Billing Code 4154-01
DEPARTMENT OF HELATH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Community Living
Intent to Award a Single-Source Supplement for the Expanding ACL Innovation Lab
AGENCY: Administration for Community Living, HHS.
ACTION: Notice.
SUMMARY: The Administration for Community Living (ACL) announces the intent to award a
single-source supplement to the current cooperative agreement held by the National Council on
Aging for the ACL Innovation Lab (“the Lab”) program. The purpose of the Lab is to support
research, demonstration, and evaluation efforts related to falls prevention amongst older adults
and older adults with disabilities.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information or comments
regarding this program supplement, contact Shannon Skowronski, U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, Administration for Community Living, Center for Policy and Evaluation,
Office of Performance and Evaluation; telephone (202) 795-7438 e-mail
shannon.skowronski@acl.hhs.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The primary activities of the ACL Innovation Lab
include:
•

Developing a taxonomy for falls prevention research.

•

Funding a cohort of sub-awards to community-based entities across the nation to conduct
research to understand and measure the extent to which existing interventions reduce falls
and risk factors.

•

Developing a secure, dynamic system to house the data collected and evidence developed
by sub-awardees.

•

Serving as a national focal point for technical assistance that supports the delivery and
scaling of effective falls prevention interventions across the aging network.

The supplement for FY 2024 will be approximately $4,441,320 and will not be used for projects
or activities outside the scope of the approved award. The supplement will provide sufficient
resources for:
•

increasing the number and geographic reach of sub-awards to community-based entities.

•

providing enhanced technical assistance, with a particular focus on individually tailored
supports for sub-awardees, data collection, navigating and securing Institutional Review
Board approval, and expanding dissemination.

Program Name: ACL Innovation Lab
Recipient: The National Council on Aging
Period of Performance: September 1, 2023 through August 31, 2026 (fully-funded)
Award Amount: Approximately $4,441,320
Award Type: Cooperative Agreement Supplement
Statutory Authority: Older Americans Act of 1965, sections 201 and 411, as amended through
Pub. L. 116–131 (42 U.S.C. 3011, 42 U.S.C. 3032).
Basis for Award: The National Council on Aging (NCOA) is currently funded to serve as the
first-ever ACL Innovation Lab (“the Lab”) for the period of September 1, 2023 through August
31, 2026. Since project implementation began in September 2023, the grantee has accomplished
a great deal. This supplement will enable the grantee to carry their work even further, providing
additional sub-grants and enhanced technical assistance to advance falls prevention efforts across
the nation.
The NCOA is uniquely positioned to complete the work called for under this project. NCOA’s
primary partners on this project include Impact Genome and a Research Advisory Committee,
comprised of experts in the fields of falls prevention, community-based participatory research,
and related areas.
Establishing an entirely new grant project for this program would be potentially disruptive to
efforts currently underway. The Lab was authorized in 2020, but not funded and established until

FY2023. Work is currently underway to build a solid foundation and infrastructure for the Lab.
If this supplement were not provided, this would make it difficult to build the comprehensive and
dynamic infrastructure needed to advance the goals and efforts of this program for years to come.
Building a parallel infrastructure this early in the process would likely result in duplication of
effort. In addition, it has become evident that sub-awardee technical assistance needs will exceed
initial estimates. Providing this supplement to NCOA will allow for the greater realization of
Congress’ intent in Titles II and IV of the Older Americans Act (OAA), which calls for the
establishment of a Research, Demonstration, and Evaluation Center (“the Lab”) for the purposes
of “[conducting] research, research dissemination, evaluation, demonstration projects, and
related activities…; “[providing] assessment of the programs and interventions authorized under
[the OAA]; and “[increasing the repository of information on evidence-based programs and
interventions available to the aging network…” (Title II) and supporting “applied social
research, aligned with evidence-based practice, and analysis to improve access to and delivery of
services for older individuals…” (Title IV).
Dated: June 24, 2024.
Alison Barkoff,
Principal Deputy Administrator for the Administration for Community Living, performing the
delegable duties of the Administrator and Assistant Secretary for Aging.
[FR Doc. 2024-14227 Filed: 6/27/2024 8:45 am; Publication Date: 6/28/2024]