IC 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1028 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2017 

Referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

AN ACT 

To provide for the establishment and maintenance of a 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Recognize, Assist, In3 clude, Support, and Engage Family Caregivers Act of 

4 2017’’ or the ‘‘RAISE Family Caregivers Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

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

8 Council’’ means the Family Caregiving Advisory 

9 Council convened under section 4. 

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

11 caregiver’’ means an adult family member or other 

12 individual who has a significant relationship with, 

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

14 individual with a chronic or other health condition, 

15 disability, or functional limitation. 

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

17 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

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

19 the Family Caregiving Strategy set forth under sec20 tion 3. 

21 SEC. 3. FAMILY CAREGIVING STRATEGY. 

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

23 with the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies, shall 

24 develop jointly with the Advisory Council and submit to 

25 the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen26 sions and the Special Committee on Aging of the Senate, 


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1 the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the 

2 House of Representatives, and the State agencies respon3 sible for carrying out family caregiver programs, and make 

4 publically available on the internet website of the Depart5 ment of Health and Human Services, a Family Caregiving 

6 Strategy. 

7 (b) CONTENTS.—The Strategy shall identify rec8 ommended actions that Federal (under existing Federal 

9 programs), State, and local governments, communities, 

10 health care providers, long-term services and supports pro11 viders, and others are taking, or may take, to recognize 

12 and support family caregivers in a manner that reflects 

13 their diverse needs, including with respect to the following: 

14 (1) Promoting greater adoption of person- and 

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

16 services and supports settings, with the person re17 ceiving services and supports and the family care18 giver (as appropriate) at the center of care teams. 

19 (2) Assessment and service planning (including 

20 care transitions and coordination) involving family 

21 caregivers and care recipients. 

22 (3) Information, education and training sup23 ports, referral, and care coordination, including with 

24 respect to hospice care, palliative care, and advance 

25 planning services. 


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1 (4) Respite options. 

2 (5) Financial security and workplace issues. 

3 (6) Delivering services based on the perform4 ance, mission, and purpose of a program while elimi5 nating redundancies. 

6 (c) DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY.—The Secretary (or 

7 the Secretary’s designee), in carrying out subsection (a), 

8 shall oversee the following: 

9 (1) Collecting and making publicly available in10 formation, submitted by the Advisory Council under 

11 section 4(d) to the Committee on Health, Education, 

12 Labor, and Pensions and the Special Committee on 

13 Aging of the Senate, the Committee on Education 

14 and the Workforce of the House of Representatives, 

15 and the State agencies responsible for carrying out 

16 family caregiver programs, and made publically 

17 available by the Secretary, including evidence-based 

18 or promising practices and innovative models (both 

19 domestic and foreign) regarding the provision of 

20 care by family caregivers or support for family care21 givers. 

22 (2) Coordinating and assessing existing Federal 

23 Government programs and activities to recognize 

24 and support family caregivers while ensuring maxVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Sep 28, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1028.RFH S1028

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1 imum effectiveness and avoiding unnecessary dupli2 cation. 

3 (3) Providing technical assistance, as appro4 priate, such as disseminating identified best prac5 tices and information sharing based on reports pro6 vided under section 4(d), to State or local efforts to 

7 support family caregivers. 

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

9 shall— 

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

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

12 to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 

13 Pensions and the Special Committee on Aging of the 

14 Senate, the Committee on Education and the Work15 force of the House of Representatives, and the State 

16 agencies responsible for carrying out family care17 giver programs, an initial Strategy incorporating the 

18 items addressed in the Advisory Council’s initial re19 port under section 4(d) and other relevant informa20 tion, including best practices, for recognizing and 

21 supporting family caregivers; and 

22 (2) biennially update, republish, and submit to 

23 the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 

24 Pensions and the Special Committee on Aging of the 

25 Senate, the Committee on Education and the WorkVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Sep 28, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1028.RFH S1028

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1 force of the House of Representatives, and the State 

2 agencies responsible for carrying out family care3 giver programs the Strategy, taking into account the 

4 most recent annual report submitted under section 

5 4(d)(1)— 

6 (A) to reflect new developments, chal7 lenges, opportunities, and solutions; and 

8 (B) to review progress based on rec9 ommendations for recognizing and supporting 

10 family caregivers in the Strategy and, based on 

11 the results of such review, recommend priority 

12 actions for improving the implementation of 

13 such recommendations, as appropriate. 

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

15 shall establish a process for public input to inform the de16 velopment of, and updates to, the Strategy, including a 

17 process for the public to submit recommendations to the 

18 Advisory Council and an opportunity for public comment 

19 on the proposed Strategy. 

