ACL is mourning the loss of Jamie Kendall, Acting Director of the Independent Living Administration, who died November 12, 2015.

Today the country pauses to honor the service and sacrifice of our nation’s veterans. ACL believes that one of the best ways of honoring their service is helping veterans remain in their own homes and communities throughout their lives.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to revise the discharge planning requirements that Hospitals, including Long-Term Care Hospitals and Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities, Critical Access Hospitals, and Home Health Agencies must meet in order to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The proposed rule would also implement the discharge planning requirements of the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act of 2014.

The Centers for Medicaid and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released a final rule with comment aimed at enhancing the delivery of health care services provided under the Medicaid program.

Home and community-based services (HCBS) provide opportunities for individuals with disabilities and older adults to receive services in their own home or community.

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), a time to celebrate the contributions that individuals with disabilities make to our workforce. AIDD has long recognized the importance of employment expectations and opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD).

Please join us in congratulating Kathy Greenlee, the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Aging and ACL’s administrator, on being named a 2015 Influencer in Aging by Next Avenue. The Influencers in Aging list highlights 50 thought leaders, researchers, experts, executives and everyday people who are redefining what it means to grow older in America.

A Bureau of Labor Statistics Jobs Report indicated an employment rate of less than 26% for people with disabilities, a decrease of 4.5% over the last year. As this report was released during National Disability Employment Awareness Month, it is a unique opportunity to discuss avenues to promote disability employment.

On September 15, 2015, Commissioner Aaron Bishop and Administration on Disabilities staff Jamie Kendall, Jennifer Johnson, and Ophelia McLain attended a day-long workshop with Tennessee’s Independent Living and Developmental Disabilities Networks. We asked Council on Developmental Disabilities Executive Director Wanda Willis and Statewide Independent Living Council (SILC) Executive Director Ann Eubank about the workshop and the potential impact of the collaboration of the two networks.

This week, the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities (PCPID) published its 2015 Report to President titled Leveling the Playing Field: Improving Technology Access and Design for People with Intellectual Disabilities, the report describes the critical and increasing role of technology in enabling individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) to have greater control over their own lives and to experience the full benefits of citizenship. The primary goals of the report’s recommendations are: