AUCD Statement on Establishment of the Administration for Community Living
April 16, 2012
Today, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the establishment of the Administration for Community Living within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Administration for Community Living is a single agency charged with working with states, localities, the nonprofit sector, businesses and families to help seniors and people with developmental and other disabilities across the lifespan to live in their homes and fully participate in their communities. Practically, this reorganization will bring together the Administration on Aging, the Office on Disability, and the Administration on Developmental Disabilities into a single entity that will focus on developing policies and improving supports for both seniors and people with disabilities. In addition, in order to honor and acknowledge the current landscape and changes in contemporary language, as well as the work done through ADD to support the President's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities, the Administration on Developmental Disabilities will become the "Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities."
"Full participation in the community for people with developmental and other disabilities is what the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights (DD) Act is all about," stated AUCD President Anthony Antosh, EdD. "Our network of interdisciplinary Centers works to improve the lives of children and adults with all kinds of disabilities across the lifespan through research, education and service to promote independence, productivity, and integration into society. This reorganization will raise the visibility of disability issues at the national level and will provide an opportunity to partner with the aging community to promote and enhance community living for all our citizens."
"Aging and disability communities have been working together at the national level for a number of years supporting our common needs and desires of the disability and aging populations to be supported in the community," stated AUCD's Executive Director George Jesien, PhD. "This realignment of offices will hopefully make our joint efforts more effective and efficient. However, the Administration must also be mindful to ensure that it will continue specific initiatives and programs suited to meet the unique needs of infants, children, youth, and families with developmental and other disabilities as it has in the past. A continuing lifespan approach will be important to the success of the reorganization."
AUCD looks forward to working with the restructured organization for the benefit of the disability and aging populations in the US.
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The Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD), located in Silver Spring, MD, promotes and supports a national network of interdisciplinary centers on disabilities. The members of AUCD represent every U.S. state and territory. The membership of AUCD includes a national network of 67 University Centers for Excellence (UCEDD) funded by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities; 43 Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) programs funded through the Maternal and Child Health Program; and 15 Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Centers (IDDRC) funded by the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development. Together, these programs provide a direct national impact through direct services, the development of new, well trained professionals, and the use of new knowledge generated from research. For more information, visit AUCD's website: www.aucd.org.
