IC 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1719 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 9, 2015 

Referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

AN ACT 

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, 


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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 2015’’ 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 National Family Caregiving Strategy estab20 lished, maintained, and updated under section 3. 

21 SEC. 3. NATIONAL FAMILY CAREGIVING STRATEGY. 

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

23 with the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies, shall 

24 develop, maintain, and periodically update a National 

25 Family Caregiving Strategy. 


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

2 actions that Federal, State, and local governments, com3 munities, health care, long-term services and supports and 

4 other providers, employers, and others can take to recog5 nize and support family caregivers in a manner that re6 flects their diverse needs, including with respect to the fol7 lowing: 

8 (1) Promoting greater adoption of person- and 

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

10 services and supports settings, with the person re11 ceiving services and supports and the family care12 giver (as appropriate) at the center of care teams. 

13 (2) Assessment and service planning (including 

14 care transitions and coordination) involving family 

15 caregivers and care recipients. 

16 (3) Training and other supports. 

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

18 coordination, including hospice, palliative care, and 

19 advance planning services. 

20 (5) Respite options. 

21 (6) Financial security. 

22 (7) Workplace policies and supports that allow 

23 family caregivers to remain in the workforce. 


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1 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SECRETARY.—The 

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

3 for the following: 

4 (1) Collecting and making publicly available in5 formation, including evidence-based or promising 

6 practices and innovative models (both domestically 

7 and internationally) regarding the provision of care 

8 by family caregivers or support for family caregivers. 

9 (2) Coordinating Federal Government programs 

10 and activities to recognize and support family care11 givers while ensuring maximum effectiveness and 

12 avoiding unnecessary duplication. 

13 (3) Providing technical assistance, such as best 

14 practices and information sharing, to State or local 

15 efforts, as appropriate, to support family caregivers. 

16 (4) Addressing disparities in recognizing and 

17 supporting family caregivers and meeting the needs 

18 of the diverse family caregiving population. 

19 (5) Assessing all Federal programs regarding 

20 family caregivers, including with respect to funding 

21 levels. 

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

23 shall— 

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

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


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1 to Congress the initial Strategy incorporating the 

2 items addressed in the Advisory Council’s report in 

3 section 4(d)(2) and other priority actions for recog4 nizing and supporting family caregivers; and 

5 (2) not less than every 2 years, update, repub6 lish, and submit to Congress the Strategy, taking 

7 into account the most recent annual report sub8 mitted under section 4(d)(1)— 

9 (A) to reflect new developments, chal10 lenges, opportunities, and solutions; and 

11 (B) to assess progress in implementation 

12 of the Strategy and, based on the results of 

13 such assessment, recommend priority actions 

14 for such implementation. 

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

16 shall establish a process for public input to inform the de17 velopment of, and updates to, the Strategy, including a 

18 process for the public to submit recommendations to the 

19 Advisory Council and an opportunity for public comment 

20 on the proposed Strategy. 

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

22 any authority of a State or local government to recognize 

23 or support family caregivers. 


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1 SEC. 4. FAMILY CAREGIVING ADVISORY COUNCIL. 

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

3 Family Caregiving Advisory Council to provide advice to 

4 the Secretary on recognizing and supporting family care5 givers. 

6 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The members of the Advi8 sory Council shall consist of— 

9 (A) the appointed members under para10 graph (2); and 

11 (B) the Federal members under paragraph 

12 (3). 

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

14 Federal members under paragraph (3), the Sec15 retary shall appoint not more than 15 members of 

16 the Advisory Council who are not representatives of 

17 Federal departments or agencies and who shall in18 clude at least one representative of each of the fol19 lowing: 

20 (A) Family caregivers. 

21 (B) Older adults with long-term services 

22 and supports needs, including older adults fac23 ing disparities. 

24 (C) Individuals with disabilities. 


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1 (D) Advocates for family caregivers, older 

2 adults with long-term services and supports 

3 needs, and individuals with disabilities. 

4 (E) Health care and social service pro5 viders. 

6 (F) Long-term services and supports pro7 viders. 

8 (G) Employers. 

9 (H) Paraprofessional workers. 

10 (I) State and local officials. 

11 (J) Accreditation bodies. 

12 (K) Relevant industries. 

13 (L) Veterans. 

14 (M) As appropriate, other experts in family 

15 caregiving. 

16 (3) FEDERAL MEMBERS.—The Federal mem17 bers of the Advisory Council, who shall be nonvoting 

18 members, shall consist of the following: 

19 (A) The Administrator of the Centers for 

20 Medicare & Medicaid Services (or the Adminis21 trator’s designee). 

22 (B) The Administrator of the Administra23 tion for Community Living (or the Administra24 tor’s designee who has experience in both aging 

25 and disability). 


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1 (C) The Assistant Secretary for the Ad2 ministration for Children and Families (or the 

3 Assistant Secretary’s designee). 

4 (D) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs (or 

5 the Secretary’s designee). 

6 (E) The Secretary of Labor (or the Sec7 retary’s designee). 

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

9 Secretary’s designee). 

10 (G) The National Coordinator for Health 

11 Information Technology (or the National Coor12 dinator’s designee). 

13 (H) The Administrator of the Small Busi14 ness Administration (or the Administrator’s 

15 designee). 

16 (I) The Chief Executive Officer of the Cor17 poration for National and Community Service 

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

19 (J) The heads of other Federal depart20 ments or agencies (or their designees), as ap21 pointed by the Secretary or the Chair of the 

22 Advisory Council. 

23 (4) DIVERSE REPRESENTATION.—The Sec24 retary shall ensure that the membership of the Advi25 sory Council reflects the diversity of family careVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 Dec 10, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1719.RFH S1719

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1 givers and individuals receiving services and sup2 ports. 

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

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

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

6 each year thereafter. Meetings of the Advisory Council 

7 shall be open to the public. 

8 (d) ADVISORY COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

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

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

11 thereafter, the Advisory Council shall submit to the 

12 Secretary and Congress a report concerning the de13 velopment, maintenance, and updating of the Strat14 egy and the implementation thereof, including a de15 scription of the outcomes of the recommendations 

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

17 Such report shall be made publicly available by the 

18 Advisory Council. 

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

20 initial report under paragraph (1) shall include— 

21 (A) an inventory and assessment of all fed22 erally funded efforts to recognize and support 

23 family caregivers and the outcomes of such ef24 forts, including analyses of the extent to which 


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1 federally funded efforts are reaching family 

2 caregivers and gaps in such efforts; 

3 (B) recommendations for priority actions— 

4 (i) to improve and better coordinate 

5 programs; and 

6 (ii) to deliver services based on the 

7 performance, mission, and purpose of a 

8 program while eliminating redundancies 

9 and ensuring the needs of family caregivers 

10 are met; 

11 (C) recommendations to reduce the finan12 cial impact and other challenges of caregiving 

13 on family caregivers; and 

14 (D) an evaluation of how family caregiving 

15 impacts the Medicare program, and Medicaid 

16 program, and other Federal programs. 

17 (e) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The Federal Ad18 visory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to 

19 the Advisory Council. 


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1 SEC. 5. SUNSET PROVISION. 

2 The authority and obligations established by this Act 

3 shall terminate on December 31, 2025. 

Passed the Senate December 8, 2015. 

Attest: JULIE E. ADAMS, 

Secretary. 


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