In this policy round up: 

ACL is announcing four new Assistive Technology (AT) Alternative Financing Program (AFP) discretionary grant awards. Nearly $2 million over one year will fund four projects. The new grants will establish or expand AFPs that provide individuals with additional options to access AT devices through programs such as a low-interest loan fund, an interest buy-down program, a revolving loan fund, a loan guarantee, an insurance program, or others.

Join the Partnership to Align Social Care, the Aging and Disability Business Institute, and Camden Coalition for a webinar series offering a deep dive into leading contracting practices to effectively and efficiently address health-related social needs. Register for "Contracting to Align Health and Social Care Ecosystems: A Webinar Series Sharing Leading Practices," taking place on the second Tuesday of each month during October, November, and December. 

Every October, National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) offers us 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.

Older adults and people with disabilities are disproportionately impacted by all types of disasters. Disabled people and older adults may not be able to evacuate, access shelters, and receive information in accessible formats. They may lose critical home and community-based services and be unnecessarily forced into institutional settings (such as nursing homes), or even experience higher fatality rates. Those who are living with dementia-related health conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease, may also experience extra risk.

ACL has awarded three grants totaling over $1.3 million to assist with recovery efforts in Hawaii, Guam, and Mississippi due to disasters that included wildfires, a typhoon, and tornadoes. This funding is provided under the Older Americans Act (OAA), which authorizes limited funding to state units on aging (SUAs) and OAA Title VI grantees.

The ACL-funded National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) is launching a new webinar series in which elder justice trailblazers will share their experiences, challenges, joys, and contributions in the field. The series seeks to honor the past, understand the present, and shape the future of elder justice, one conversation at a time.

This webinar is for aging and disability network stakeholders who are providing services to support vaccinations for older adults and people with disabilities in their local communities. Attendees will learn about the most recent vaccine guidance issued from CDC and the Bridge Access Program, which temporarily provides no-cost COVID-19 vaccines to adults without health insurance and adults whose insurance does not cover all COVID-19 vaccine costs.

ACL's National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) has awarded 19 five-year research grants through two programs. The planned project period for the grants is September 1, 2023-August 31, 2028.

In 1978, what is now the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) was created by an amendment to the Rehab Act. While our name has changed a few times in the years since, our basic purpose and reason for being has remained the same.