WASHINGTON, DC – On February 14, 2011, President Obama released his FY 2012 budget. Funding for the Older Americans Act is proposed to increase by more than $700 million from FY 2010. This includes the transfer of the SCSEP program into the Administration on Aging (but with a cut of 45 percent from FY 2010 levels), a new office to administer the CLASS Act and new funds to implement programs under the Elder Justice Act. The budget also proposes increases for family caregivers and home and community-based services under Title III B.
For the first time in his Administration, the President did not propose an increase for the nutrition programs keeping them flat funded for FY 2012. In response, NANASP President Paul Downey said, “ While the overall budget increase provided to the Administration on Aging is significant and far reaching, we remain disappointed that the largest program in the Act and which serves more of the elderly in need was not included for an increase. This same program less than 2 years ago was deemed worthy of emergency funding from the economic stimulus bill. The need was there before and it continues today. The advocacy efforts will immediately move to the Congress to allow our programs a chance to get the essential increase they need.”
