HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced today the award of nearly $5 million in grants to 119 tribal organizations to implement the new Native American Caregiver Support Program.

"This new program will make real and lasting differences improving the quality of life for some of America's most vulnerable citizens, our Native American elders and their caregivers," said Secretary Thompson. "Strengthening access to health care and social services to better serve hard-to-reach and rural communities is a priority of this department."

Grants were awarded to 110 tribal organizations to provide families of Native American and Native Hawaiian elders with access to information, respite care, counseling, training, and supplemental services to help them meet their real-life caregiving challenges. In addition, nine tribal organizations each received $100,000 demonstration grants in the following areas:

· "Starting at the Beginning" grants were awarded to the Central Council, Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska; the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribal Center in Washington; and the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana. These grants will be used to identify and prioritize the most critical needs of family caregivers, and then develop and demonstrate the benefits of services that address those needs.

· "Coordination and Leverage" grants were awarded to four tribal organizations: the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin; the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of Montana; the South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency for Chehalis and Nisqually in Washington; and the Hana Community Health Center in Hawaii. These grants will be used to demonstrate the benefits of coordinating and leveraging all the family caregiver support programs and services in these four tribal areas.

· "Quality Standards and Mechanisms of Accountability" grants were awarded to Alu Like Inc. in Hawaii and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of South Dakota to design and test quality standards and assurance mechanisms for multifaceted systems of supportive services for family caregivers.

"We have worked with the Tribal leaders to make sure that this vitally needed program provides the most culturally appropriate and proficient services that address the needs and expectations of the families and other caregivers of the Native American elders we serve," said HHS Assistant Secretary for Aging Josefina G. Carbonell.

The grants are administered by the Administration on Aging, the HHS agency that administers the Older Americans Act, which provides funding to states and communities for critical home- and community-based services for older persons and their caregivers. The new Native American Caregiver Support Program was created as part of the National Family Caregiver Support Program, launched earlier this year.