The NCIL Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) Subcommittee has been meeting every month. We have seen a lot of challenges coming our way, particularly with funding for ADRCs dwindling and some states struggling with their state budgets.
The ADRC Subcommittee will be putting out a survey to all CILs to see how or if ADRCs are working in states and communities. We have also been submitting proposals to various conferences and have presented at several aging-related conferences to discuss the importance of Independent Living philosophy in the ADRC community and how to advocate within an ADRC to stay true to the roots of IL philosophy.
For the Part A states (these are eight states that are involved with much of the Administration for Community Living’s (ACL) options counseling work and are piloting the person-centered counseling training), the online training pilot has begun. This has proven to be difficult for some, because even though it is considered 508 compliant, it is hard to maneuver with Assistive Technology such as JAWS or other screen readers. It has also proven difficult for those with English as a second language and those who are Deaf. The ADRC Subcommittee is continuing to work with NCIL and ACL on the accessibility of this training, and will continue to provide the NCIL membership with updates.
