This grant has been awarded to the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities, which is partnering with the Institute on Disability and Human Development at the University of Illinois-Chicago; the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy at Brandeis University; The Arc; and USAging, the national association representing and supporting the network of area agencies on aging (AAAs) and Title VI Native American aging programs.

ACL has awarded a one-year (September 30, 2024-September 29, 2025) grant of $116,296 to the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services Aging and Disability Services Division, which operates as the state unit on aging (SUA), for assisting with the recovery efforts from major disasters declared by the president of the United States.

This program's purpose is to build research capacity by providing support to highly qualified individuals, including those with disabilities, to research the rehabilitation of individuals with disabilities.

ACL is pleased to announce new awards for multiple initiatives that support the implementation of the 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers. The strategy was developed by the advisory councils established by the RAISE Family Caregiving Act and the Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Act and 15 federal agencies, with extensive input from family caregivers, the people they support, and other stakeholders.

ACL’s Commit to Connect initiative, in collaboration with engAGED: The National Resource Center for Engaging Older Adults, recently added 27 new program examples to the Social Engagement Innovations Hub. With these additions, organizations now have access to more than 100 model social connection programs, services, and interventions from across the country.

Today, the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities (PCIPD) delivered its latest report to President Biden. The report focuses on the opportunities, promising practices, innovative strategies, and policy reforms necessary to strengthen and increase the availability of the HCBS that help people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) live and fully participate in their communities.

Today we kick off National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), an opportunity to celebrate the many contributions of people with disabilities to America’s workplaces and economy. Led by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), NDEAM also showcases supportive and inclusive policies and practices benefiting workers and employers.

FEMA and federal, state, community and voluntary partners continue providing resources to aid response efforts across the Southeast as survivors begin recovering from Hurricane Helene.

The AFP grant awards will establish or expand programs that provide people with additional options to access and acquire AT devices through a low-interest loan fund, an interest buy-down program, a revolving loan fund, a loan guarantee, an insurance program, or other approaches. AFPs emphasize consumer choice and control to build programs that provide financing for the full array of AT devices and services to ensure all people with disabilities — regardless of type of disability or health condition, age, level of income, and residence setting — have access to the program.

Yesterday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released comprehensive guidance to support states in ensuring the 38 million children with Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage — nearly half of the children in this country — receive the full range of health care services they need. Under Medicaid’s Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) requirements, eligible children and youth are entitled to a comprehensive array of prevention, diagnostic, and treatment services — including well-child visits, mental health services, dental, vision, and hearing services.