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Member Spotlight: 19
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LTC Redesign: 25
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Between late 2025 and mid-2026, Wisconsin’s Division of Vocational Rehabilitation faced a severe funding shortfall after state budget allocations fell short of recommended amounts and federal matching requirements, creating a waitlist of over 7,600 disabled job seekers. Although the agency provides critical employment services, assistive technology, and guidance necessary to navigate life-sustaining benefits such as Medicaid and personal caregiving, candidates were forced to wait months for assistance, causing many to lose out on timely job and internship opportunities. While emergency state and federal reallotment funds were eventually secured to hire staff and process individuals off the list, the backlog persists, highlighting broader systemic risks to the economic independence and healthcare coverage of people with disabilities when state programs are underfunded.



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Call for Nominations: Caregiving Advisory Council Members

Submissions due Wednesday, October 14, 2026
ACL is pleased to announce the publication of Federal Register Notices to seek nominations for two family caregiving-related advisory councils. 

RAISE Act Family Caregiving Advisory Council 

Authorized by the Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and Engage Family (RAISE) Caregivers Act of 2017 (Public Law 115-119), the RAISE Family Caregiving Advisory Council will support the implementation of the update to the National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers that is slated to be released later this year. Implementation efforts will include new developments, challenges, opportunities, and solutions to better recognize and support family caregivers, along with recommendations to build upon the accomplishments of the National Family Caregiving Strategy in future reports.  Up to 15 non-federal voting members from the following groups will be appointed for three-year terms: family caregivers; older adults who need long-term services and supports; individuals with disabilities; healthcare and social service providers; providers of long-term services and supports; employers; paraprofessional workers; state and local officials; accreditation bodies; veterans; and as appropriate, other experts and advocates engaged in family caregiving. Those selected to serve on the Advisory Council will reflect the wide range of experiences of family caregivers and care recipients.
To be considered for selection, nominations must include all requested information and attachments and be submitted electronically to RAISE.mail@acl.hhs.gov by 11:59 p.m. ET on October 14, 2026.
 



View RAISE Federal Register Notice


Advisory Council to Support Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

The Advisory Council to Support Grandparents Raising Grandchildren (SGRG) is authorized by the Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-196). The Advisory Council will support the preparation of updates to the National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers that is slated to be released later this year. Specifically, the Advisory Council will focus on areas pertaining to grandparents and older relative (kinship) caregiver support while also creating and augmenting ACL-related tools within the kinship caregiving arena. The Advisory Council also serves as the primary panel that informs the work of the Grandfamilies and Kinship Support Network: A National Technical Assistance Center. 
ACL anticipates selecting up to 10 non-federal members to serve on the Advisory Council. These members will include grandparents, older relative/kinship caregivers, and professionals working on their behalf, with particular emphasis on individuals representing tribal communities and families impacted by the opioid crisis. 
To be considered for selection, nominations must include all requested information and attachments and be submitted electronically to SGRG.mail@acl.hhs.gov by 11:59 p.m. ET on October 14, 2026. 
View SGRG Federal Register Notice

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Eighteen state governors sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Todd W. Blanche calling on the Department of Justice to abandon efforts that could weaken access to community-based services for people with disabilities. Organized by New York Governor Kathy Hochul, the bipartisan coalition expressed opposition to a Justice Department memo questioning established interpretations of the landmark 1999 Olmstead v. L.C. Supreme Court decision, which protects individuals with disabilities from unnecessary institutional segregation. Prompted by disability rights advocates, the governors urged the federal government to preserve community integration, emphasizing that access to housing, employment, and civic participation in integrated settings remains essential for people with disabilities.



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This interview explores the journey of living with progressive blindness and transitioning into a dedicated disability rights advocate. The discussion highlights the pervasive accessibility barriers present in everyday environments, from poorly designed public websites to physical obstacles like vehicles blocking crosswalks. To make advocacy more engaging and accessible for adults, the advocate created an educational cartoon series featuring a guide dog to address serious accessibility violations and societal misconceptions through humor. Ultimately, the conversation underscores the importance of building empathy, recognizing disability as an ordinary part of the human condition, and relieving individuals with disabilities from the burden of having to constantly fight for basic accessibility rights.



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The upcoming film Being Heumann marks a major milestone for authentic disability representation on screen by casting British actress Ruth Madeley, who has spina bifida, to play disability rights activist Judith Heumann, alongside screenplay co-writer Rebekah Taussig, who is also a disabled activist. As highlighted in the article, Hollywood narratives have historically relied on non-disabled actors "cripping up" or framed disabled lives as tragic or purely inspirational, which can perpetuate harmful stereotypes and oversimplify the disabled experience. By involving creators with lived experience in front of and behind the camera, the film promises a genuine, nuanced depiction of Heumann and the historic 1970s American disability rights movement.



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Home- and community-based services (HCBS) help older adults and people with disabilities live in their own homes and communities, yet the term lacks a shared definition. The SCAN Foundation and the Human Services Research Institute (HSRI) reviewed 229 definitions to build a payer-neutral consensus definition—one intentionally grounded in choice, autonomy, and self-direction. The authors argue common language can help measure what works and hold programs accountable, though it alone won't fix workforce shortages or funding gaps.

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NCHS Seeks Input on 2028 National Health Interview Survey Redesign

Comments due Tuesday, October 20, 2026
 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) is seeking public input on a planned redesign of the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), expected to be implemented in 2028. 
NCHS has released proposed adult and child questionnaires and information about planned changes to the survey’s design and content. According to NCHS, these decisions will affect the NHIS data available for the next decade.
The NHIS is one of the nation’s primary sources of information on the health of the U.S. population, providing critical data on chronic conditions, healthcare access and utilization, functioning and disability, health insurance, preventive services, and other important health topics.
The aging and disability networks are encouraged to review the proposed redesign and share their perspectives. Input from organizations that represent and serve older adults, people with disabilities, caregivers, and their communities can help ensure the NHIS continues to provide relevant, accurate, and useful information for the populations we serve.

How to Participate

Comments may address the proposed survey content, structure, or other aspects of the redesign. Multiple comments addressing separate topics are welcome, and comments may be submitted anonymously. Commenters may enter feedback directly through the online platform or upload files containing their comments.
Visit the 2028 NHIS Questionnaire Redesign webpage to review information about the redesign, proposed adult and child questionnaires, the invitation for feedback, and next steps.
National aging and disability network partners are encouraged to share this opportunity with their members, partners, staff, researchers, data users, and other stakeholders who may have perspectives on the information NHIS should collect in the years ahead. 
Submit a public comment


2025 NHIS Data Now Available

NCHS has also released the 2025 NHIS public-use data files. The 2025 NHIS datasets, documentation, current survey content, methods, and analytic guidance are available through the NCHS website.
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According to analysis cited in the article, immigrant labor plays a critical role in addressing the severe U.S. homecare staffing shortage, with foreign-born workers making up about 30% of direct care workers (nearly 700,000 individuals) and 33% of homecare direct workers specifically. The majority of these workers originate from 13 countries—led by Mexico, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, Jamaica, China, and Haiti—though their representation varies significantly by state, reaching up to 71% of home health aides in New York. Recent policy changes ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians pose a major disruption to continuity of care, as roughly 21,000 Haitian TPS holders serve as nursing assistants or caregivers, prompting homecare providers and advocacy groups to launch national campaigns urging workforce protections.



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