Falls Free® Overview NCOA leads the Falls Free® Initiative, a national collaborative effort to educate the public and support and expand evidence-based programs and interventions that help communities, states, federal agencies, non-profits, businesses, and older adults and their families fight back against falls. In 2008, the Falls Free® State Coalitions on Falls Prevention Workgroup requested that a national Falls Prevention Awareness Day (FPAD) be observed on the first day of fall; four state falls prevention coalitions had already observed FPAD on a state level in 2007. In response, the National Advocacy Workgroup gained bipartisan sponsorship of the first annual National Falls Prevention Awareness Day (FPAD) resolution in the U.S. Senate and has obtained bipartisan sponsorship every year since then. The number of states observing FPAD grew from 4 in 2007 to 11 in 2008, 22 in 2009, 36 in 2010, 43 in 2011, 46 in 2012, and 47 in 2013, 48 in 2014, and 48 in 2015, plus the District of Columbia. Each year, NCOA provides technical assistance and resources to aid states and communities in observing the day.