enough Hispanic population to provide national data on this group. Moreover, testimony presented to the Select Committee by Dr. Manning Feinleib, the Director of the National Center for Health Statistics, specifically identified the affects of budget constraints on the collection of Hispanic data. He stated that although the proposed Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey would be oversampling for the general Hispanic population and Mexican-Americans, insufficient funding will prevent an oversampling for any other Hispanic subgroup.

Dr. Fernando S. Mendoza, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University of Medicine in his testimoney before the Select Committee identified the need for better collection of health data on Hispanic migrant farm workers. Because of harsh working conditions and unstable living environments, this population group is more susceptible to illness. However, because migrants do not have permament residences they are often overlooked when health data surveys are conducted.

Dr. mendoza also commented that present survey techniques often do not produce accurate assessments of the health of Hispanic children. he stated that a hungry Hispanic child may also do less well in school or in physical activity, compared to his peers, measures that our current surveys do not take into consideration.

Select Committee examination of data compiled on Hispanic participation in federal food aid programs revealed that no mechanism exists for collecting and analyzing Hispanic participation in, or access to, various food and nutrition programs which have a significant impact on health status.

2. Committee Action.-In July 1987, the Select Committee conducted a field hearing in Fort Berthold, North Dakota to assess the causes of health and nutrition problems prevalent among Native Americans residing on reservations. The Committee drafted a fact sheet comprising the major findings and recommendations presented. A member of the Committee presented this document to the House Interior and Energy and Commerce Committees to encourage their support for amending H.R. 5261, the Indian Health Care Amendments of 1987 to incorporate provisions establishing a diabetes health center at Fort Berthold. As signed into law (P.L. 100713), creates a new diabetes center for the Three Affiliated Tribes at Fort Berthold which will coordinate a comprehensive diabetes control program of nutrition education counseling, disease prevention and treatment.

The Select Committee conducted a hearing on the subject of hunger and homelessness on February 25, 1987. The hearing is part of the Committee's continuing search for solutions to hunger problems among the homeless. That afternoon, the Committee released a report entitled "Hunger Among the Homeless: A Survey of 140 Shelters, Food Stamp Participation, and Recommendations." Its findings are derived from the existing research literature on homeless and responses to the Select Committee questionnarie from shelter managers across the nation. In July 1987, Congress approved the Steward B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, legislation establishing a network of programs to provide a range of emergency, short- and long-term assistance to the homeless. In preparation for reauthorization of this bill, the Chairman of the Committee

requested that the Select Committee assess the adequacy of heatlh care services and benefits available to this population.

Research indicated that the expiring authorization was not adequate to sustain the existing 109 projects and to facilitate the development of new projects in unserved rural and urban communities. The Chairman of the Committee subsequently introduced legislation authorizing increased funding for a three-year extension of primary and mental health care services for the homeless. These programs include substance abuse counseling and 24-hour emergency treatment care; outreach; and, referral for accessing public aid entitlement benefits. The bill was incorporated in the McKinney Act reauthorization (P.L. 100-628).

In October 1987, the Select Committee commissioned the U.S. General Accounting Office to analyze the feasibility of various policy and programmatic options for compiling and maintaining prevalent national Hispanic data. This report was completed in March 1987. The Committee also conducted a hearing to investigate the merits of implementing some of these options for expanding the appropriate national data collection systems.

3. Conclusions.-Select Committee research and testimony received reveal a need for the expanded implementation of programs which seek to contain the incidence of preventable nutrition-related diseases, such as diabetes. During a number of hearings, the Committee has received testimony that the provision of appropriate nutrition education can significantly improve a household's eating habits and, as a result, improve its health status. We have learned, as well, that programs providing food and health care services are most effectively and efficiently used when targetted to at risk populations. These findings indicate the need for implementing programs, such as that approved for operating at Fort Berthold, in areas where there is a high concentration of persons who are vulnerable to these conditions.

