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.

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.

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.

New website offers 24/7 search-by-zip code option to find local services and resources ACL’s Disability Information and Access Line has launched a new tool to help people with disabilities to find local services and resources to support community living. Through DIAL’s new website and its searchable database, users can now find the information they need, at any time of day, every day of the year.

ACL has awarded three grants that further its mission to support people with disabilities to live in their communities. The grants continue and enhance the collection and analysis of national longitudinal trends pertaining to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) around the issues of state spending for I/DD services, residential services, and employment services.

Through these four-year awards, grantees will develop, test, and disseminate new approaches for supporting family caregivers, using the 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers as a roadmap.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is seeking input on draft guidance on the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan. The draft guidance would give people with Medicare prescription drug coverage (Medicare Part D) the option to pay their out-of-pocket costs in monthly payments spread out over the year, starting in 2025.

The ability to participate in our democracy by voting in elections is a foundational right of citizenship that we cherish as Americans. No adult should be denied this right because of their age or ability. This principle is clearly reflected in the Biden-Harris Administration’s Executive Order on Promoting Access to Voting.

ACL’s Office of Network Advancement (ONA) is announcing a new award to USAging for the Center of Excellence (COE) to Align Health and Social Care: Enhancing Community-Based Aging and Disability Organizations to Improve Access to Long-Term Services and Supports.