National Resource Centers

ACL-funded Resource Centers:

ACL-funded resource centers provide information primarily for professionals; however, several of the following centers offer consumer information as well.

Center on Youth Voice, Youth Choice 

Grantee: The Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston
Contact Information: youthvoice@umb.edu
Website: https://youth-voice.org/
Audience: Youth with I/DD, Parents, Supporters (ex: school staff and administrators), Advocates, Healthcare Providers, Attorneys, Service Providers

The Center on Youth Voice, Youth Choice (CYVYC) is a national youth resource center on alternatives to guardianship.

Community Innovations for Aging in Place (CIAIP) Technical Assistance Center

Grantee: Visiting Nurse Service of New York
Contact Information: info@ciaip.org
Website: www.ciaip.org
Audience: Recipients of CIAIP (public is also invited to use the website and contact CIAIP for more information)

The CIAIP initiative is intended to assist communities in their efforts to enable older adults to age in place in their homes and communities. Innovative approaches developed under CIAIP are based on needs assessments that identify community strengths and gaps in supporting aging in place, and should represent a collaboration of all interested community stakeholders. The technical assistance resource supports grantees in their efforts.

Direct Care Workforce Strategies Center

Grantee: National Council on Aging
Website: https://acl.gov/DCWcenter 
Audience: States and service providers

The Direct Care Workforce Strategies Center (Strategies Center) provides technical assistance to states and service providers and facilitates collaboration with stakeholders to improve the recruitment, retention, training, and professional development of members of the direct care workforce. This initiative builds upon ongoing collaboration between ACL, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE).

Disability Employment Technical Assistance Center

Grantee: Lewin Group
Contact: The Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Website:  https://aoddisabilityemploymenttacenter.com/
Audience: People with disabilities

The Disability Employment Technical Assistance Center will provide AoD grantees with the tools and resources they need to more effectively help individuals with disabilities achieve meaningful employment with competitive wages in integrated settings. The Employment TA Center will be a comprehensive source for disability employment information, resources for AoD grantees, and will maximize knowledge transfer across programs by identifying and providing training on innovative, promising, and emerging practices.  

Disability Information and Access Line (DIAL)

Grantee:  Consortium of organizations serving people with disabilities and USAging
Contact:  DIAL@usaginganddisability.org, 888-677-1199
Website: https://acl.gov/DIAL
Audience: People with disabilities

The Disability Information and Access Line (DIAL) helps people with disabilities get connected to  information about local community resources that support independent living. Launched in 2021 to help disabled people access COVID-19 vaccinations, DIAL also provides information about essential services such as transportation, housing support, disability rights, and more.

Eldercare Locator

Grantee: USAging
Contact: eldercarelocator@USAging.org, 1-800-677-1116
Website: https://eldercare.acl.gov/Public/Index.aspx
Audience: Older adults and their caregivers

The Eldercare Locator is a nationwide call center and website that connects older Americans and their caregivers with trustworthy local support resources. 

Housing and Services Resource Center

Website: https://acl.gov/HousingAndServices 
Audience: States and organizations providing housing-related services to older adults and people with disabilities

HSRC is a partnership between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to make community living a reality for all. This partnership will expand accessible, affordable housing; help people exit homelessness; improve home and community-based services; and address the institutional bias in America's long-term care system.

Independent Living Research Utilization (ILRU)

Grantee: Memorial Hermann Health System
Contact: ilru@ilru.org or (713) 520-0232 (Voice/TTY) 
Website: https://www.ilru.org/ 
Audience: Centers for Independent Living, Statewide Independent Living Councils, and Designated State Entities

ILRU creates opportunities for independence for people with disabilities through research, education, and consultation. ILRU is ACL’s authorized training and technical assistance provider for Centers for Independent Living and Independent Living Services programs.

Lifespan Respite Technical Assistance Center

Grantee: ARCH National Respite Network
Contact: Jill Kagan, jkagan@archrespite.org
Website: https://archrespite.org/ta-center-for-respite

Through the TA Center, ARCH provides training and technical assistance to the Lifespan Respite Network with a focus on performance measurement, sustainability, best practices, and research. ACL has funded thirty-three states and the District of Columbia to establish or enhance Statewide Lifespan Respite systems and ARCH provides training and technical assistance to them as well. 

