In The Politics of Autism, I discuss the issue's role in campaign politics. In the 2016 campaign, a number of posts discussed Trump's bad record on disability issues more generally. As his words and actions have shown, he despises Americans with disabilities.
A week ago, Kalyn Belsha and Erica Meltzer reported at Chalkbeat: "It’s unclear what part of HHS would oversee special education. Some disability rights advocates say it could be the Administration for Community Living, which supports adults with disabilities..."
Not now.
With the announcement by the Department of Health and Human Services that it will slash its workforce, consolidate divisions and close regional offices, an agency focused on older adults and people with disabilities has become collateral damage.
The Administration for Community Living will be disbanded and its “critical” programs will be integrated into other HHS agencies such as the Administration for Children and Families, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the HHS said. The department did not say which ACL programs were considered “critical” and which would be eliminated.
“These are programs that truly are lifesaving and critical,” Alison Barkoff, who headed the ACL from 2021 to 2024, told MarketWatch. “Dozens of millions of older adults and people with disabilities may not know the name ACL, but they know senior centers and Meals on Wheels and programs that touch their lives every day.”
In fiscal 2022, the ACL provided more than 261 million meals to older adults, assistance such as respite care to more than 1.5 million family caregivers, and independent-living services to nearly 250,000 people with disabilities, Barkoff said.
According to the HHS announcement, the department’s current 82,000 full-time employees will be reduced to 62,000. Meanwhile, 28 divisions will be consolidated into 15, and the number of regional offices will be cut from 10 to five. As part of that reorganization, the ACL will no longer exist.
