About ACL

The Administration for Community Living (ACL) was created in 2012 with the fundamental idea that people with disabilities or functional limitations of any type, regardless of age, have a common interest in being able to access home and community-based supports and services.  It was initially formed by the joining of the Administration on Aging, the Office on Disability, and the Administration on Developmental Disabilities.  However, over the years ACL has grown and expanded to include a wide range of other federal programs and initiatives including

  • the Paralysis Resource Center,
  • the State Health Insurance Assistance Program,
  • the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research,
  • the Independent Living and Assistive Technology programs,
  • the Limb Loss Resource Center, and
  • the Traumatic Brain Injury program.

ACL is housed within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and is composed of the following units:

  • Office of the Administrator
  • Administration on Aging (AoA)
  • Administration on Disabilities (AoD)
  • National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR)
  • Center for Innovation and Partnership (CIP)
  • Center for Management and Budget (CMB)
  • Center for Policy and Evaluation (CPE)
  • Center for Regional Operations

For more information about ACL's organizational structure, please the ACL organizational chart here with accompanying description of the responsibilities of each unit and office.  For a full list of the programs administered by ACL visit their Program Areas listing here. For a listing of funding opportunities through ACL visit their Funding Opportunities page here. An overview of the ACL budget allocations is available here.