II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1719 

To provide for the establishment and maintenance of a National Family 

Caregiving Strategy, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 8, 2015 

Ms. COLLINS (for herself, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. AYOTTE, Mr. BENNET, and Ms. 

MIKULSKI) 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 2015’’ 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 a relative, partner, friend, or 

6 neighbor who has a significant relationship with, and 

7 who provides a broad range of assistance for, a per8 son with a chronic or other health condition, dis9 ability, 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 culturally com25 petent manner, including with respect to the following: 


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1 (1) Promoting greater adoption of person- and 

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

3 services and supports settings, with the person re4 ceiving services and supports and the family care5 giver (as appropriate) at the center of care teams. 

6 (2) Assessment and service planning (including 

7 care transitions and coordination) involving family 

8 caregivers and care recipients. 

9 (3) Training and other supports. 

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

11 coordination, including hospice, palliative care, and 

12 advance planning services. 

13 (5) Respite options. 

14 (6) Financial security. 

15 (7) Workplace policies and supports that allow 

16 family caregivers to remain in the workforce. 

17 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SECRETARY.—The 

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

19 for the following: 

20 (1) Collecting and making publically available 

21 information, including evidence-based or promising 

22 practices and innovative models (both domestically 

23 and internationally) regarding the provision of care 

24 by family caregivers or support for family caregivers. 


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1 (2) Coordinating Federal Government programs 

2 and activities to recognize and support family care3 givers while ensuring maximum effectiveness and 

4 avoiding unnecessary duplication. 

5 (3) Providing technical assistance, such as best 

6 practices and information sharing, to State or local 

7 efforts, as appropriate, to support family caregivers. 

8 (4) Addressing disparities in recognizing and 

9 supporting family caregivers and meeting the needs 

10 of the diverse family caregiving population. 

11 (5) Assessing all Federal programs regarding 

12 family caregivers, including with respect to funding 

13 levels. 

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

15 shall— 

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

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

18 to Congress the initial Strategy incorporating the 

19 items addressed in the Advisory Council’s report in 

20 section 4(d)(2) and other priority actions for recog21 nizing and supporting family caregivers; and 

22 (2) not less than annually, update, republish, 

23 and submit to Congress the Strategy, taking into ac24 count the most recent annual report submitted 

25 under section 4(d)(1)— 


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1 (A) to reflect new developments, chal2 lenges, opportunities, and solutions; and 

3 (B) to assess progress in implementation 

4 of the Strategy and, based on the results of 

5 such assessment, recommend priority actions 

6 for such implementation. 

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

8 shall establish a process for public input to inform the de9 velopment of, and updates to, the Strategy, including a 

10 process for the public to submit recommendations to the 

11 Advisory Council and an opportunity for public comment 

12 on the proposed Strategy. 

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

14 any authority of a State or local government to recognize 

15 or support family caregivers. 

16 SEC. 4. FAMILY CAREGIVING ADVISORY COUNCIL. 

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

18 Family Caregiving Advisory Council to provide advice to 

19 the Secretary on recognizing and supporting family care20 givers. 

21 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The members of the Advi23 sory Council shall consist of— 

24 (A) the Federal members under paragraph 

25 (2); and 


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1 (B) the appointed members under para2 graph (3). 

3 (2) FEDERAL MEMBERS.—The Federal mem4 bers of the Advisory Council shall consist of the fol5 lowing: 

6 (A) The Administrator of the Centers for 

7 Medicare & Medicaid Services (or the Adminis8 trator’s designee). 

9 (B) The Administrator of the Administra10 tion for Community Living (or the Administra11 tor’s designee who has experience in both aging 

12 and disability). 

13 (C) The Assistant Secretary for the Ad14 ministration for Children and Families (or the 

15 Assistant Secretary’s designee). 

16 (D) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs (or 

17 the Secretary’s designee). 

18 (E) The Secretary of Labor (or the Sec19 retary’s designee). 

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

21 Secretary’s designee). 

22 (G) The National Coordinator for Health 

23 Information Technology (or the National Coor24 dinator’s designee). 


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1 (H) The heads of other Federal depart2 ments or agencies (or their designees), as ap3 pointed by the President or the Chair of the 

4 Advisory Council. 

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

6 Federal members under paragraph (2), 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. 


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1 (H) Direct care workers or advocates for 

2 such workers. 

3 (I) State and local officials. 

4 (J) Accreditation bodies. 

5 (K) Relevant industries. 

6 (L) Veterans. 

7 (M) As appropriate, other experts in family 

8 caregiving. 

9 (4) DIVERSE REPRESENTATION.—The Sec10 retary shall ensure that the membership of the Advi11 sory Council reflects the diversity of— 

12 (A) the overall population; and 

13 (B) family caregivers. 

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

15 quarterly. Meetings of the Advisory Council shall be open 

16 to the public. 

17 (d) ADVISORY COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 15 months 

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

20 thereafter, the Advisory Council shall submit to the 

21 Secretary and Congress a report concerning the de22 velopment, maintenance, and updating of the Strat23 egy and the implementation thereof, including a de24 scription of the outcomes of the recommendations 

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


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1 Such report shall be made publically available by the 

2 Advisory Council. 

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

4 initial report under paragraph (1) shall include— 

5 (A) an inventory and assessment of all fed6 erally funded efforts to recognize and support 

7 family caregivers and the outcomes of such ef8 forts, including analyses of the extent to which 

9 federally funded efforts are reaching family 

10 caregivers and gaps in such efforts; 

11 (B) recommendations for priority actions— 

12 (i) to improve and better coordinate 

13 programs; and 

14 (ii) to deliver services based on the 

15 performance, mission, and purpose of a 

16 program while eliminating redundancies 

17 and ensuring the needs of family caregivers 

18 are met; 

19 (C) recommendations to reduce the finan20 cial impact and other challenges of caregiving 

21 on family caregivers; and 

22 (D) an evaluation of how family caregiving 

23 impacts the Medicare program, and Medicaid 

24 program, and other Federal programs. 


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1 SEC. 5. SHARING OF DATA. 

2 The heads of Federal departments and agencies, as 

3 appropriate, shall share with the Secretary any data that 

4 is— 

5 (1) maintained by the respective department or 

6 agency; and 

7 (2) needed by the Secretary to prepare the ini8 tial and updated Strategies under section 3(d). 

9 SEC. 6. SUNSET PROVISION. 

10 The authority and obligations established by this Act 

11 shall terminate on December 31, 2030. 

Æ 


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