ACL’s Administration on Aging announced the release of $1,050,000 to the nationally-recognized senior advocacy organization Justice in Aging to create a new National Center on Law and Elder Rights (NCLER). The NCLER will support ACL’s ongoing efforts to protect the rights, financial security, and independence of older adults.

Each year in September we pause to honor our nation’s senior centers. The 2016 National Senior Center Month theme, Find Balance at Your Center!, highlights how senior centers are providing programs that focus on the whole person allowing seniors to live healthier lives and stay involved in their communities.

ACL recently awarded grants to eight states to support lifespan respite care programs with the goal of improving the delivery and quality of respite services available to families across the age and disability spectrum. Maryland and Mississippi were awarded new state grants totaling $400,000 for three-year projects. The funding will be used to plan, establish, and expand lifespan respite care systems that provide new and planned emergency respite services, train and recruit respite workers and volunteers, and assist caregivers with accessing needed services.

September 11 is National Grandparents Day. Since 1978, the first Sunday after Labor Day has been designated as a day to pay tribute to our nation’s grandparents. Grandparents are our important connections to the past and they help to lay the groundwork for our futures.

CMS is seeking input on Medicare Physician Fee Schedule proposals. With this rule, CMS aims to improve how Medicare pays for primary care for people with multiple chronic conditions, cognitive impairment, and mobility-related impairments. More specifically, CMS is proposing:

UCEDD Fall 2016 Diversity Grants AIDD awarded FY2016 National Training Initiative funding totaling over $1 Million to 22 UCEDDs. The grants seek to build cultural competence capacity within and increase the diversity of leadership, staff, and governing bodies across the DD network. They also seek to increase the number of people from underrepresented communities who benefit from AIDD-supported programs and to improve the recruitment and employment of people from underrepresented communities within the UCEDD network.

August 29, 2016, Washington, DC, Remarks as prepared Good afternoon, and thank you for inviting me to join you today. It’s such a privilege to represent the Administration for Community Living on this stage. Although I have to tell you—it’s a bit daunting to try to follow Kathy Greenlee up here. I had the honor of being part of Kathy’s team when she, Sharon Lewis, and Henry Claypool conceived and established ACL, and it’s a tremendous honor to help carry their legacy forward into the next administration.

August 18, 2016 ACL's Administration on Aging is pleased to announce grants totaling $2.2 million to assist 13 state Adult Protective Services (APS) systems in addressing the abuse, neglect, and exploitations of older adults and people with disabilities. Arizona, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, and Tennessee will use the two-year grants to enhance statewide APS systems, improve practices and data collection, and interface with ACL’s National Adult Maltreatment Reporting System (NAMRS).

It would be trite if it were not true. When Bob Perske died recently at nearly 88, he had accomplished far more than he ever would have allowed himself to believe. He made the world a better place.

The public is invited to submit comments on ACL reporting systems collecting data on the Long-term Care Ombudsman and Adult Protective Services (APS) programs. National Adult Maltreatment Reporting System