News
Gearing Up for the 2015 White House Conference on Aging
- By: USAging
- On: 01/15/2015 09:56:08
- In: Policy & Advocacy
There's been much talk about (and behind-the-scenes preparation for) the White House Conference on Aging set for this year, but little detailed public information until now. This week, the White House announced details and dates for the five upcoming regional events that will lead up to a summer capstone event, likely in late July.
As n4a has previously reported, the 2015 White House Conference on Aging (WHCoA) is markedly different from previous endeavors, primarily due to a lack of funding and direction from Congress. The Obama Administration decided to forge ahead despite those challenges, seeking low-cost ways to generate public input, drive a national conversation on aging and find achievable ways to respond to the aging of the population.
n4a staff are in touch frequently with WHCoA staff and are working with our colleagues in the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations to influence, where possible, the process and the policies of this WHCoA. While feedback can be given to the WHCoA at any time via their website, n4a, like most national organizations, has not yet submitted formal recommendations. There are four WHCoA workgroups, made up of federal officials, that are culling and developing policy ideas for each of the main topic areas to be covered by the WHCoA: healthy aging, retirement security, long-term services and supports and elder justice. If your agency submits comments, please be sure to cc: n4a (acampbell@n4a.org)!
This week, the White House announced the dates for five regional events to be held over the next few months (cities and dates are listed below). The forums are invitation-only, with an estimated attendance of 200 or so experts, advocates and other stakeholders. Although the events themselves are not open to the public, they will be webcast live. To help our members maximize this opportunity for parallel local activity, n4a will be providing a toolkit in the coming weeks, which will include ideas for how to host your own local WHCoA forum. Such forums could be hosted in conjunction with the regional forum webcast or be stand-alone events.
White House Conference on Aging 2015 Regional Forums
Tampa, FL: February 19
Phoenix, AZ: March 31
Seattle, WA: April 9
Cleveland, OH: April 27
Boston, MA: May 28