Don’t Blow the Candles Out on the Older Adult Act! May 28th Advocacy Event
Don't Blow the Candles Out on the Older Adult Act and Senior Services!
May 28th Advocacy Event
The Illinois Association of Area Agencies (iL4a) is hosting an event to discuss the proposed 880-billion-dollar cuts to Health and Human Services on a singular date, Wednesday, May 28th, across the State of Illinois. Federal and state legislators and older adults are invited to spread a unified message to reauthorize and fund the Older Americans Act through bipartisan support. Join us in this IMPORTANT Advocacy to protect funding that provides for the needs of older adults!!! Our area regional Department on Aging site will be at our usual Graceland Center programming site, 3625 N Sheridan Rd in Peoria!
It is VITAL to come together to let our legislators know how important it is to keet the Older Adult Act vibrant!! These are YOUR tax dollars at work to help YOU!!
Here is some information about the Association of Area Agencies on Aging In Illinois
Who We Are
We are the association of Area Agencies on Aging in Illinois. Each of the thirteen Area Agencies on Aging independently receive federal and state funding through the Department on Aging, and are responsible for awarding this funding to local organizations to provide services.
Since the 1970s, each Area Agency on Aging has helped to build a network of aging services at the local level, incorporating the preferences of requested by local participants. Aging services assist senior adults, their caregivers, grandparents raising grandchildren, people with disabilities, and veterans.
The Illinois Association of Area Agencies on Aging does not employ staff of its own at this time, but relies on individual member agencies to carry out advocacy on behalf of their constituents.
Our Mission
The mission of Area Agencies on Aging includes--
Developing a three-year plan of providing services with information gathered from senior adults, community leaders, and service agencies.
Developing new services and refining existing programs to meet the needs of senior adults.
Fostering connections between the Aging network and other agencies in order to improve senior adults access to services.
Promoting the interests of senior adults by advocating for improved policies for new and existing programs.
Assisting individuals 55 and older with information about training and employment opportunities.
The Trump Administration announced yesterday a major restructuring of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that includes massive staff cuts and the elimination of the Administration for Community Living (ACL). ACL is the only federal agency exclusively focused on supporting older people and people with disabilities.
The American Society on Aging (ASA) is deeply troubled by losing the agency that oversees lifeline programs used by 11 million older Americans and their families every year. We are also very concerned by what this could mean for millions of adults with disabilities also supported by ACL, and for their ability to continue living and aging in communities with dignity and economic opportunity. The critical programs people receive through ACL’s coordination include transportation, meals delivered to homes and served in community centers, health and wellness programs, support for families managing work and caregiving responsibilities, legal and elder rights services, and so much more. Every day, ACL's widespread reach touches so many lives, and if not ours today, likely tomorrow as we grow older.
Over 11,000 people turn 65 every day, and in four years we will have more older Americans than children for the first time. ASA believes that every federal agency should be factoring aging into its work. Yet ACL orchestrates the highly effective network through which services are delivered. We have serious questions about what its dissolution will mean for the continuity of critical services, and how HHS will effectively integrate ACL’s operations into other agencies, especially with reduced staff.
In addition, for the past two years, ACL has made remarkable progress leading the first National Plan on Aging, effectively coordinating and advancing strategy across 16 federal agencies and departments. ACL has also established important initiatives like the Direct Care Workforce Strategies Center, which is working to ensure a well-prepared sector of professionals is available to help people and families who need care. Questions about how this momentum and coordination will continue at a time of such significant population change also remain.
Taken together with recent attacks on Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, the prevention of elder fraud and abuse, and cuts to Alzheimer’s disease funding, ASA is deeply concerned that this action and the gutting of HHS will further threaten our ability to live full, meaningful lives as we age. Eliminating ACL effectively renders older people, people with disabilities, and those who serve them invisible in the structure of HHS.
Spotlight on Three ASA Member Organizations Taking Action: