II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1028 

To provide for the establishment and maintenance of a National Family 

Caregiving Strategy, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 3, 2017 

Ms. COLLINS (for herself, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. MURKOWSKI, and Mr. BENNET) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment and maintenance of a 

National Family Caregiving Strategy, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Recognize, Assist, In5 clude, Support, and Engage Family Caregivers Act of 

6 2017’’ or the ‘‘RAISE Family Caregivers Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ADVISORY COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Advisory 

2 Council’’ means the Family Caregiving Advisory 

3 Council convened under section 4. 

4 (2) FAMILY CAREGIVER.—The term ‘‘family 

5 caregiver’’ means an adult family member or other 

6 individual who has a significant relationship with, 

7 and who provides a broad range of assistance to, an 

8 individual with a chronic or other health condition, 

9 disability, or functional limitation. 

10 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

11 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

12 (4) STRATEGY.—The term ‘‘Strategy’’ means 

13 the National Family Caregiving Strategy estab14 lished, maintained, and updated under section 3. 

15 SEC. 3. NATIONAL FAMILY CAREGIVING STRATEGY. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 

17 with the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies, shall 

18 develop, maintain, and periodically update a National 

19 Family Caregiving Strategy. 

20 (b) CONTENTS.—The Strategy shall identify specific 

21 actions that Federal, State, and local governments, com22 munities, health care, long-term services and supports and 

23 other providers, employers, and others can take to recog24 nize and support family caregivers in a manner that reVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:36 May 09, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1028.IS S1028

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1 flects their diverse needs, including with respect to the fol2 lowing: 

3 (1) Promoting greater adoption of person- and 

4 family-centered care in all health and long-term 

5 services and supports settings, with the person re6 ceiving services and supports and the family care7 giver (as appropriate) at the center of care teams. 

8 (2) Assessment and service planning (including 

9 care transitions and coordination) involving family 

10 caregivers and care recipients. 

11 (3) Training and other supports. 

12 (4) Information, education, referral, and care 

13 coordination, including hospice, palliative care, and 

14 advance planning services. 

15 (5) Respite options. 

16 (6) Financial security. 

17 (7) Workplace policies and supports that allow 

18 family caregivers to remain in the workforce. 

19 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SECRETARY.—The 

20 Secretary, in carrying out this section, shall be responsible 

21 for the following: 

22 (1) Collecting and making publicly available in23 formation, including evidence-based or promising 

24 practices and innovative models (both domestically 


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1 and internationally) regarding the provision of care 

2 by family caregivers or support for family caregivers. 

3 (2) Coordinating Federal Government programs 

4 and activities to recognize and support family care5 givers while ensuring maximum effectiveness and 

6 avoiding unnecessary duplication. 

7 (3) Providing technical assistance, such as best 

8 practices and information sharing, to State or local 

9 efforts, as appropriate, to support family caregivers. 

10 (4) Addressing disparities in recognizing and 

11 supporting family caregivers and meeting the needs 

12 of the diverse family caregiving population. 

13 (5) Assessing all Federal programs regarding 

14 family caregivers, including with respect to funding 

15 levels. 

16 (d) INITIAL STRATEGY; UPDATES.—The Secretary 

17 shall— 

18 (1) not later than 18 months after the date of 

19 enactment of this Act, develop, publish, and submit 

20 to Congress the initial Strategy incorporating the 

21 items addressed in the Advisory Council’s report in 

22 section 4(d)(2) and other priority actions for recog23 nizing and supporting family caregivers; and 

24 (2) not less than every 2 years, update, repub25 lish, and submit to Congress the Strategy, taking 


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1 into account the most recent annual report sub2 mitted under section 4(d)(1)— 

3 (A) to reflect new developments, chal4 lenges, opportunities, and solutions; and 

5 (B) to assess progress in implementation 

6 of the Strategy and, based on the results of 

7 such assessment, recommend priority actions 

8 for such implementation. 

9 (e) PROCESS FOR PUBLIC INPUT.—The Secretary 

10 shall establish a process for public input to inform the de11 velopment of, and updates to, the Strategy, including a 

12 process for the public to submit recommendations to the 

13 Advisory Council and an opportunity for public comment 

14 on the proposed Strategy. 

15 (f) NO PREEMPTION.—Nothing in this Act preempts 

16 any authority of a State or local government to recognize 

17 or support family caregivers. 

18 SEC. 4. FAMILY CAREGIVING ADVISORY COUNCIL. 

19 (a) CONVENING.—The Secretary shall convene a 

20 Family Caregiving Advisory Council to provide advice to 

21 the Secretary on recognizing and supporting family care22 givers. 

