Resources on Eldercare

American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO

1625 L Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036-5687

• Women's Rights Department--This department provides technical assistance and training on issues of particular concern to working women. The department also coordinates AFSCME's efforts on work and family issues.
  (202) 429-5090 FAX: (202) 429-5088
  Publications:
  A Labor of Love: AFSCME Child Care Examples
  AFSCME Building Blocks: A Manual on Child Care
  Family and Medical Leave Act: Questions and Answers 
  
  
• Community Action Department--This department is AFSCME's liaison between the membership and the community. It helps affiliates to build coalitions and community action programs around issues that impact them and the communities in which they live. Assistance is provided through workshops, regular union meetings, on-site training, and written or verbal communications. The department has developed pamphlets, booklets, and fact sheets on coalition building, community action, disasters, employee assistance programs, and safety. (202) 429-5095 Fax: (202) 429-1293
  Publications:
  Employee Assistance Programs: Making Them Work for Members 
  
  
• Legislation Department--This department monitors federal, state and local legislative initiatives. It also lobbies for family initiatives in the Congress, such as increased funding for federal child care programs, Social Security, health care reform, and Medicare. (202) 429-5020 Fax: (202) 223-3413
  Publications:
  AFSCME Legislative Updates, AFSCME Congressional Directory 
  
  
• Public Affairs Department--This department provides assistance to promote work and family issues through articles in the Public Employee, Leader, and National Forum News Service. It helps locals and councils write articles for their local newsletters and other publications. This department also produces videos. (202) 429-1130 Fax: (202) 429-1084 
  
  
• Department of Research and Collective Bargaining Services--This department provides technical assistance to affiliates in organizing, representation, negotiations, and third-party proceedings. Technical assistance includes analyses of employers' fiscal condition, and includes information and assistance on a variety of issues, such as employee benefits, alternative work schedules, Dependent Care Assistance Programs, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Family and Medical Leave Act. (202) 429-1215 Fax: (202) 223-3255
  Publications:
  Alternative Work Patterns 
  Bargaining and the Family and Medical Leave Act
  Collective Bargaining Reporter Special Reprints: "Cafeteria Benefit Plans" and "The Pros and Cons of Flexible Spending Accounts."
  Fighting for the Rights of Employees with Disabilities
  "Your Money or Your Health: Designing Benefit Options--Dependent Care Assistance Programs." 
  
  
• Retiree Program--The AFSCME Retiree Program serves the entire AFSCME membership as a clearinghouse for information on retirement and senior citizen issues and conducts retirement planning seminars for the union's working members. The Retiree Program also is the nation's largest organization of public employee retirees, with nearly 180,000 members in AFSCME retiree chapters throughout the country. Retiree members fight to protect and improve state and local government pensions and health care benefits, and for federal benefit programs, such as Social Security and Medicare.
  (202) 429-1274 or 1259 Fax: (202) 429-1197
  Publications:
  Getting Well With DRGs: Facts You Should Know About Medicare's Prospective Payment System for Hospitals
  Medication Passport (A Record-keeper for Prescription Drugs)
  Planning for Your Retirement (A General Guide)
  Planning for Your Survivors: A useful record-keeper that will help protect your loved ones after you're gone.
  Your Doctor's Bills: A Medicare Road Map (Your Rights Under Medicare).
  
  

NOTE: Some AFSCME councils and locals have their own experts in legislation, public affairs, and community action. Members should consult with their local leadership first before contacting International staff.

Other labor organizations

AFL-CIO
815 16th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20006
(202) 637-5000
The AFL-CIO has produced a resource guide designed to help labor unions establish work and family programs at the worksite. The guide contains contract language, talking points for speeches and for speaking to the press, and a resource list of labor experts who can provide technical assistance.
Publication:
AFL-CIO, Work and Family Committee, Putting Families First: AFL-CIO Working Family Resource Guide, 1992.

Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW)
1126 16th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
(202) 296-1200
CLUW is America's only national organization for union women. Not a union itself, CLUW strives to make organized labor--and the public in general--more sensitive to the needs of working women and their families. CLUW has 75 chapters across the country and over 20,000 members representing more than 60 unions.

CLUW published a booklet designed to assist union members in their pursuit of workplace solutions for integrating work and family life.
Publications:
The Coalition of Labor Union Women, Bargaining For Family Benefits: A Union Member's Guide, Pub. No. 0-228-0491-5.

Other organizations

American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)
601 E Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20049
(202) 434-2277
AARP makes available free copies of publications concerning a wide range of eldercare issues, such as adult day care, bereavement support, care management, health care financing, home health or personal care aides; homemaker services; housing; legal services; long-term care; mental health; nursing homes; transportation; and socializing.

AARP also has produced a training manual titled, Caregivers in the Work Place Kit, which is designed to assist employers and/or unions in developing and tailoring caregiving programs to employees' needs. Write to AARP Fulfillment at the above address for their list of publications on eldercare.

Choice in Dying
250 W. 57th Street
New York, NY 10707
(212) 246-6962
Provides information on Living Wills and Medical Durable Powers of Attorney.

National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys
1604 North Country Club Road
Tucson, AZ 85716
Send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the above address for information on "How to Select an Elder Law Attorney."

Older Women's League
666 11th Street, N.W., Suite 700
Washington, D.C. 20001
(202) 783-6686
The Older Women's League (OWL) is a membership organization that is working to improve the quality of life for mid-life and older women. OWL recognizes that women's longevity makes them more likely than men to need long-term care. OWL also knows that women are more likely than men to be the primary caregiver for a parent, in-law or spouse. To receive OWL's, "Caregiver Information Packet," send a stamped, self-addressed business-size envelope to the address above.

National Family Caregivers Association 1-800-896-3650
This membership organization for caregivers offers a resource guide and a quarterly newsletter.

The Social Security Administration (SSA)
1-800-772-1213
Contact SSA if you have questions or want more information about Social Security's Old Age and Survivor's Insurance, Supplemental Security Income, or Medicare. SSA also offers numerous free brochures which explain the various aspects of the system. A few examples are:

SSI, Pub. No. 05-11000.
Survivors, Pub. No. 05-10084.
Understanding Social Security, Pub. No. 05-10024.
When You Get Social Security Retirement or Survivors Benefits: What You Need to Know, Pub. No. 05-10077.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Publications Department
6325 Security Boulevard
Baltimore, MD 21207
The following Medicare publications can be ordered from CMS:
Guide to Health Insurance for People with Medicare, Pub. No. 518B.
Medicare and Advance Directives, Pub. No. 519B.
Medicare Hospice Benefits, Pub. No. 591B.
Medicare: Savings for Qualified Beneficiaries, Pub. No. 596B.
Your Medicare Handbook, Pub. No. HCFA 10050.

Information and support services organizations

The following organizations provide information and/or support services for individuals and families coping with serious health conditions. Many have local chapters around the country that are knowledgeable about community resources. Call the toll-free numbers listed below to learn more about what these organizations have to offer.

Alzheimer's Association
1-800-272-3900

American Cancer Society
1-800-227-2345

American Diabetes Association
1-800-232-3472

American Foundation for the Blind
1-800-232-5463

American Heart Association
1-800-242-8721

American Lung Association
1-800-586-4872

American Parkinson's Disease Association
1-800-223-2732

Help for Incontinent People
1-800-252-3337

Info to Go (formerly National Information Center on Deafness)
1-800-672-6720

National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
703-837-1500

National Osteoporosis Foundation
1-800-223-9994