Pension Counseling & Information Projects

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Since 1993, the Administration on Aging (AoA) has funded the Pension Counseling and Information Program (the Program) to help individuals understand and exercise their pension rights. Originally a demonstration, pension counseling became a permanent program under Title II of the Older Americans Act (OAA) in 2000 and consists of multiple counseling projects and a single national technical assistance project. In FY 2001 and 2002, AoA shifted its funding focus from local and statewide projects to multi-state, regional projects in order to move the Program toward nationwide coverage. AoA-funded regional counseling projects currently serve 22 states: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, and Wisconsin. The counseling projects provide individuals who reside, have worked in, or have some other connection to the regional service area with the following services: drafting administrative pension claims and appeals, and support through administrative proceedings; identifying and pursuing pension benefits from sponsors that have discontinued their plan, changed names, merged with another company or gone out of business; answering basic questions about rights and remedies under all public and private pension systems throughout the service region; and operating a region-wide outreach program to ensure public awareness of project services, emphasizing outreach to those who need pension counseling services the most. Projects receive legal training, case consultation and operational coordination and support from the national technical project. The intent of this announcement is to expand the provision of pension counseling services beyond the twenty-two states currently served by the Pension Counseling and Information Program. AoA plans to award one (1) regional pension counseling grant at a federal share of approximately $200,000 per year for a project period of up to two years, contingent upon the availability of federal funds. Eligible applicants include domestic public or private and non-profit entities including state and local governments, Indian tribal governments and organizations (American Indian/Alaskan Native/Native American), faith-based organizations, community-based organizations, hospitals, and institutions of higher education. Successful applicants will demonstrate a proven record of advising and representing individuals who have been denied employer or union-sponsored pensions or other retirement savings plan benefits, and which have the capacity to deliver services on a regional basis to states not currently served by the Pension Counseling and Information Program. Therefore, no entities located in, nor proposing to serve, the following states are eligible: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

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