Foster Grandparent Program

Senior Corps is a United States government agency under the authority of the Corporation for National and Community Service. Its stated mission is to provide aid to senior citizens in communities while promoting a sense of community. There are about 400,000 members nationwide. Senior Corps was formed when its constituent programs—Foster Grandparents, Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), and Senior Companions—were merged when the Corporation for National and Community Service was formed by then-president Bill Clinton in 1993.

The three programs have unique histories, and each was developed to meet a specific need. The Foster Grandparent Program was piloted on August 28, 1965, to entice low income people over 60 in community service. The Senior Companion Program began as part of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare and Administration on Aging in 1968, and before being legislated and signed into law under President Richard Nixon. The Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) began as an outgrowth by private groups and government agencies to create opportunities of engagement, activity, and growth for older Americans following the work of the Community Service Society of New York on Staten Island beginning in 1965; the Society's success led the Older Americans Act being amended to create RSVP as a nationwide program in 1969.

Senior Corps was formed from a merge of its constituent programs: Foster Grandparents, Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), and Senior Companions. The three were originally mandated under the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 with similar aims. The three programs have unique histories, and each was developed to meet a specific need, but all were crafted on the same belief that older adults are valuable resources to their communities. When the Corporation for National and Community Service was formed by then-president Bill Clinton in 1993, the three organizations were reformed into the single agency Senior Corps.

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