Join the ACL-funded Modernizing Senior Centers Resource Center and the National Center to Reframe Aging for a fun and interactive virtual summit where participants will look at how to communicate about senior centers. The summit will provide information, resources, examples, and activities that you can use to enhance the image of your center and be an agent of change in combatting ageism in your community.

We hope you have enjoyed the ACL Updates, blog posts, and other information we have shared throughout National Family Caregivers Month. As we close the 2023 celebration, we’re recapping a few important highlights in case you missed the opportunity to read, watch, or share with your networks.

The Social Health Connector uses a person-centered virtual assessment to generate a customized social health connection plan for people with disabilities, older adults, and family caregivers. This personalized plan leverages AI and machine learning to offer insights into individualized risks and strengths, highlighting local recommended resources for users in Virginia.

Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released an updated joint-policy statement on supporting the inclusion of children with disabilities in early childhood programs. The statement reiterates expectations for inclusive early childhood settings and updates recommendations for state and local agencies that implement Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) programs, Head Start, child care, home visiting, preschool, and public schools to increase inclusive early learning opportunities for all children.

Join SAGE, one of the ACL-funded national Minority Aging Technical Assistance and Resource Centers, for their webinar, “Planning for Lifelong Care for Transgender & Non-binary People.” During this webinar, you will learn about a new decision-making tool with guiding questions that any gender-diverse person can use to identify their values and goals concerning dementia, gender identity, and gender expression, which can then be used in an advance directive.

Under a contract with ACL’s Administration on Disabilities (AoD), the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) is leading the development of a model for providing peer-to-peer support to help people with disabilities find — and, most importantly, learn to use — augmentative and alternative communication tools.

AmeriCorps Seniors invites organizations to submit applications for the FY 2024 Senior Companion and Foster Grandparent programs. These funding opportunities specifically help AmeriCorps Seniors focus Senior Companion and Foster Grandparent projects on issues that are critical to communities and help expand the programs to more geographies.

Nominations are due by January 16, 2024. People with multidisciplinary experience supporting and caring for those affected by Long COVID are encouraged to apply. HHS is specifically interested in receiving nominations of people who have had Long COVID and other disability stakeholders.

The University of Kansas Institute for Health and Disability Policy Studies — funded by ACL's National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) — is seeking adults with disabilities to complete the 2023 National Survey on Health and Disability (NSHD). 

Yesterday, HHS released our new language access plan, which includes critical actions to improve access to HHS programs and services for people with disabilities and/or limited English proficiency. With provisions that specifically address the effective communication and accessibility requirements found in sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the HHS Language Access Plan is the latest in a series of important actions taken by ACL and our partners across federal government over the last several years to uphold the rights of people with disabilities.