Aging/Older Adults

On October 13, 2022 the Social Security Administration announced an 8.7 percent cost-of-living increase in 2023 Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits – the largest in over 40 years. Approximately 70 million people will see an increase in their Social Security benefits next year.

ACL released its first comprehensive report on the accomplishments of Older Americans Act (OAA) Title III, VI, and VII programs. Enacted in 1965, the OAA created the foundation for a comprehensive system of services and supports that enables millions of older adults in this country to continue to live independently as they age. Today, programs funded by the OAA provide essential services to older adults, targeting those with the greatest economic or social need, particularly low-income and minority persons, older individuals with limited English proficiency, and older persons living in rural areas. The programs play a vital role in helping to maintain the health and well-being of millions of older adults and their caregivers.

Applied Self-Direction is accepting session proposals for the 2023 Self-Direction Conference: Virtual Series happening this spring. Sessions should focus on best practices and innovations related to self-direction and include a range of perspectives including state program staff, people and families who self-direct, Financial Management Services providers, support brokers, and policymakers.

ACL is announcing a new grant award to develop a NTAC. The grant of $485,000 over a one-year period has been awarded to the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA), which will be partnering with the UMass Boston Institute for Community Inclusion, USAging, and DJB Consulting. NTAC also will work closely with people who need or use transportation services, the transportation sector, and an array of national, state and local organizations throughout the country. This award seeks to expand access to transportation for people with disabilities and older adults by increasing awareness and adoption of transportation accessibility strategies, inclusive planning, and mobility on demand transportation systems.

NATC, funded by ACL and administered by the National Adult Protective Services Association (NAPSA), provides self-paced eLearning courses for APS professionals throughout the United States. While designed to support APS professionals, NATC is also available to allied professionals interested in learning more about adult maltreatment and APS. NATC has 24 free online courses on topics relating to APS, as well as hundreds of resources providing additional knowledge across the various topics. The eLearning courses are free and can be completed at your own pace. Some topics include: An overview of Adult Protective services; Power and control dynamics; Trauma-informed practices; The aging process and neuro-cognitive disorders.

The 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers is now available for public comment for 60 days. Comments will be used to inform the ongoing work of two Congressionally mandated caregiving advisory councils, and inform future updates to the strategy. 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. It includes nearly 350 actions the federal government will take to support family caregivers in the coming years and more than 150 actions that can be adopted at other levels of government and across the private sector to build a system to support family caregivers.

CFPB released a new report outlining the stages of recovery from elder financial exploitation and addressing why some older adults are more likely to get their money back than others. The report also identifies areas of work in policy, research, and practices that can help us improve the likelihood of recovery.

Community Care Corps has developed a new publication highlighting the accomplishments of their 2021-2022 grantees. Each grantee snapshot includes a program overview highlighting key efforts, partners and future directions. Returning grantees applied lessons learned from year one to enhance their volunteer service models while first-time grantees launched creative new volunteer program models to respond to the changing needs of their communities.

AHRQ is seeking public comments about comprehensive, longitudinal, person-centered care planning for people at risk for or living with multiple chronic conditions. The request for information seeks comments on the current state of care planning for people at risk for or living with multiple chronic conditions across settings of care.

On September 26, 2022, in an effort to improve nursing home transparency, safety, quality, and accountability, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services made additional data publicly available that provides information about the ownership of all Medicare-certified nursing homes. This data will give state licensing officials, state and federal law enforcement, researchers, and the public the ability to identify common owners of nursing homes across multiple locations. This data can help to identify the performance of facilities under common ownership, including owners affiliated with multiple nursing homes with a record of poor performance.