Administration for Community Living ACL

The Older Americans Act, signed on July 14, 1965, created the Administration on Aging and a national network of state and local agencies serving older people. In April 2012 HHS combined it with offices serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities into the Administration for Community Living, reflecting a shared goal of helping people avoid unwanted institutional care. It later absorbed independent living and disability research programs and is led by an Administrator.

Most ACL funding flows through state units on aging and roughly 600 local Area Agencies on Aging, which provide home-delivered and group meals, transportation, caregiver support, and help with daily tasks. It funds long-term care ombudsmen who investigate complaints in nursing homes, centers for independent living run by people with disabilities, protection and advocacy systems, and the federal government's main disability and rehabilitation research institute.

With the number of Americans over 65 growing rapidly, demand for these services has outpaced funding, and many local programs keep waiting lists for meals and home care. The March 2025 HHS reorganization cut ACL's staff and proposed dispersing its programs among the Administration for Children and Families, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and other offices. Supporters said the move would cut overhead, while aging and disability groups warned it would fragment programs and eliminate a single voice for those populations.