Eldercare Locator¶
The Eldercare Locator is a public service of the U.S. Administration for Community Living (ACL). It connects older adults, caregivers, and professionals to local Area Agencies on Aging and community-based organizations that serve older adults and their families. For most family caregivers, this is the recommended first call.
The service covers every state and territory. When you call 800-677-1116, trained information specialists help identify local resources — adult day care, transportation, home-delivered meals, legal assistance, respite care, and more. The service is free and available Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 8 PM Eastern Time. The website at eldercare.acl.gov also offers a searchable database of local services by ZIP code.
One useful way to think about the call is that Eldercare Locator helps families organize questions across four buckets: financial organization, legal preparation, health insurance / long-term care, and community services2. That makes it especially useful when a situation feels too broad or messy to know where to start.
Eldercare Locator is particularly valuable because caregiving needs vary by location. Federal and state programs, county-level services, and community organizations all differ by geography. Rather than maintaining an exhaustive national database, Eldercare Locator routes caregivers to the local agency best positioned to help with their specific situation.
The service addresses all six zones. A single call can surface resources for social support (P1), physical health programs (P2), housing modifications (P3), financial assistance (P4), legal navigation (P5), and emotional wellbeing services (P6). This broad coverage makes it an effective starting point regardless of which zone is flagged in a caregiver's assessment.
Transportation is a good example of how this routing role works in practice. When driving becomes less safe, Eldercare Locator can connect families to local aging and transit systems that help map alternatives such as paratransit, volunteer drivers, travel training, and other community transportation options5.
The public home page now makes the service model explicit: caregivers can search locally online, call or text 1-800-677-1116, use chat, or email the service for help from trained staff1. That matters for Mira because the right next step is often not "read another article"; it is "tell me your location, then contact the local aging-services entry point."
ACL's broader community-living framing explains why Eldercare Locator is not just a phone directory. The goal is helping older adults and disabled people live with choice, control, and participation in their communities. Depending on the person, that may involve physical help, decision-making support, planning support, assistive technology, or a blend of services. ACL names Area Agencies on Aging, Aging and Disability Resource Centers, Centers for Independent Living, and Assistive Technology Act programs as parts of that local infrastructure3.
When calling, expect to provide your ZIP code and a brief description of what you need help with. It often helps to name the category directly: document and legal planning, insurance questions, home modifications, transportation, meals, or in-home help2. The specialist will identify relevant local programs and provide contact information. For complex situations, they may refer you to a specific care manager or mobility counselor through your local Area Agency on Aging or transit network5.
For long-term-care questions, ACL's local-services page is useful because it separates government routing paths from non-government directories. Government paths include Eldercare Locator, Medicare comparison tools, Medicaid state offices, and SHIP counseling; private directories can still be useful, but they should not be treated as verified or endorsed GiveCare resources without a separate check4.
How GiveCare uses this source¶
Eldercare Locator is a canonical first-call resource, not a content library to mirror. In Mira conversations, its highest-value use is to ask for location, identify the pressure area, and route the caregiver toward a local AAA, ADRC, SHIP counselor, legal aid path, transportation option, home-support program, respite source, or benefits office. Live directory listings should be verified before GiveCare presents them as specific available programs.