid-Atlantic Pension Counseling Project: 130 West 42nd Street, Suite #1700, New York, New York 10036; Tel: (646) 442-3310 / Fax: (212) 719-1939
   
   
5. The Pima Council Area Agency on Aging, Tucson, AZ (520) 790-1262; Counsels seniors in local area and throughout the state on pension issues.
   
   
6. The Older Women's League, St. Louis, MO (314) 725-1516; Provides innovative, low-cost, user-friendly methods of making pension and retirement support information available to low-income seniors, especially minorities and women.
   
   
7. University of Massachusetts Boston Institute of Gerontology; Boston, MA (617) 287-7311;
   Serves the entire New England region to educate individuals with information about how to maximize their retirement income.
   
   
8. Minnesota Senior Federation, St. Paul, MN (651) 645-0261; Provides information and counseling services specifically for women, rural residents and minority populations. The Project also funds similar services in Wisconsin.
   
   
9. Elder Law of Michigan, Lansing, Ml (517) 372-5959;
   The grantee is the recipient organization for the Great Lakes Pension Rights Project which provides expanded and enhanced pension rights counseling for Michigan, Ohio, and now Illinois. Each operates a pension hotline for answering pension/retirement benefit questions, providing in-depth pension counseling services, and conducting an educational outreach campaign.