Greetings!
Welcome to the Administration for Community Living virtual conference..
And we are glad you are participating in this conference.
My name is Kathy Greenlee.
I am the Assistant Secretary for Aging as well as the Administrator for Administration
for Community Living and this is the first time that I have participated
in a virtual conference, so we are doing this together.
I want to talk to about the two titles that I have.
In doing so, describe new opportunities that we have to work even more closely together
as we serve seniors and people with disabilities.
. So my two titles...
In April of this year Secretary of Health and Human Services,
Kathleen Sebelius announced a new organization at HHS.
The Administration for Community Living...
This organization brings together three entities that already existed at HHS it puts us together
so we can advocate for seniors, people with disabilities and their families.
The three entities are Administration on Aging, Office on Disability from the Office
of the Secretary for HHS as well as the Administration for Developmental Disabilities
in essence we built a new organization that will co-locate all three of the organizations
that already exist under the umbrella of ACL the Administration on Aging will continue to exist
and provide strong programming such as Older Americans Act to seniors, family cargivers,
as well as people with disabilities.
The Office on Disability is a part of this new organization.
My colleague and friend Henry Claypool is the Director of the Office of Disability
and has served as the Secretary's Principal Advisor on Disability Policy by joining together
with Henry and his staff, we can advocate more effectively for comprehensive policies on behalf
of people with disabilities throughout the whole Department of Health and Human Services.
The third entity: The Administration for Developmental Disabilities moves from one agency
to our new agency, ADD has been located at the Administration for Children and Families ,
but they wanted to join us as we build a new organization for Aging and Disability services
in the process of reorganization "ADD" changed their name and add an "I" to their name
to reflect the work that is being done all across the country with families and people
that have developmental and intellectual disabilities...
So their new name is the Administration for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
The reason we formed this new organization because we feel we are stronger together.
My two titles reflect my dual commitments in my roles, I continue to be the Assistant Secretary
for Aging and I very proud to serve in this role.
I have now finished three years as one of the nation's principal advocates on behalf
of older adults and must continue in this role very willing in this new organization..
As Administrator of the new Administration for Community Living, I also work in partnership
with our colleagues from the fields of disability to lift of their issues
and their needs so we advocate for better lives for all people, including children
with developmental disabilities....
I want to talk about what this might means for you..
And in specific reference the three Senior Core Programs, an example,
in the Aging Services Network your three programs are critical partners on the ground:
the Senior Companion Program, Retired Senior Volunteer Program and Foster Grandparents.
These are all critical services to seniors and our partnerships between Administration on Aging
and the senior core programs are as strong as ever but we are looking for new opportunities
and one of the those opportunity's is actually best reflected
in your Foster Grandparent's program..
Your program of Foster Grandparents, partner's volunteers who are older with children
and young adults that have developmental disabilities
and in this way you are already leading the way in providing a bridge
between the worlds and aging and disability.
In the new organization we will seek to achieve balance finding the things that we have
in common transportation, housing, workforce, supported employment or financial security
and as well as the critical role of family in many people's lives...
and in finding this balance and commonality we must also stay true the individuals
that we serve.
People with disabilities and seniors are different they have different needs and we need
to reflect that difference as we continue to work to with Administration
for Intellectual Developmental Disabilities and the Administrating on Aging so we are excited
about our opportunities were excited to continue to work with you and willing to learn.
If you have ideas that you have learned through this conference or in other ways
as you do your work where we can work together more effectively across the lifespan
with all people with disabilities of all age, then let us know...
Stay in involved because we are very much engaged and excited and have a common purpose.
The name in Administration for Community Living is aspirational it's what all people want
and it's something you help us provide, the ability for people to stay in their communities
for their lifetimes which is very, very important.
If you want more information about the Administration for Community Living
or want to provide us feedback, let me give you two resources: 74 00:05:27,176 --> first is our website www.hhs.gov/acl or you can contact one
of our ACL staff her name is Marla Bush her email address is marla.bush@acl.gov . 75 00:05:47,396 --> 00:05:52,73600:05:47,396 I hope you have a great conference and continue to be engaged in your communities
and have a very successful opportunity as you work virtually
to support people in their communities.
Thank you