Learning & Resources

Practical learning for families navigating long-term care systems is essential. AAA webinars are focused 45–60 minute learning sessions designed for families and caregivers supporting loved ones with developmental disabilities, cognitive disabilities, mental health needs, or aging-related care requirements. These sessions are grounded in advocacy resources, lived experience, policy and systems knowledge, and real-world care system education. Additional publications for caregivers, webinars, and briefings will be introduced over time.

Understanding the care systems that support community inclusion and advocacy resources. This section provides plain-language explanations and deeper analysis of the policies, funding structures, and oversight mechanisms that directly affect people receiving care and their families. This includes: Publications for caregivers that explain how care systems are structured and funded, advocacy resources drawn from real-world failures and gaps, and resources that help families ask better questions and recognize red flags. Some materials are offered publicly to support informed advocacy, while more in-depth care system education helps sustain AAA’s education and reform work.

This tool is designed for caregivers navigating the complexities of long-term responsibility advocacy and emotionally demanding care systems. When primary caregivers, families, guardians, and legal authorities in care encounter harassment and toxicity while seeking advocacy resources and support for their loved ones in group homes and special care homes, they often require guidance. 

Our focus is on providing comprehensive care system education and valuable publications for caregivers to assist them in these challenging situations. 

Currently in development. Launching soon. Stay tuned.

Building knowledge where gaps persist.

AAA publications contribute original research, analysis, and commentary focused on care systems, community inclusion, and quality of life for people with disabilities and aging populations. This work is grounded in lived experience, structured intake data, and critical examination of publicly funded care models, providing essential advocacy resources for families navigating these systems.

AAA’s research and publications will draw on confidential intake information shared by families and legal authorities in care with appropriate consent and anonymization, including, but not limited to:

Denial of access to individuals, homes, records, and personal effects.

Abuse, neglect, and failures in duty of care.

Health, safety and care record-keeping practices.

Non-compliance with legal authority, substitute decision-makers, and guardians.

Cleanliness, environmental safety, and standards of care.

Staffing shortages, staff training, certification, and access to qualified personnel.

Alignment (or misalignment) between care assessments and actual service delivery.

Programming related to connection, participation and inclusion, including: health, cost of living, access to care, health supports and gaps in financial transparency, non-compliance to health decision-making, information sharing, and service resolutions. These topics are critical for care system education and essential for ensuring that publications for caregivers address the real challenges faced in these environments.

AAA recognizes the urgent need for improved care and collaboration during key life transitions, particularly the transition from education to community life, and as individuals with vulnerabilities age while living in the community, supported by families, care partners, and service providers. There is inadequate public programming with prolonged wait times for assessments, as well as access to care services. This situation serves operational convenience rather than the people it is mandated to support, devaluing not only human rights but also quality of life. 

AAA asserts that publicly funded care and programming must be responsive, tailored, and accountable to the needs of individuals. Advocacy resources play a crucial role in this process. 

Real change begins with those who live the experience, advocate within it, and work collaboratively with care teams to demand better outcomes. This work exists to document failures, elevate lived realities, and drive systemic change—ensuring that care systems serve people, not bureaucracy. Publications for caregivers can also provide valuable insights and guidance in navigating these challenges, further enhancing care system education.

Listening, documenting, and learning from lived experience. AAA utilizes structured intake forms and surveys to gain a deeper understanding of the real conditions faced by individuals and families receiving care within the system. These tools include: A general intake form for individuals and families, optional consent for anonymized use of stories and insights, and targeted surveys that assess care quality, access, inclusion, and programming gaps. The aggregated insights help inform various advocacy resources, guide care system education, enhance public education efforts, engage in policy discussions, and drive program development. Additionally, these insights contribute to valuable publications for caregivers.