ACL's Administration on Aging collects annual performance data from State Units on Aging about the Older Americans Act Title III and Title VII (Chapters 3 and 4) programs through the State Program Report (SPR). The agency has been working with the Aging Network to redesign the SPR.

week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a request seeking information and data on additional reforms and policy options that can be considered to accelerate the provision of home and community-based services (HCBS) to Medicaid beneficiaries, taking into account issues affecting beneficiary choice and control, program integrity, rate setting, quality infrastructure, and the homecare workforce. The issues addressed in this request for information are highly relevant to ACL’s mission and vision. We urge our stakeholders to review and comment.

Recently, a variety of ACL disability programs have awarded funding to enhance the cultural and linguistic competency of the disability network and ensure that all people with disabilities can access ACL-funded programs and services.

Today, the final rule for Independent Living (IL) programs went on display in the Federal Register. The rule was developed in close coordination with the independent living network and addresses the requirements of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). Specifically, the final rule:

Good oral health is critical for older adults and younger adults with disabilities. Poor oral health is largely preventable and linked to a person’s overall health and serious chronic diseases. Unfortunately, older adults and adults with disabilities are at high risk of having poor oral health due to inadequate access to services and certain disabilities that make oral hygiene tasks hard to complete and obtaining services even more difficult.

ACL is working with a contractor to remind Medicare beneficiaries about Medicare Open Enrollment and the availability of volunteers from State Health Information and Assistance Programs (SHIP) to help make the most of Medicare coverage options. The matte release is as follows:

ACL’s National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) is seeking comments and will be hosting several listening sessions across the country to help inform future funding priorities and strategic direction. Mandated by Congress to develop a long-range plan every five years, NIDILRR is committed to incorporating input from key stakeholders—especially people with disabilities.

The Administration for Community Living (ACL) awarded a supplemental grant in the amount of $60,000 to the National Ombudsman Resource Center (NORC) to address a number of emerging issues. NORC provides significant training, technical assistance and program management expertise for state and local long-term care ombudsman (LTCO) programs.

The Administration for Community Living's Administration on Aging announces the awards for the Alzheimer's Disease Initiative: Specialized Supportive Services (ADI-SSS) program. The awards total $10,330,835 amongst eleven unique organizations in seven states. The 2016 Prevention and Public Health Fund provides the resources for these three-year awards. The funded projects will fill gaps in “dementia-capable” long-term services and supports by providing high quality, person-centered services for people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD), and their caregivers.

Grants totaling $3.75 million over three years were awarded to the National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities (NASUAD) and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) to build business capacity in the aging and disability services networks. Both projects will work together to build on the previous accomplishments of ACL’s business acumen work and to complement other publicly and privately funded technical assistance resource centers addressing this critical issue.