ADvancing States

The ADvancing States, in partnership with the National Alliance for Caregiving, created an infographic that depicts an overview of statistics on the experiences of caregivers in the United States, documenting their growing contributions to providing care to older adults and persons with disabilities in light of limited resources for caregiver services.

ADvancing States hopes that this report will provide additional evidence of the value of MLTSS programs, stimulate thoughtful policy development and program design, and promote high performing state systems that provide care for older adults and persons with disabilities.

COVID-19 is a long-lasting and complex disaster situation involving a public health emergency and an economic crisis, with particularly acute impacts for older adults, people with disabilities, and others with certain health conditions. States are responding with changes in policies and procedures to ensure individuals have access to public benefit programs (e.g. Medicare Savings Programs, LIS/Extra Help, SNAP, and LIHEAP). ADvancing States has a new brief highlighting where states are with benefit access and enrollment since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results in the brief comes from the 2021 ADvancing States Membership Survey: COVID-19 Benefits Access and Enrollment, a follow-up to the 2020 survey.

This issue brief summarizes and shares quantitative and qualitative findings from the Aging and Disability Information and Referral/Assistance Technology Short Survey to inform understanding of key technology developments and highlight approaches that may be useful in the current situation or in future disaster situations. This survey, administered by ADvancing States’ National Information and Referral Support Center in 2021, gathered data in several key areas including service modality and call volume; social media; the resource database; Information Technology systems; remote work; and new technologies for staff and client engagement.

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) included a 10% FMAP increase to Medicaid-funded HCBS. CMS requires states to submit semi-annual spending plan updates outlining changes to previously approved activities using ARPA HCBS funding. ADvancing States released an analysis of states’ initial spending plan submissions in September 2021, grouping activities into tables focusing on ten areas.

A panel of State Units on Aging senior leadership discuss their use, and the impact of, Joy for All robotic Companion Pets. They share the intended use cases, distribution methods, volume of pets distributed (if appropriate), and specific stories of impact. Leaders also speak to their plans regarding the ongoing use of Companion Pets to combat social isolation and loneliness post-pandemic.

The wave of federal funding from programs like the American Rescue Plan and Consolidated Appropriations acts can be overwhelming to comprehend. Many state leaders are wondering how best to invest these funds while keeping future needs in mind. This panel of state-level experts will provide considerations for funding topics including: • Understanding current funding initiatives • Considering the range of options states have to use funds • Implementing innovations like private-pay programs

ADvancing States has put out a brief 5 question survey to gauge topic area interests and preferences from our social media audiences on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Please consider sharing your responses with us to inform future content and support engagement with our network!

In our capacity as a sub-grantee to the National Long-Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center (NORC), we were pleased to invite SLTCOs to a webinar on May 13, 2021. Regrettably, the past few years have been scarred by various disasters including wildfires, severe winter storms, and COVID-19 pandemic. This webinar was for SLTCOs, to inform thinking and planning around disaster mitigation and management. Attendees heard from leaders from two states on their recent experiences responding to disasters.

ADvancing States is incredibly pleased to publish this new primer on the Older Americans Act (OAA) – the seminal piece of legislation that established the “aging services network”. The report discusses the historical development, functions, and governance of the Act, its service programs, populations served, and funding. We hope that you find the report useful and share with your partners across the aging and disability networks.