Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and Engage Family Caregivers Act of 2017

Summary: Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and Engage Family Caregivers Act of 2017 or the RAISE Family Caregivers Act (Sec. 3) This bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop and make publicly available a National Family Caregiving Strategy that identifies&nbsp;recommended actions for recognizing and supporting family caregivers in a manner that reflects their diverse needs. (Sec. 4) HHS shall convene a Family Caregiving Advisory Council to advise the department&nbsp;on recognizing and supporting family caregivers. (Sec. 6) The council shall terminate after five years.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, 
and Engage Family Caregivers Act of 2017'' or the ``RAISE Family 
Caregivers Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Advisory council.--The term ``Advisory Council'' means 
        the Family Caregiving Advisory Council convened under section 
        4.
            (2) Family caregiver.--The term ``family caregiver'' means 
        an adult family member or other individual who has a 
        significant relationship with, and who provides a broad range 
        of assistance to, an individual with a chronic or other health 
        condition, disability, or functional limitation.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Health and Human Services.
            (4) Strategy.--The term ``Strategy'' means the Family 
        Caregiving Strategy set forth under section 3.

SEC. 3. FAMILY CAREGIVING STRATEGY.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary, in consultation with the heads of 
other appropriate Federal agencies, shall develop jointly with the 
Advisory Council and submit to the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions and the Special Committee on Aging of the Senate, 
the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of 
Representatives, and the State agencies responsible for carrying out 
family caregiver programs, and make publically available on the 
internet website of the Department of Health and Human Services, a 
Family Caregiving Strategy.
    (b) Contents.--The Strategy shall identify recommended actions that 
Federal (under existing Federal programs), State, and local 
governments, communities, health care providers, long-term services and 
supports providers, and others are taking, or may take, to recognize 
and support family caregivers in a manner that reflects their diverse 
needs, including with respect to the following:
            (1) Promoting greater adoption of person- and family-
        centered care in all health and long-term services and supports 
        settings, with the person receiving services and supports and 
        the family caregiver (as appropriate) at the center of care 
        teams.
            (2) Assessment and service planning (including care 
        transitions and coordination) involving family caregivers and 
        care recipients.
            (3) Information, education and training supports, referral, 
        and care coordination, including with respect to hospice care, 
        palliative care, and advance planning services.
            (4) Respite options.
            (5) Financial security and workplace issues.
            (6) Delivering services based on the performance, mission, 
        and purpose of a program while eliminating redundancies.
    (c) Duties of the Secretary.--The Secretary (or the Secretary's 
designee), in carrying out subsection (a), shall oversee the following:
            (1) Collecting and making publicly available information, 
        submitted by the Advisory Council under section 4(d) to the 
        Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the 
        Special Committee on Aging of the Senate, the Committee on 
        Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives, 
        and the State agencies responsible for carrying out family 
        caregiver programs, and made publically available by the 
        Secretary, including evidence-based or promising practices and 
        innovative models (both domestic and foreign) regarding the 
        provision of care by family caregivers or support for family 
        caregivers.
            (2) Coordinating and assessing existing Federal Government 
        programs and activities to recognize and support family 
        caregivers while ensuring maximum effectiveness and avoiding 
        unnecessary duplication.
            (3) Providing technical assistance, as appropriate, such as 
        disseminating identified best practices and information sharing 
        based on reports provided under section 4(d), to State or local 
        efforts to support family caregivers.
    (d) Initial Strategy; Updates.--The Secretary shall--
            (1) not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, develop, publish, and submit to the Committee on 
        Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Special 
        Committee on Aging of the Senate, the Committee on Education 
        and the Workforce of the House of Representatives, and the 
        State agencies responsible for carrying out family caregiver 
        programs, an initial Strategy incorporating the items addressed 
        in the Advisory Council's initial report under section 4(d) and 
        other relevant information, including best practices, for 
        recognizing and supporting family caregivers; and
            (2) biennially update, republish, and submit to the 
        Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the 
        Special Committee on Aging of the Senate, the Committee on 
        Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives, 
        and the State agencies responsible for carrying out family 
        caregiver programs the Strategy, taking into account the most 
        recent annual report submitted under section 4(d)(1)--
                    (A) to reflect new developments, challenges, 
                opportunities, and solutions; and
                    (B) to review progress based on recommendations for 
                recognizing and supporting family caregivers in the 
                Strategy and, based on the results of such review, 
                recommend priority actions for improving the 
                implementation of such recommendations, as appropriate.
    (e) Process for Public Input.--The Secretary shall establish a 
process for public input to inform the development of, and updates to, 
the Strategy, including a process for the public to submit 
recommendations to the Advisory Council and an opportunity for public 
comment on the proposed Strategy.
    (f) No Preemption.--Nothing in this Act preempts any authority of a 
State or local government to recognize or support family caregivers.
    (g) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed 
to permit the Secretary (through regulation, guidance, grant criteria, 
or otherwise) to--
            (1) mandate, direct, or control the allocation of State or 
        local resources;
            (2) mandate the use of any of the best practices identified 
        in the reports required under this Act; or
            (3) otherwise expand the authority of the Secretary beyond 
        that expressly provided to the Secretary in this Act.

