Funded by the Older Americans Act (OAA), the National Caregiver Support Collaborative (NCSC) aims to achieve greater recognition, support, and inclusion of the family caregivers served by the National Family Caregiver Support Program (OAA Title III-E) and Native American Caregiver Support Program (OAA Title VI-C). NCSC is also designed to improve alignment between these programs and other Administration for Community Living (ACL) efforts and programs.
The NCSC is the first federally funded national effort to build the capacity of these critical OAA programs since the creation of the National Family Caregiver Support Program in 2000.
Advancing the National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers
The 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers was created to support family caregivers of all ages, from youth to grandparents, regardless of where they live or what caregiving looks like for them and their loved ones. The 2022 National Strategy was developed jointly by the advisory councils created by the Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and Engage Family Caregivers Act and the Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Act, with extensive input from the public, including family caregivers and the people they support.
NCSC’s work aligns with the strategy and is guided by its framework. Its projects address five goals:
- Increase awareness and outreach
- Advance partnerships and engagement with family caregivers
- Strengthen services and supports
- Ensure financial and workplace security
- Expand data, research, and evidence-based practices
Further, four cross-cutting principles described throughout the strategy inform all NCSC activities:
- Place the family and person at the center of all interactions
- Address trauma and its impact on families
- Advance equity, accessibility, and inclusion for family caregivers in underserved communities
- Elevate direct care workers as family caregiving partners
While NCSC’s technical assistance and capacity building will focus on OAA programs and ACL’s aging and disability networks, all NCSC materials and resources will be publicly shared so that federal, state, and community organizations across the nation can take steps to achieve the strategy's overarching goal of better recognizing and supporting all family, kinship, and tribal caregivers.
About ACL
The Administration for Community Living (ACL) is an operating division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and was created based on the fundamental principle that older adults and people of all ages with disabilities should be able to live where they choose, with the people they choose, and with the ability to participate fully in their communities. ACL helps make this principle a reality for millions of Americans by funding services and supports provided primarily by networks of community-based organizations and investing in research, education, and innovation.