MISSION STATEMENT:
The TAOA was established in 1974 to provide a variety of supportive services for the population of elderly in American Samoa. Most of the services are available to all senior citizens who are 60 years old and above, except for nutrition assistance (food voucher) which is currently targeted to low-income elderly due to financial constraints. Besides food vouchers, TAOA provides transportation assistance (bus tickets, one-way fare to and from Manu'a, and boat tickets to Aunu'u, medical aid, legal aid, escort, and information and referral.
Since 1975, the Office of the Governor, through the Territorial Administration on Aging, (TAOA), administered programs funded under the Older Americans Act. Beginning in 1984, American Samoa received a consolidated grant for Insular Areas (45 CPR Part 97) under the Older Americans Act (Title III-B) from the U.S. Administration on Aging. The consolidated grant mechanism has given the State Agency the opportunity to tailor and design appropriate services to meet American Samoa's physical environment, unique culture and traditions, and the elderly specific needs and resource
FUNCTIONAL STATEMENT:
TAOA provides services to the Senior Citizens of American Samoa with funds from the Federal Government under several titles of the Older American Act, however, American Samoa receives funds for services only under Title III-B Consolidated Supportive Services; Title V Senior Community Services Employment (SCSEP.)
TAOA provides the following services:
- Nutrition Services (Food Vouchers/Pepa 0 Meataumafa)
- Transportation Services
- Escort Services
- Medical Aids
- Legal Aids
- Information and Referral (I&R)
- Education and Training
- Handicraft Market; Program Income
- Health Assessment and Home Care Services
- Case Management
- Senior Community Services Employment Program
The Services at TAOA are delineated to five Division:
- Personnel Administration
- Financial Management and Control
- Maintenance Division
- Consolidated Supportive Service
- Senior Community Services Employment Program (SCSEP)
DIRECTOR'S OFFICE
The Director's office compromises of the Director and the Assistant Director, Senior Administrative Assistant, Administrative Assistant, Secretary, Clerk, one Skill Worker and four Apprenticeships.
The Director's Office is responsible for assessment, planning, managing and coordinating
of services for all TAOA.
The Financial Management Control Division
The Financial Management Control Divisions responsible for the department accounting functions, which includes, but not limited to, processing and accounting for all TAOA expenditures, liaison with ASG Financial Offices to insure accuracy of all accounting data processing of cash requests, development of annual budget plans for all funds, preparation of monthly internal financial reports and required government reports, and analysis of all expenditures to insure compliance with all departmental requirements and government regulations.
The Division is responsible for the following:
- Financial monitoring of all TAOA expenditures which in clude Food Voucher control Bus/Motor Boat/Inter-island Airline transportation control, health services legal and financial aid assistance and all other operational expenditures. Also continued monitoring of budget status reports on a monthly basis.
- Preparation of all required financial reports such as Financial Status Reports (FSR), as required by the Federal Government and local ASG agencies, food voucher reports, ordering and the control of all office operating supplies, and managing of all TAOA properties and equipments.
- Managing and monitoring of handicrafts market ales, monetary deposits of program income, and stock inventory of the Senior Community Services Employment Program arts and crafts productions.
- Preparation of Grants applications for certain Older American Act's specific Program Titles currently administered by TAOA for various program year on a different fiscal cycle.
- And the preparations of separate budget for each separate program titles, and the annual budget for submission to the Governor and the Fono.
- Payroll management – Maintains time cards and time sheets for all employees both career and Senior Employment enrollees. Prepare and issue time sheets to Worksites and time cards to Department of Treasury on a bi-weekly basis.
- Responsible for up keeping annual, sick leave, etc., and to disburse payroll checks for all career employees and enrollees of the Senior Employment Program.
PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION AND TITLE V DIVISION
The Division is assigned the administering of methods relating o the establishment and
maintenance of personnel standards on a merit basis and where necessary, provide for the
reorganization of functions to assure efficient administration and responsible for the
following:
1. Personnel Management
- Maintains all personnel records of all career employees and enrollees of the Senior Community Senior Employment Program (SCSEP).
- Maintain all personnel transactions in conjunction with the Department of Human Resources requirement.
- Maintain accurate and confidential personnel files for each individual employed by TAOA, and account all accumulated leave acquired by each employee in accordance with current regulations.
- Upkeep records of employee's attendance, and to upkeep records of SCSEP enrollees working 40 hours every two weeks.
2. Senior Community Service Employment (SCSEP) of Title V
- Prompt and accurate action in the hiring of new enrollees of CSEP from our waiting list and in conformity with our local hiring laws and Program Instructions of Title V.
- Maintain constant up keeping of all enrollees personal files as to their health status, worksite preferences and the type of work preferred.
- The Division shall continue its efforts to (recruit) Host Agencies from the ASG or the Business Community to train some of our enrollees on a new line of work and to hire them permanently if they so desire.
- The Division shall make constant worksite visits in order to check the enrollees work progress and their well being.
SUPPORTIVE SERVICES DIVISION
This Division has the responsibility for providing the following services:
- Issuing of food vouchers to eligible seniors every month and bus and ferryboat tickets and inter-island airline tickets to seniors residing in Manu'a.
- Processing requests for medical and legal aides and referring of elders to the Vocational Rehabilitation Agency for available services. Interviewing and processing applications of elders who have reached age 60 for TAOA Supportive Services. The Division also provides information and referral services, performing outreach activities, internal control for all of the above services and the preparation of monthly internal service reports and required service reports to the funding agencies and the TAOA Financial Management Control Division.
MANAGEMENT EVALUATION AND MAINTENANCE DIVISION
- The Division is to act as a focus for all advocacy activities in American Samoa on the part of older persons. This Division will review, monitor, evaluate and comment on Federal and Territorial plans, budgets, regulations, programs, laws, levies, hearings, policies and actions which will or might impact the elderly. Also the Division will provide technical assistance to others advocating on behalf of the elderly.
- The Division is responsible for monitoring and evaluation of all TAOA services provided to the elderly. Shall monitor and evaluate a tool that provides TAOA Division Managers with the necessary information to determine if TAOA is meeting the needs of the elderly, and whether services need to be changed or discontinued.
- The maintenance of the A.P. Lutali Senior Center, both inside and outside, is one other responsibility of this Division. Regulating the usage of TAOA vehicles and their upkeep is maintained by this Division.
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