This afternoon, President Biden will sign an executive order (EO) that includes more than 50 directives to federal agencies to increase access to affordable, high-quality care, and provide support for care workers and family caregivers. His remarks will be live streamed starting at 2 PM ET today.
The EO directs actions to improve job quality for the professionals who provide the critical services that make community living possible for millions of people. It includes actions to improve support for the 53 million family caregivers who provide the overwhelming majority of long-term support to older adults and people with disabilities. It also directs actions to expand availability of home and community-based services, including those funded by Medicaid and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
This exciting EO creates new momentum for ACL’s work to strengthen the care infrastructure that helps people with disabilities and older adults live and fully participate in their communities, including our work leading the National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers and to strengthen and expand the direct care workforce, our partnership with the Veterans Health Administration on the Veteran-Directed Care program, and more.
This White House fact sheet has more of the highlights. (We will share a link to the full text of the EO on our social channels and on ACL.gov as soon as it is available.)
Update: Read the executive order and watch a short video of the signing.