Tag: Administration for Community Living

NAHC to White House: FY2024 Needs Big Investment in Medicaid HCBS

The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) has written to the Biden administration to recommend that the President’s FY 2024 budget request include at least $300 billion to support Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS). This budget request reflects the CBO’s preliminary estimate associated with the Better Care Better Jobs Act (S. 2210/H.R.…

NAHC Submits Comments on National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration of Community Living (ACL) released the 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers.  The strategy is intended to serve as a national roadmap for better recognizing and supporting family and kinship caregivers of all ages, backgrounds, and caregiving situations. ALC opened the strategy for public comments,…

Call with Surgeon General: Increasing Bivalent Vax of Elderly & Disabled

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs and the Administration for Community Living invite you to join a webinar with Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and other subject matter experts on how we can work together to accelerate vaccination of people with disabilities, older adults, and others who are…

Federal Grant Will Create New Center to Support the Direct Care Workforce

The federal Administration for Community Living (ACL) plans to create a new initiative that will serve as a technical assistance and capacity-building center for direct care workers providing home and community-based services for older adults and individuals with disabilities. ACL intends to award a five-year grant to a lead entity to create and maintain the National Technical Assistance Center. Estimated total funding will be $1.2 million to $1.3 million, per year for the five-year project period.

Home-based care providers are currently experiencing one of the most difficult workforce environments in decades. Many organizations are unable to meet current demand as a result of inadequate staffing, primarily among the frontline direct care workers and aides that provide a large portion of the hands-on services for vulnerable patients and families.

  • Grant applications are due June 28, 2022
  • An overview informational teleconference will be held on May 17 at 3:00pm ET (Dial-in number: 888-942-9712; Participant passcode: 5313288).
  • Find out more about the details of the grant opportunity HERE

ACL envisions that this new initiative will serve as a central hub for state, private, and federal entities involved in the hiring, recruitment, training, and workforce development associated with the delivery of HCBS. The effort will deepen the collaboration between ACL, the Department of Labor, and other HHS agencies, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE).

The center will focus on strategies and practices at the systems and provider levels, and will disseminate information and direct technical assistance (TA) to support stakeholders’ efforts to bolster and improve the direct care workforce. The TA Center will offer access to a curated array of model policies, best practices, training materials, technical assistance, and learning collaboratives.

Eligible applicants include public and private non-profit entities, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations as well as institutions of higher education. Given that current DCW workforce challenges are complex and informed by a number of factors, ACL expects that no single organization will be able to single-handedly meet the center’s objectives on its own. Accordingly, grant applicants will need to describe how they plan to partner with other organizations, including those representing the needs of traditionally unserved and underserved, to fully carry out the center’s mission and deliver on its priorities.

Detailed grant information is available HERE. If you have any questions about this grant opportunity, please contact Caroline Ryan at ACL at caroline.ryan@acl.hhs.gov

Federal Grant Will Create New Center to Support the Direct Care Workforce

Information on grants is here The federal Administration for Community Living (ACL) plans to create a new initiative that will serve as a technical assistance and capacity-building center for direct care workers providing home and community-based services for older adults and individuals with disabilities. ACL intends to award a five-year grant to a lead entity…

Federal Grant Will Create New Center to Support the Direct Care Workforce

The federal Administration for Community Living (ACL) plans to create a new initiative that will serve as a technical assistance and capacity-building center for direct care workers providing home and community-based services for older adults and individuals with disabilities. ACL intends to award a five-year grant to a lead entity to create and maintain the National Technical Assistance Center. Estimated total funding will be $1.2 million to $1.3 million, per year for the five-year project period.

Home-based care providers are currently experiencing one of the most difficult workforce environments in decades. Many organizations are unable to meet current demand as a result of inadequate staffing, primarily among the frontline direct care workers and aides that provide a large portion of the hands-on services for vulnerable patients and families.

  • Grant applications are due June 28, 2022
  • An overview informational teleconference will be held on May 17 at 3:00pm ET (Dial-in number: 888-942-9712; Participant passcode: 5313288).
  • Find out more about the details of the grant opportunity HERE.

ACL envisions that this new initiative will serve as a central hub for state, private, and federal entities involved in the hiring, recruitment, training, and workforce development associated with the delivery of HCBS. The effort will deepen the collaboration between ACL, the Department of Labor, and other HHS agencies, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE).

The center will focus on strategies and practices at the systems and provider levels, and will disseminate information and direct technical assistance (TA) to support stakeholders’ efforts to bolster and improve the direct care workforce. The TA Center will offer access to a curated array of model policies, best practices, training materials, technical assistance, and learning collaboratives.