The extension of programs and services in the McKinney Act is a significant step in assisting the homeless attain adequate health care. However, the benefits of these services are restricted as long as individuals remain homeless and, consequently, are consistently exposed to unsanitary and unsafe living conditions. The most effective means for preventing and containing the ailments prevalent among the homeless is to provide them with affordable permanent housing and improved access to nutritious food and health care services on a permanent basis.

Testimony presented to the Select Committee emphasizes that the lack of data on Hispanics has impeded the creation of health policy and the targetting of health services for this population group. Steps should be taken to include the collection, analysis and dissemination of health and nutrition data on Hispanics to the extent that such information is compiled on other ethnic groups in the nation.

D. Promoting Self-Sufficiency

1. Issue Description.-In the United States as in other countries, individuals in poverty are usually those with less education, inadequate housing, and generally less sanitary living conditions. Be

cause they lack adequate resources, they frequently suffer from, or are vulnerable to, hunger. Children are more susceptible to health problems, the young women become pregnant at an earlier age, school attendance is poor and access to basic human needs is more difficult. Unemployment and underemployment are also common. Since its inception, the Select Committee has been investigating mechanisms for channeling support to persons in poverty which would help them to escape these conditions by attaining financial independence from public assistance programs and becoming eonomically self-reliant. Committee contact with low-income persons and individual programs which provide them services indicates that a vast majority of the recipients of public assistance would prefer the opportunity to acquire education and marketable skills which would empower them to become financially self-sustaining. In 1985, the Committee began to examine the potential of selfhelp programs for providing the necessary encouragement and skills necessary for participants to achieve this goal. The self-help organizations identified by the Committee shared the common goal of cooperative support; however, emphasis ranged from economic development, education, employment opportunities and housing to social services, health services, community organizing and food provision.

Earlier research by the Select Committee found that the provision of small amounts of credit for micro enterprise creation to individuals in developing countries c n significantly raise the living standards of the poor and bring about sustainable improvements in local economies. The concept of encouraging micro enterprise credit as a means for people to help themselves is also transferable to more developed countries, including the United States. Select Committee research on this issue focuses on innovative financing techniques, ranging from the creation of community development credit unions to the use of community service block grant funds to leverage loans from conventional lending sources.

The Women's Economic Development Corporation (WEDCO) is a prime example of an organization which utilizes the concept of micro enterprise credit to help women achieve economic self-sufficiency. WEDCO operates a 1.2 million dollar loan fund that finances women-owned businesses. The organization targets unemployed and underemployed women who have a business idea that could produce sufficient income to support themselves and their families. During the last four and a half years WEDCO has assisted over 3,500 women. The proprietor of a women's clothing company in Minnesota, testified before the Select Committee that with the assistance of WEDCO she was able to go from being a mother dependent on AFDC to a successful small business woman.

Another successful micro enterprise credit organization is the Fund for Affordable Housing, Self Help Association For Regional Economy (SHARE) in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Mr. Jay Rossier, the Coordinator of SHARE reported to the Select Committee that the fourteen micro-enterprise loans that SHARE has made have resulted in fourteen new businesses that now employ forty people. Most of the loans that were made were between $1,000 to $3,000 and no defaults have occured to date.

2. Committee Action.-In December 1987, the Select Committee released a report examining avenues of credit availability to the poor and micro enterprise projects in the United States. This study provides information through a preliminary examination of the potential of micro enterprise activities in the United States, and explores recommendations on the use of transfer payment monies, seed or working capital for public assistance recipients to start micro enterprise projects. Subsequent to the release of the report, the Select Committee held a hearing to investigate the effectiveness of existing projects in aiding low-income persons achieve economic sufficiency through micro enterprise ventures.

The Select Committee issued a report in July 1988, examining the services offered by self-help programs that assist low-income persons achieve economic independence. A questionaire was developed and circulated to self-help program operators in twenty states. The responses were used in the preparation of the committee report.

