ACL is awarding grants to three University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service (UCEDDs) to begin a new five-year cycle to further generate knowledge to support the independence and inclusion of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) in all aspects of community life.

At a meeting of the Elder Justice Coordinating Council on Wednesday, June 12, 17 federal agencies including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Justice Department will look back on a decade in which the federal government has significantly expanded efforts to combat elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation — including in the areas of enforcement, public education, training, interagency collaboration, research, and support for older adults who experience or are at risk of experiencing abuse.

The initiative is in keeping with President Biden’s Executive Order on Increasing Access to High-Quality Care and Supporting Caregivers, signed April 18, 2023. This executive order directs federal agencies to take more than 50 actions including those that could expand access to home and community-based services; grow and strengthen the direct care workforce; support family caregivers; and more — giving us a unique opportunity to transform our long-term care systems and mitigate the challenges faced by family, kin, and tribal caregivers.

The successful grantee and their partners will work to build the capacity of OAA-funded Title III-E/VI-C programs and the entities administering them (e.g., state units on aging, area agencies on aging, tribes, local service providers) to provide caregiver navigator services.

Today the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through its Administration for Community Living, released “Aging in the United States: A Strategic Framework for a National Plan on Aging.” The report lays the groundwork for a coordinated effort – across the private and public sectors and in partnership with older adults, family caregivers, the aging services network, and other stakeholders – to create a national set of recommendations for advancing healthy aging and age-friendly communities that value and truly include older adults.

The Profile of Older Americans is a summary of the available statistics related to the older population in the United States. Principal sources of data are the U.S. Census Bureau, the National Center for Health Statistics, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Older Veteran Behavioral Health Resource Inventory, released by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), provides information on resources to help health and social service professionals support older veterans and other older adults who have or are at risk for behavioral health conditions.

Collectively, these grantees are expected to reach approximately 7,000 older adults and adults with disabilities in the next four years. A key focus of this initiative is engaging underserved populations, including rural, low income, and/or Spanish-speaking older adults, and/or older adults who are blind or vision impaired. Grantees will reach participants through innovative remote and in-person delivery and work with diverse partners, including emergency response services, health care systems, and aging network organizations.

The purpose of the Merit Switzer Research Fellowships for Doctoral Dissertation Research is to support doctoral candidates as they conduct their dissertation research focused on a disability or rehabilitation topic that addresses outcomes among people with disabilities in one or more of NIDILRR’s outcome domains: community living and participation, employment, or health and function.

ACL and its Senior Medicare Patrol Resource Center lead the nation's annual observance of Medicare Fraud Prevention Week (MFPW), which aims to raise awareness of actions everyone can take to help prevent Medicare fraud.