23 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The members of the Advi25 sory Council shall consist of— 


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1 (A) the appointed members under para2 graph (2); and 

3 (B) the Federal members under paragraph 

4 (3). 

5 (2) APPOINTED MEMBERS.—In addition to the 

6 Federal members under paragraph (3), the Sec7 retary shall appoint not more than 15 members of 

8 the Advisory Council who are not representatives of 

9 Federal departments or agencies and who shall in10 clude at least one representative of each of the fol11 lowing: 

12 (A) Family caregivers. 

13 (B) Older adults with long-term services 

14 and supports needs, including older adults fac15 ing disparities. 

16 (C) Individuals with disabilities. 

17 (D) Advocates for family caregivers, older 

18 adults with long-term services and supports 

19 needs, and individuals with disabilities. 

20 (E) Health care and social service pro21 viders. 

22 (F) Long-term services and supports pro23 viders. 

24 (G) Employers. 

25 (H) Paraprofessional workers. 


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1 (I) State and local officials. 

2 (J) Accreditation bodies. 

3 (K) Relevant industries. 

4 (L) Veterans. 

5 (M) As appropriate, other experts in family 

6 caregiving. 

7 (3) FEDERAL MEMBERS.—The Federal mem8 bers of the Advisory Council, who shall be nonvoting 

9 members, shall consist of the following: 

10 (A) The Administrator of the Centers for 

11 Medicare & Medicaid Services (or the Adminis12 trator’s designee). 

13 (B) The Administrator of the Administra14 tion for Community Living (or the Administra15 tor’s designee who has experience in both aging 

16 and disability). 

17 (C) The Assistant Secretary for the Ad18 ministration for Children and Families (or the 

19 Assistant Secretary’s designee). 

20 (D) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs (or 

21 the Secretary’s designee). 

22 (E) The Secretary of Labor (or the Sec23 retary’s designee). 

24 (F) The Secretary of the Treasury (or the 

25 Secretary’s designee). 


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1 (G) The National Coordinator for Health 

2 Information Technology (or the National Coor3 dinator’s designee). 

4 (H) The Administrator of the Small Busi5 ness Administration (or the Administrator’s 

6 designee). 

7 (I) The Chief Executive Officer of the Cor8 poration for National and Community Service 

9 (or the Chief Executive Officer’s designee). 

10 (J) The heads of other Federal depart11 ments or agencies (or their designees), as ap12 pointed by the Secretary or the Chair of the 

13 Advisory Council. 

14 (4) DIVERSE REPRESENTATION.—The Sec15 retary shall ensure that the membership of the Advi16 sory Council reflects the diversity of family care17 givers and individuals receiving services and sup18 ports. 

19 (c) MEETINGS.—The Advisory Council shall meet 

20 quarterly during the 1-year period beginning on the date 

21 of enactment of this Act and at least three times during 

22 each year thereafter. Meetings of the Advisory Council 

23 shall be open to the public. 

24 (d) ADVISORY COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 12 months 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 

3 thereafter, the Advisory Council shall submit to the 

4 Secretary and Congress a report concerning the de5 velopment, maintenance, and updating of the Strat6 egy and the implementation thereof, including a de7 scription of the outcomes of the recommendations 

8 and priorities under paragraph (2), as appropriate. 

9 Such report shall be made publicly available by the 

10 Advisory Council. 

11 (2) INITIAL REPORT.—The Advisory Council’s 

12 initial report under paragraph (1) shall include— 

13 (A) an inventory and assessment of all fed14 erally funded efforts to recognize and support 

15 family caregivers and the outcomes of such ef16 forts, including analyses of the extent to which 

17 federally funded efforts are reaching family 

18 caregivers and gaps in such efforts; 

19 (B) recommendations for priority actions— 

20 (i) to improve and better coordinate 

21 programs; and 

22 (ii) to deliver services based on the 

23 performance, mission, and purpose of a 

24 program while eliminating redundancies 


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1 and ensuring the needs of family caregivers 

2 are met; 

3 (C) recommendations to reduce the finan4 cial impact and other challenges of caregiving 

5 on family caregivers; and 

6 (D) an evaluation of how family caregiving 

7 impacts the Medicare program, and Medicaid 

8 program, and other Federal programs. 

9 (e) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The Federal Ad10 visory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to 

11 the Advisory Council. 

12 SEC. 5. SUNSET PROVISION. 

13 The authority and obligations established by this Act 

14 shall terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date 

15 of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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