3. Conclusion.-Select Committee research reveals that there is a dearth of financial and technical support for the development and implementation of self-help micro enterprise projects. The Committee believes the Federal Government could help expand the availability of information on self-help programs through such avenues as a national micro enterprise/self-help clearinghouse and data banks. These initiatives would assist self-help programs in developing methods to improve the coordination of their activities with those sponsored by non-profit service providers. Federal, state and local governments should place a greater focus on creating the means by which income maintenance systems can support and encourage training, employment and self-employment.

E. Private Sector Emergency Food Delivery Systems

1. Issue Description.-The existing federal food assistance network comprises a wide variety of programs designed to assure lowincome persons access to a nutritious diet on a consistent basis. Nevertheless, a large number of low-income families are becoming increasingly dependent on food distribution services sponsored by the private sector. Although private nonprofit organizations have, to a larger degree, been responsive to the emergency food needs of the poor which are unmet by government programs, these providers are concerned about their continued capacity to support the escalating number of persons in need of help.

In 1985, the U.S. Conference of Mayors conducted a survey of twenty-five major cities to examine the demand for emergency food assistance. A January 1986 report of the findings of this survey indicated that in twenty-four of the cities, the demand for emergency food assistance had increased by an average of 28 percent over the preceeding year. Results of a similar survey of twenty-six cities conducted in 1987, indicated that the demand for emergency food assistance had grown by an average of 18 percent over 1986 in twenty-four of the cities.

Testimony presented at Select Committee hearings indicating a substantial increase in the number of individuals and families seeking food assistance through emergency outlets such as food

pantries and soup kitchens corroborates the reports the Committee has received from the Conference of Mayors and numerous community, local and state organizations. In 1985, Catholic Charities USA provided food to 1,175,000 individuals; in 1986, the organization reported serving more than 3,100,000.

Select Committee investigation of private sector involvement in the delivery of food to low-income individuals and households has yielded numerous examples of the interventions initiated by private organizations to alleviate hunger. Second Harvest, the national food bank system, distributes food donations from national companies to a network of 205 food banks across the country. The organization is supported by private donations from individuals, corporations and foundations. In 1986 Second Harvest distributed approximately 352 million pounds of food, valued at close to $500 million, which was channeled to more than 38,000 charitable feeding programs. By 1987, program distribution had grown to 387.5 million pounds.

The Select Committee has heard from the director of Second Harvest and other emergency service providers that their ability to continue responding to the growing demand for aid is contingent upon increased support from individuals, corporations and foundations. Testimony received emphasizes Federal Government support of tax incentives to encourage enhanced contributions.

A 1977 report issued by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) estimates that 20 percent of all food produced in the United States during the 1974 crop year-approximately 137 million tons valued at $31 billion-was lost or wasted. The study noted that close to 49 million persons could have been fed from these lost food grains, meats, sugar, oilseeds, vegetables and fruits. A number of organizations across the nation view this food loss as a missed opportunity to feed the hungry and have initiated gleaning programs for harvesting crops left in the fields and channeling them to lowincome persons. In 1983, Reverend Ray Buchanan, Co-director of the Society of St. Andrew, launched the Potato Project, a program targetted at the elimination of food waste. Under this program, more than 53 million pounds of potatoes and yams-which would have been dumped or left to rot in the fields-have been harvested by volunteers and distributed to needy households.

2. Committee Activities.-The Select Committee conducted a hearing to examine the effectiveness of the partnership forged by the Federal Government and the private sector to alleviate hunger and the steps necessary to strengthen cooperative efforts to improve the availability of food and ocial services to those in need. The Committee also examined the potential impact of legislation to help support private sector anti-hunger initiatives through a trust fund financed by direct contributions from individuals' income tax refunds.

The Treasury Department regulations governing the tax treatment of charitable contributions of food valued in excess of $5,000 require that qualified appraisers conduct detailed assessments of donations which must be filed with the donors' tax forms. C corporation (publicly-owned corporation) donations are exempt from these requirements if they are ma e to benefit the ill, needy and infants. However, closely held corporations (corporations in which