US/World News

Elder care bill in Congress includes directive to assist Holocaust survivors

WASHINGTON (JTA) — A new provision in the bill funding assistance for the elderly directs the federal government to issue guidance to states on serving Holocaust survivors. The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) lobbied for the inclusion of the provision in the reauthorization of the Older Americans Act, which was first approved in 1965. The Senate reauthorized the act on April 7, after the U.S. House of Representatives had already done so. Federations draw on funding provided through the act for day care and transportation for the elderly and kosher meals on wheels, among other services. Last month, the JFNA distributed the first funds to assist Holocaust survivors made available under a separate federal government program. Of more than 100,000 survivors in the United States, the JFNA estimates that one in four is 85 or older and that the same number live in poverty.

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