Jewish Community Services of South Florida (JCS) is one of five organizations that played an important role in the introduction of a Congressional bill to provide support for agencies serving Holocaust survivors as they age in place in communities across the country. This bill is the result of meetings and discussions organized by JCS, among others, that Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen conducted with Holocaust survivors and social workers.
The bipartisan bill strengthens agencies such as JCS that support Holocaust survivors who wish to age in place rather than move into institutionalized care, which can often lead to retraumatization for these victims of terror and torture. Adding Holocaust survivors to the list of groups that receive preference for services under the Older Americans Act, the legislation also designates a person within the Administration on Aging to have responsibility for implementing services for Holocaust survivors and creates a grant program to increase and improve transportation services for older adults.
Nationwide, there are approximately 127,000 living Holocaust victims, many of whom struggle to afford basic needs, such as adequate food, transportation and healthcare. About one-fourth of the estimated 15,000 to 18,000 survivors in Florida live in poverty. "JCS serves hundreds of Holocaust survivors every year with care management, counseling, emergency services and home health care. This bill would greatly increase our ability to help this vulnerable population age in place and live with dignity and security,” said JCS President and CEO Fred Stock. “JCS greatly appreciates the efforts of Reps. Wasserman Schultz and Ros-Lehtinen, who fought so diligently on behalf of this aging and frail population.”
