In this blog, Erin Long, who leads ACL’s Alzheimer’s Disease Programs Initiative, and Melissa Hunter, from the ACL-funded National Alzheimer’s and Dementia Resource Center, reflect on ways ACL’s dementia grantees are broadening their reach and serving more people living with dementia and their caregivers by training and engaging volunteers.

Registration is now open for the 3rd annual Walk for WEAAD (World Elder Abuse Awareness Day). Join us and help build a national elder justice movement, through movement!

Earlier this month, the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) within the Department of Education announced a new funding opportunity with an exciting provision. The Pathways to Partnerships Innovative Model Demonstration Project, RSA’s largest discretionary grant, focuses on building partnerships between the systems that support disabled youth as they transition from school to adult life to increase their opportunities for competitive integrated employment.

FEMA is spearheading an effort to create guidance and resources to promote a common understanding of resilience; incorporate the relationship between stressors and shocks; address the critical roles of all stakeholders; and inspire fresh, forward-looking, and people-centered planning approaches to increase community and national resilience. FEMA is also accepting applications for their National Advisory Council.

Many people with disabilities move through their entire educations without ever being taught self-advocacy skills, having conversations about possible careers, or getting information about independent living (IL) opportunities. Most are not exposed to the IL philosophy, which centers the right of people with disabilities to control their own lives, until they leave high school. As a result, many leave school unaware of the options available to them – and unprepared to take advantage of them.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) improve program benefits, clarify enrollment rules, eliminate coverage gaps, and strengthen the program for the estimated 64.5 million Americans who have Medicare health care coverage.

The National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) at ACL has opened a new funding opportunity under the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects (DRRP) Program for projects for translating the findings and products of DRRP research into practice.

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. 

In this policy round up:

The National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) at ACL has a new funding opportunity under the Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers (RRTCs) Program to advance disability statistics and demographics to inform policy and practice.