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

21 any authority of a State or local government to recognize 

22 or support family caregivers. 

23 (g) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

24 shall be construed to permit the Secretary (through regu25 lation, guidance, grant criteria, or otherwise) to— 


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1 (1) mandate, direct, or control the allocation of 

2 State or local resources; 

3 (2) mandate the use of any of the best practices 

4 identified in the reports required under this Act; or 

5 (3) otherwise expand the authority of the Sec6 retary beyond that expressly provided to the Sec7 retary in this Act. 

8 SEC. 4. FAMILY CAREGIVING ADVISORY COUNCIL. 

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

10 Family Caregiving Advisory Council to advise and provide 

11 recommendations, including identified best practices, to 

12 the Secretary on recognizing and supporting family care13 givers. 

14 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The members of the Advi16 sory Council shall consist of— 

17 (A) the appointed members under para18 graph (2); and 

19 (B) the Federal members under paragraph 

20 (3). 

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

22 Federal members under paragraph (3), the Sec23 retary shall appoint not more than 15 voting mem24 bers of the Advisory Council who are not representa25 tives of Federal departments or agencies and who 


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1 shall include at least one representative of each of 

2 the following: 

3 (A) Family caregivers. 

4 (B) Older adults with long-term services 

5 and supports needs. 

6 (C) Individuals with disabilities. 

7 (D) Health care and social service pro8 viders. 

9 (E) Long-term services and supports pro10 viders. 

11 (F) Employers. 

12 (G) Paraprofessional workers. 

13 (H) State and local officials. 

14 (I) Accreditation bodies. 

15 (J) Veterans. 

16 (K) As appropriate, other experts and ad17 vocacy organizations engaged in family 

18 caregiving. 

19 (3) FEDERAL MEMBERS.—The Federal mem20 bers of the Advisory Council, who shall be nonvoting 

21 members, shall consist of the following: 

22 (A) The Administrator of the Centers for 

23 Medicare & Medicaid Services (or the Adminis24 trator’s designee). 


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1 (B) The Administrator of the Administra2 tion for Community Living (or the Administra3 tor’s designee who has experience in both aging 

4 and disability). 

5 (C) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs (or 

6 the Secretary’s designee). 

7 (D) The heads of other Federal depart8 ments or agencies (or their designees), includ9 ing relevant departments or agencies that over10 see labor and workforce, economic, government 

11 financial policies, community service, and other 

12 impacted populations, as appointed by the Sec13 retary or the Chair of the 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, the Committee on Health, Education, 

5 Labor, and Pensions and the Special Committee on 

6 Aging of the Senate, the Committee on Education 

7 and the Workforce of the House of Representatives, 

8 and the State agencies responsible for carrying out 

9 family caregiver programs, and make publically 

10 available on the internet website of the Department 

11 of Health and Human Services, a report concerning 

12 the development, maintenance, and updating of the 

13 Strategy, including a description of the outcomes of 

14 the recommendations and any priorities included in 

15 the initial report pursuant to paragraph (2), as ap16 propriate. 

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

18 initial report under paragraph (1) shall include— 

19 (A) an inventory and assessment of all fed20 erally funded efforts to recognize and support 

21 family caregivers and the outcomes of such ef22 forts, including analyses of the extent to which 

23 federally funded efforts are reaching family 

24 caregivers and gaps in such efforts; 

25 (B) recommendations— 


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1 (i) to improve and better coordinate 

2 Federal programs and activities to recog3 nize and support family caregivers, as well 

4 as opportunities to improve the coordina5 tion of such Federal programs and activi6 ties with State programs; and 

7 (ii) to effectively deliver services based 

8 on the performance, mission, and purpose 

9 of a program while eliminating 

10 redundancies, avoiding unnecessary dupli11 cation and overlap, and ensuring the needs 

12 of family caregivers are met; 

13 (C) the identification of challenges faced 

14 by family caregivers, including financial, health, 

15 and other challenges, and existing approaches 

16 to address such challenges; and 

17 (D) an evaluation of how family caregiving 

18 impacts the Medicare program, the Medicaid 

19 program, and other Federal programs. 

20 (e) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The Federal Ad21 visory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to 

22 the Advisory Council. 


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1 SEC. 5. FUNDING. 

2 No additional funds are authorized to be appro3 priated to carry out this Act. This Act shall be carried 

4 out using funds otherwise authorized. 

5 SEC. 6. SUNSET PROVISION. 

6 The authority and obligations established by this Act 

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

8 of enactment of this Act. 

Passed the Senate September 26, 2017. 

Attest: JULIE E. ADAMS, 

Secretary. 


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