National Information and Referral Support Center

Overview

The National Information and Referral Support Center will advance ACL’s strategic priority by increasing the quality and professionalism of the Older American's Act (OAA) aging and disability information and referral field through national leadership, training, technical assistance, resource development, peer learning opportunities, promoting standards and certification, coordinating with information, referral, and assistance systems, defining OAA information, referral, and assistance as a system, service, and process, and disseminating evidence-informed and culturally responsive practices throughout the nation's information, referral, and assistance ecosystem.

Summary

Fundamental to its role and purpose, the National I&R Support Center ensures that the aging and disability I&R/A workforce are trained, certified, and grounded in nationally standardized benchmarks that govern quality and professional service delivery.

The National I&R Support Center advances ACL’s strategic priority of Connecting People to Services by providing support to streamlined access to information, services, and support for older adults, people with disabilities, and their families and caregivers.  The National I&R Support Center achieves this priority by supporting the ongoing implementation, operation, and enhancement of the Eldercare Locator, through technical assistance. As a trusted, nationwide entry point, the Eldercare Locator strengthens the aging and disability networks by promoting consistency, quality, and accessibility through information and referral services contained in the Eldercare Locator database. The Eldercare Locator serves as the national gateway that connects individuals, regardless of where they are located geographically, to essential state and community-based resources closest to where they live, thereby supporting ACL’s commitment to a consumer-driven access system. The Support Center advances the HHS strategic goal of Improving the Well-Being of Americans by ensuring older adults and their family caregivers have an informed I&R/A workforce to help them or their loved ones stay in their homes and communities longer.

Challenges and Trends

Trends continue to make I&R/A increasingly important to older adult and family caregivers.  Today, a myriad of choices and decisions about health care, housing, transportation, food, caregiving, and long-term services and support (LTSS) challenge connections to services. Too often, a quest for information and services requires engaging a number of information providers, which results in frustration and confusion for consumers. Severe weather, natural disasters and the COVID pandemic highlight the critical need for timely, informed, and accurate information and assistance. I&R/A must also address the burgeoning and increasingly more complex aging and family caregiver populations. Caregivers are emerging in rapidly growing numbers who need access to I&R/A through a range of telephone, computer, and social media approaches.  Older adults and family caregivers are increasingly relying on technology to live safely and independently in their own homes. Advances in smartphones, online chat, web conferencing, and assistive technology join voice assistants (Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, and Google Assistant) and generative companions (ElliQ) as AI moves forward to redefine supports in medication management, safety and location trackers, and methods for reducing isolation and loneliness. I&R/A is far more than just telephone interaction. As a field, I&R/A seeks to invest in and utilize innovative technologies to enhance the workforce, improve access, and increase efficiencies. The quest for high-tech also highlights the indispensable continuance of the foundational practice of human touch for older adults and their caregivers who need I&R/A, but do not have access to technology and the population that prefers human conversation.

With this Notice of Funding Opportunity, ACL seeks to issue one grant award funding a cooperative agreement to operate the National Information and Referral Support Center, the purpose of which is to provide support, technical assistance, and training to the National Aging Services Network to enhance the skills, knowledge, and management capacity of aging and disability information, referral, and assistance programs. As a result of this grant, ACL expects information, referral, and assistance programs will improve their skills and ability to support older adults, people with disabilities, caregivers, and families connect with information, services, and supports.