SEC. 4. FAMILY CAREGIVING ADVISORY COUNCIL.

    (a) Convening.--The Secretary shall convene a Family Caregiving 
Advisory Council to advise and provide recommendations, including 
identified best practices, to the Secretary on recognizing and 
supporting family caregivers.
    (b) Membership.--
            (1) In general.--The members of the Advisory Council shall 
        consist of--
                    (A) the appointed members under paragraph (2); and
                    (B) the Federal members under paragraph (3).
            (2) Appointed members.--In addition to the Federal members 
        under paragraph (3), the Secretary shall appoint not more than 
        15 voting members of the Advisory Council who are not 
        representatives of Federal departments or agencies and who 
        shall include at least one representative of each of the 
        following:
                    (A) Family caregivers.
                    (B) Older adults with long-term services and 
                supports needs.
                    (C) Individuals with disabilities.
                    (D) Health care and social service providers.
                    (E) Long-term services and supports providers.
                    (F) Employers.
                    (G) Paraprofessional workers.
                    (H) State and local officials.
                    (I) Accreditation bodies.
                    (J) Veterans.
                    (K) As appropriate, other experts and advocacy 
                organizations engaged in family caregiving.
            (3) Federal members.--The Federal members of the Advisory 
        Council, who shall be nonvoting members, shall consist of the 
        following:
                    (A) The Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & 
                Medicaid Services (or the Administrator's designee).
                    (B) The Administrator of the Administration for 
                Community Living (or the Administrator's designee who 
                has experience in both aging and disability).
                    (C) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs (or the 
                Secretary's designee).
                    (D) The heads of other Federal departments or 
                agencies (or their designees), including relevant 
                departments or agencies that oversee labor and 
                workforce, economic, government financial policies, 
                community service, and other impacted populations, as 
                appointed by the Secretary or the Chair of the Advisory 
                Council.
            (4) Diverse representation.--The Secretary shall ensure 
        that the membership of the Advisory Council reflects the 
        diversity of family caregivers and individuals receiving 
        services and supports.
    (c) Meetings.--The Advisory Council shall meet quarterly during the 
1-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act and at 
least three times during each year thereafter. Meetings of the Advisory 
Council shall be open to the public.
    (d) Advisory Council Annual Reports.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 12 months after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Advisory 
        Council shall submit to the Secretary, the Committee on Health, 
        Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Special Committee on 
        Aging of the Senate, the Committee on Education and the 
        Workforce of the House of Representatives, and the State 
        agencies responsible for carrying out family caregiver 
        programs, and make publically available on the internet website 
        of the Department of Health and Human Services, a report 
        concerning the development, maintenance, and updating of the 
        Strategy, including a description of the outcomes of the 
        recommendations and any priorities included in the initial 
        report pursuant to paragraph (2), as appropriate.
            (2) Initial report.--The Advisory Council's initial report 
        under paragraph (1) shall include--
                    (A) an inventory and assessment of all federally 
                funded efforts to recognize and support family 
                caregivers and the outcomes of such efforts, including 
                analyses of the extent to which federally funded 
                efforts are reaching family caregivers and gaps in such 
                efforts;
                    (B) recommendations--
                            (i) to improve and better coordinate 
                        Federal programs and activities to recognize 
                        and support family caregivers, as well as 
                        opportunities to improve the coordination of 
                        such Federal programs and activities with State 
                        programs; and
                            (ii) to effectively deliver services based 
                        on the performance, mission, and purpose of a 
                        program while eliminating redundancies, 
                        avoiding unnecessary duplication and overlap, 
                        and ensuring the needs of family caregivers are 
                        met;
                    (C) the identification of challenges faced by 
                family caregivers, including financial, health, and 
                other challenges, and existing approaches to address 
                such challenges; and
                    (D) an evaluation of how family caregiving impacts 
                the Medicare program, the Medicaid program, and other 
                Federal programs.
    (e) Nonapplicability of FACA.--The Federal Advisory Committee Act 
(5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Advisory Council.

SEC. 5. FUNDING.

    No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this Act. This Act shall be carried out using funds otherwise 
authorized.

SEC. 6. SUNSET PROVISION.

    The authority and obligations established by this Act shall 
terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date of enactment of 
this Act.

            Passed the Senate September 26, 2017.

            Attest:

                                                JULIE E. ADAMS,

                                                             Secretary.