National Adult Protective Services Technical Assistance Resource Center

Grantee: WRMA, Inc., a Trimetrix Company
Contact: support@apstarc.net
Website: https://apstarc.acl.gov/
Audience: Adult Protective Services programs

The mission of the APS TARC is to support federal, state, and local partners’ use of data and analytics, research and evaluation, and innovative practice and innovative strategies to enhance the effectiveness of APS programs. The APS TARC serves as a focal point for ACL’s overall approach to leading the development of comprehensive APS systems. In coordination with ACL’s Office of Elder Justice and Adult Protective Services, the APS TARC works with state and local APS programs to improve reporting of data through the National Adult Maltreatment Reporting System (NAMRS), conduct evaluation and identify promising practices, support communities of practice among ACL grantees, and provide technical assistance to state APS programs.

National Aging and Disability Transportation Center

Grantee: Easterseals and USAging
Contact: contact@nadtc.org or 866-983-3222
Website: https://www.nadtc.org/ 
Audience: professionals in the fields of transportation, aging, disability, human services, and caregiving.

NADTC is a program of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) administered by Easterseals and USAging with guidance from ACL. NADTC goal is to promote the availability and accessibility of transportation options for older adults, people with disabilities and caregivers. 

National Aging Information and Referral (I&R) Support Center

Grantee: ADvancing States
Contact: info@advancingstates.org
Website: http://www.advancingstates.org/initiatives/national-information-referral-support-center
Audience: I&R professionals

The Support Center provides information and referral systems design and management, service delivery, and professional staff development supports to state and local aging networks. Training, technical assistance, product development, and consultation are provided to build capacity and promote continuing development of aging and disability I&R services nationwide.

National Alzheimer’s and Dementia Resource Center

Grantee: Research Triangle Institute (RTI)
Website:  https://nadrc.acl.gov/
Audience: Primarily serves grantees, but the public can access much of the information on the website

This resource center supports grantees as they implement evidence-based interventions and innovative practices designed to empower and assist caregivers of persons with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders.

National Alzheimer’s Call Center

Grantee: Alzheimer’s Association
Contact: www.alz.org, 800-272-3900
Website: http://www.alz.org/we_can_help_24_7_helpline.asp, 800-272-3900
Audience: People with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, their family members, friends, and caregivers; professionals and other members of the public can also benefit from available information

The National Call Center is available to people in 56 states and territories, 24/7, 365 days a year, to provide expert advice, care consultation, information, and referrals at the national and local levels. Trained professional customer service staff and social workers with master’s degrees are available at all times. The Call Center can help with questions about memory problems, how to deal with challenging behaviors, and tips for taking care of someone with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia.

National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities, Information and Technical Assistance Center for Councils (ITACC)

Grantee: National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities, Information and Technical Assistance Center for Councils (ITACC)
Contact: Sheryl R. Matney, ITACC Director, Email: smatney@nacdd.org
Website: www.itacchelp.org
Audience: People serving in the role of DD Council members, Council staff, and Council Executive Directors working with state/territory DD Councils. 

Information and resources for people serving in the role as DD Council members, Council staff, and Council Executive Directors are available to help in your work with your state/territory DD Council. Training and technical assistance efforts feature knowledge development and sharing, a focus on collaboration, and using evidence-based practices and principles of diversity, cultural and linguistic competency, inclusion, and equity. The National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities (NACDD) has a contract from ACL to provide training and technical assistance to state/territory DD Councils through the Information and Technical Assistance Center for Councils (ITACC).

National Center for Benefits Outreach and Enrollment

Grantee: National Council on Aging, Inc.
Contact: www.ncoa.org/get-involved/contact-us/
Website: https://www.ncoa.org/centerforbenefits/
Audience: MIPPA Grantees, Benefits Enrollment Centers, the public

This resource center helps organizations enroll seniors and younger adults with disabilities with limited means into the benefits programs for which they are eligible, so that they can remain healthy and improve the quality of their lives.

National Center on Elder Abuse

Grantee: University of Southern California
Contact: https://ncea.acl.gov/Contact.aspx, 855-500-3537 (ELDR), fax: 626-457-4090, @NCEAatUSC
Website: ncea.acl.gov
Audience: General public, social service and health care practitioners, the justice system, researchers, advocates, and policymakers

The NCEA serves as a national resource center dedicated to the prevention of elder mistreatment. To carry out its mission, the NCEA disseminates elder abuse information to professionals and the public, and provides technical assistance and training to states and community-based organizations. The NCEA makes news and resources available online; collaborates on research; provides training; identifies and provides information about promising practices and interventions; operates a list-serv forum for professionals; and provides subject matter expertise on program and policy development.