Eligible applicants include public and private non-profit entities, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations as well as institutions of higher education. Given that current DCW workforce challenges are complex and informed by a number of factors, ACL expects that no single organization will be able to single-handedly meet the center’s objectives on its own. Accordingly, grant applicants will need to describe how they plan to partner with other organizations, including those representing the needs of traditionally unserved and underserved, to fully carry out the center’s mission and deliver on its priorities.

Detailed grant information is available HERE. If you have any questions about this grant opportunity, please contact Caroline Ryan at ACL at caroline.ryan@acl.hhs.gov

NAHC Urges Congress to Increase Funding for Programs Serving Elderly

The National Association for Home Care & Hospice has joined other likeminded organizations in writing a letter to leaders in Congress, urging them to fully fund programs that serve the nation’s elderly by not relying on continuing resolutions (CR), which do not increase and fail to meet the urgent needs of this vulnerable population.

Congress needs to enact omnibus Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 appropriations legislation by the time the current continuing resolution ends on February 18 that includes all 12 subcommittee bills. Our nation continues to face the economic, health, and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Relying on long-term CRs would result in flat and therefore inadequate funding, which in turn impedes the capacity of programs providing critical services to individuals across the country.

Federally-appropriated programs are essential to helping millions of older adults age with dignity, health, and independence. These discretionary programs include, but are not limited to, those provided by the Older Americans Act (OAA) and through the Administration for Community Living (ACL), falls prevention programs, initiatives and research that address chronic disease, workforce programs both for participating older adults and professionals providing care to them, AmeriCorps Seniors, person-centered trauma informed care, and HUD’s housing programs.

In order to sustain current services throughout FY 2022, these federally appropriated programs need year-over-year increases. Without increased funding, as the FY 2022 bills provide, the programs will not have sufficient resources to continue current programs, not to mention expanding their reach to help older adults during a pandemic that has overwhelmingly impacted them.

After a decade of appropriation caps and austerity for most annually funded programs, and with the compounding impacts of the pandemic, increased investment through an omnibus appropriations bill is a critical step to address existing shortfalls and improve and expand access to services for older adults and their caregivers. This, in turn, builds a stronger and more equitable American economy. Further, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed deep inequities and brought to greater light our nation’s most at-risk older adults living in food, transportation, affordable housing, and health care deserts. If Congress fails to enact omnibus appropriations legislation, programs that are in desperate need of increased resources will be left with stagnant funding, restricting their ability to assist with recovery in communities and across the country.

We urge Congress to provide the highest level of funding for the programs and services that support older adults at levels that reflect the true and growing demographic and human need in communities across the country. Long-term continuing resolutions would fail to address these needs and impede recovery when our country needs it the most. We strongly urge you to enact omnibus appropriations legislation including all 12 appropriations bills as quickly as possible.

NAHC Urges Congress to Increase Funding for Programs Serving Elderly

The National Association for Home Care & Hospice has joined other likeminded organizations in writing a letter to leaders in Congress, urging them to fully fund programs that serve the nation’s elderly by not relying on continuing resolutions (CR), which do not increase and fail to meet the urgent needs of this vulnerable population. Congress…

Webinar: Insights and Strategies for Reducing Suicide among Older Adults

This webinar is intended to raise awareness about suicide and highlight strategies to help professionals, consumers, families, and communities understand the role they can play in promoting emotional well-being and preventing suicide. Speakers will discuss the impact of suicide in later life, the implementation of 9-8-8 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and highlight community-based programs and resources that can help. This webinar is hosted by ACL, the National Coalition on Mental Health and Aging (NCMHA), and the National Council on Aging (NCOA).

Panelists:

For registration questions, contact Binod Suwal.

Ready Seniors Webinar Series

  • Wednesday, August 25, 2021, 1:00–4:00 PM ET 
    Register

Tabletop (R2 ONLY): Thursday, August 26, 2021, 1:00 –4:00 PM ET
Tabletop Registration (NY, NJ, PR, USVI ONLY)

Increasingly, frail older adults with complex health issues live alone in the community, far from their relatives and caregivers. Often they may depend on community service providers for support. This need increases during a disastrous event when critical services are disrupted, or the senior is impacted during a major disaster.

The Administration for Community Living and FEMA Region 2 have partnered on this workshop aimed at preparing Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) and other organizations that provide critical support services to senior citizens in their communities during a major disaster.

Who should attend?

  • Emergency planners for nursing homes,
  • assisted living facilities,
  • senior community centers,
  • senior housing,
  • adult day care centers,
  • home meal delivery services,
  • charitable organizations, and
  • others who provide services to senior citizens.

This event will include live captioning. If you need additional accommodations, email fema-r2-prepares@fema.dhs.gov.