Washington, D.C. — The Center for American Progress has provided comments to the Administration for Community Living, or ACL, on ways that states can increase help for vulnerable seniors, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, or LGBT, and American Indian seniors and their family caregivers. CAP outlines the recommendations to ACL in a new column published today.
CAP supports ACL’s proposal to expand how the federal government defines seniors who exhibit the greatest social need to include older adults who are LGBT; American Indians; refugees; Holocaust survivors; and victims of political, social, or religious discrimination or persecution and urges the ACL to require states to take action to meet the needs of these vulnerable communities.
“This expanded definition is a win-win for seniors and their caregivers, who desperately need more support, and for states, which would be able to more efficiently target their resources to those in need,” said Katherine Gallagher Robbins, Director of Family Policy for the Poverty to Prosperity Program at CAP.
CAP’s recommendations include that state agencies partner with relevant community organizations to identify local best practices and community-based needs; use inclusive assessments to appropriately identify members of populations and their specific needs; and formally network with other states and localities to share information and model policies. These activities would likely increase states’ success in serving socially isolated individuals and their families, and the federal government should support their adoption.
Read the full column online here.
For more information on this topic or to speak with an expert, contact Tom Caiazza at [email protected] or 202.481.7141.