National Center on Law and Elder Rights

Grantee: Justice in Aging
Contact: @NCLERlegal
Website: https://ncler.acl.gov/
Audience: A broad range of legal, elder rights, and aging services professionals and advocates, including: legal assistance providers, legal assistance developers, LTC Ombudsmen, State Units on Aging directors, Area Agency on Aging and Aging and Disability Resource Center staff, senior legal helplines, and others involved in protecting the rights of older persons

The National Center on Law and Elder Rights (NCLER) empowers aging and legal professionals with the tools and resources they need to provide older clients and consumers with high-quality legal assistance in areas of critical importance to their independence, health, and financial security.

National Consumer Protection Technical Resource Center

Grantee: Hawkeye Valley Area Agency on Aging
Contact: info@smpresource.org, 1-877-808-2468
Website: www.smpresource.org
Audience: SMP Projects, the public

The National Consumer Protection Technical Resource Center provides technical assistance, support, and training to 55 SMP projects to ensure an effective, consistent national approach to educating Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in the prevention, detection, and reporting of health care fraud. The Center promotes and disseminates the work of the SMP projects and provides technical assistance in Medicare, fraud control, and volunteer management through online training, workshops, and the SMP mentoring program. The Center conducts training for SMP projects on SMART FACTS, the SMP data management, tracking and reporting system, to ensure that accurate activity and performance data is reported to OIG and the public. The Center also develops volunteer training materials to help ensure consistency and professionalism in the SMP volunteer workforce.

National Resource Center on Women and Retirement 

Grantee: Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement
Contact: info@wiserwomen.org, 202-393-5452
Website: https://wiserwomen.org/national-resource-center-on-women-and-retirement-2/ 
Audience: Consumers, professionals

The National Resource Center on Women and Retirement provides access to financial information, tools and resources on retirement planning for women and families to improve their financial health and avoid financial fraud and exploitation. The Center educates women of all ages about planning for their future financial, health and long-term care needs and provides model programs, trainings and interventions, publications and online tools for helping women build long-term financial security. Topics include saving and investing, Social Security, retirement planning, health and long-term care, as well as resources for caregivers including The Financial Caregiving Hub, and resources for women going through divorce and widowhood.

National Falls Prevention Resource Center

Grantee: National Council on Aging
Contact: Kathleen Cameron, Kathleen.cameron@ncoa.org, 571-527-3996
Website: www.ncoa.org/center-for-healthy-aging/falls-resource-center/
Audience: Aging Network, public health network, ACL falls prevention grantees, health care professionals, older adults, adults with disabilities, caregivers

The National Falls Prevention Resource Center supports the implementation and dissemination of evidence-based falls prevention programs and strategies across the nation. The purpose of the Center is to increase public awareness and educate consumers and professionals about the risks of falls and how to prevent falls; support and stimulate the implementation, dissemination, and sustainability of evidence-based falls prevention programs and strategies to reduce the incidence of falls among older adults and adults with disabilities; and serve as the national clearinghouse of tools, best practices, and other information on falls and falls prevention.

National Long-Term Care Ombudsmen Resource Center

Grantee: National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care
Contact: info@theconsumervoice.org, 202-332-2275; fax: 202-332-2949
Website: www.ltcombudsman.org
Audience: Ombudsman programs, the general public

The Center provides support, technical assistance, and training to the 53 state long-term care ombudsman programs and their statewide networks of almost 600 regional (local) programs. Its objectives are to enhance the skills, knowledge, and management capacity of the state programs to enable them to handle residents’ complaints and represent resident interests through both individual and systemic advocacy.

National Pension Assistance Resource Center

Grantee: The Pension Rights Center
Contact: 202-296-3776 or 888-420-6550
Website: www.pensionrights.org
Audience: Nationwide network of pension advocates (see summary, below), the public

The National Pension Assistance Resource Center provides support to the AoA Pension Counseling grant projects and facilitates coordination among the projects, State and Area Agencies on Aging, ADRCs, legal services providers, and others by providing substantive legal training, technical assistance and programmatic consultation. The Resource Center also assists individuals living in areas not currently served by an AoA pension counseling project by providing nationwide referral and information services by phone and through the PensionHelp America website—a nationwide database of pension assistance and information resources (https://www.pensionhelp.org/).

National Resource Center on Chronic Disease Self-Management Education Programs

Grantee: National Council on Aging, Inc., Center for Healthy Aging
Contact: healthyaging@ncoa.org
Website(s): https://ncoa.org/professionals/health/center-for-healthy-aging/national-cdsme-resource-center
Audience: States and community-based organizations including aging, disability, and public health networks as well as their partners

This resource center provides leadership, expert guidance and resources to promote the value of, and increase access to, evidence-based chronic disease self-management education programs (CDSME). It also serves as a national clearinghouse and disseminates best practices to increase the capacity of states, aging, disability, and public health networks as well as their partners to implement and sustain CDSME programs.

National Resource Center on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Aging

Grantee: Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE)
Contact: info@lgbtagingcenter.org, 212-741-2247
Website: www.lgbtagingcenter.org
Audience: Mainstream aging organizations, LGBT elder and organizations

This resource center is designed to educate mainstream aging services organizations about the existence and special needs of LGBT elders, sensitize LGBT organizations to the existence and special needs of older adults, and educate LGBT individuals about the importance of planning ahead for future long-term care needs.

National Resource Center on Nutrition and Aging

Contact: healthpromotion@acl.hhs.gov
Website: acl.gov/senior-nutrition
Audience: Aging Network, including national associations and regional, state, and local aging services networks

The  National Resource Center on Nutrition and Aging (NRCNA) – also known as the Nutrition and Aging Resource Center – supports the aging network’s nutrition services programs by helping to enhance skills, business acumen, and sustainability. The NRCNA will increase the availability of information on nutrition programs and practices that show promise of successfully integrating the nutrition network into the home and community-based services network.

National Resource Centers on Native American Elders

Website: https://olderindians.acl.gov/eldercenters#gsc.tab=0
Contact: olderindians@acl.hhs.gov

ACL/AoA currently funds three Resource Centers for Older Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians. These centers provide culturally competent health care, community-based long-term care, and related services. They serve as the focal points for developing and sharing technical information and expertise for Native American organizations, Native American communities, educational institutions, and professionals working with elders.

Native American Elder Justice Initiative

Grantee: International Association for Indigenous Aging (IA2)
Website: https://naeji.acl.gov/
Contact: naeji@iasquared.org

The Native American Elder Justice Initiative (NAEJI) promotes locally tailored, culturally relevant activities to address the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian (AI/AN/NH) elders and promote justice for the nation’s Indigenous elders.​ 

Older Adults' Equity Collaborative (OAEC)

Grantees:
National Caucus and Center on the Black Aged, Inc. (NCBA)
National Indian Council on Aging (NICOA)
Services and Advocacy for LGBTQ+ Elders (SAGE)
The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
National Hispanic Council on Aging (NHCOA)
The New York Academy for Medicine- Center for Healthy Aging (NYAM)

Website: https://acl.gov/programs/diversity-and-cultural-competency/oaec
Audience: Consumers, professionals

Established in 2020, the Older Adults’ Equity Collaborative (OAEC) includes five ACL-funded national Minority Aging Technical Assistance and Resource Centers (TARCs) that each focus on serving a unique community. Together, they work to ensure access and equity across aging services programs by providing technical assistance (TA) to the aging services network. To promote and support collaboration, coordination, and cross-cutting efforts among the OAEC organizations, ACL also funds a coordinating center.

Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) National Resource Center

Grantee: Northeast Iowa Area Agency on Aging
Contact:  877-808-2468
Website: https://www.smpresource.org
Audience: SMP grantees, Medicare beneficiaries, their families & caregivers

The Senior Medicare Patrol Resource Center (SMP Resource Center) provides training and technical assistance to SMP grantees. The SMP Resource Center also provides key consumer services such as fraud alerts and maintains the SMP locator, which helps consumers find their local SMP program.

State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) National Technical Assistance (TA) Center

Grantee: Northeast Iowa Area Agency on Aging
Contact: info@shiphelp.org
Website: shiphelp.org
Audience: SHIP grantees, Medicare beneficiaries, their families & caregivers

The SHIP National Technical Assistance Center (SHIP TA Center) is a central source of information for and about the national program. The SHIP TA Center provides training, technical assistance, and additional resources in support of SHIPs across the nation. Individuals may visit the SHIP TA Center website to find their local SHIP and to learn more about SHIP volunteer opportunities, counseling or outreach provided in their community. 

UCEDD Resource Center

Contact:  aucinfo@aucd.org
Website: https://www.aucd.org//urc/index.cfm

 

The UCEDD Resource Center, implemented under contract with the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD), provides technical assistance to University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service. AUCD is a network of interdisciplinary centers advancing policy and practice for and with individuals with developmental and other disabilities, their families, and communities.