I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6388 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through 

the Administration for Community Living, to carry out a grant program 

for States to provide telephone reassurance services to certain older 

adults and to other adults with disabilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 13, 2023 

Mr. MOLINARO (for himself, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. DAVIS of 

North Carolina, and Ms. LEE of Nevada) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 

acting through the Administration for Community Living, to carry out a grant program for States to provide 

telephone reassurance services to certain older adults 

and to other adults with disabilities, 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 ‘‘Friendly Calls for Our 

5 Seniors Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) According to the National Academies of 

4 Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report, Social 

5 Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults, more than 

6 one-third of adults aged 45 and older feel lonely, 

7 and nearly one-fourth of adults aged 65 and older, 

8 are considered to be socially isolated. 

9 (2) According to a recent report released by Dr. 

10 Vivek Murthy, the Surgeon General of the United 

11 States, ‘‘lacking social connection can increase the 

12 risk of premature death as much as smoking up to 

13 15 cigarettes a day’’. 

14 (3) According to a 2017 study conducted by 

15 AARP, a lack of social contact among older adults 

16 is associated with an estimated $6,700,000,000 in 

17 additional Federal spending annually. 

18 (4) Seniors and individuals with disabilities in 

19 rural communities face additional challenges, includ20 ing inadequate access to health care, a lack of com21 munity events or activities for the aged, limited 

22 transportation and shopping options, and higher 

23 rates of poverty. 

24 SEC. 3. TELEPHONE ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM. 

25 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.— 


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1 (1) ESTABLISHEMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Sec2 retary of Health and Human Services (in this Act 

3 referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’), acting through and 

4 with funds available to the Administration for Com5 munity Living, shall establish and carry out a pro6 gram to make grants to States to provide telephone 

7 reassurance services to older adults, and to other 

8 adults with disabilities, who are at risk of social iso9 lation or loneliness, and do not have supportive as10 sistance. 

11 (2) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.— 

12 (A) AMOUNT ALLOWED.—Not more than 1 

13 percent of the amount appropriated to carry out 

14 this Act in any fiscal year may be reserved by 

15 the Secretary to carry out this Act. 

16 (B) FIRST USE OF FUNDS RESERVED.— 

17 Funds reserved under subparagraph (A) shall 

18 first be used to conduct comprehensive, high19 quality evaluations of the programs carried out 

20 with grants made under this Act. 

21 (b) APPLICATIONS FOR GRANT.—To be eligible to re22 ceive a grant under subsection (a), a State shall submit 

23 to the Secretary an application in such form, and con24 taining such information and assurances, as the Secretary 

25 may require, including— 


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1 (1) assurances that such State will— 

2 (A) provide telephone reassurance services 

3 to adults described in such subsection who live 

4 in rural or medically underserved communities, 

5 (B) at the option of such State, use such 

6 grant for data analysis, targeted consumer out7 reach, improvements to data or technology in8 frastructure, and impact evaluations, and 

9 (C) submit to the Secretary an annual re10 port that excludes personally identifiable infor11 mation and that identifies— 

12 (i) how such grant was expended to 

13 assist such adults and evaluates the overall 

14 impact of such funds, and 

15 (ii) how such State will work with 

16 public and private partners to identify and 

17 recruit participants for the telephone reas18 surance program, including local referral 

19 partners and services, for further assist20 ance needed for eligible individuals during 

21 phone calls, and 

22 (2) a report detailing the information described 

23 in paragraph (1), with a particular emphasis on how 

24 such State will conduct appropriate follow-up or vol25 untary referrals (excluding personally identifiable inVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Nov 29, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6388.IH H6388

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1 formation) to assurance calls for such circumstances 

2 deemed necessary by the Secretary. 

3 (c) VOLUNTARY REFERRAL SERVICES.—Voluntary 

4 referral services pursuant to grants awarded under this 

5 section may include services provided by the local area 

6 agency of aging, nutrition home nutrition services under 

7 the Older Americans Act of 1965, mental health care re8 sources, and other relevant services for such individuals. 

9 Except for situations in which an individual shows signs 

10 of imminent risk of suicide and or requires immediate 

11 medical attention, all such referrals shall be made on a 

12 voluntary compliance basis. 

13 (d) EVALUATION.—The Secretary may reserve not 

14 more than 1 percent of each grant awarded under this 

15 section for the purpose of conducting a comprehensive, 

16 high-quality evaluation of the services provided pursuant 

17 to grants awarded under this section, including methods 

18 or technology used to make such calls and input data. 

19 (e) USE OF FUNDS.—The grant notice shall clarify 

20 that funds may be used for data analysis, dissemination 

21 materials to increase awareness of such services, improve22 ments to data or technology infrastructure, and impact 

23 evaluations. 

24 (f) REPORT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall submit 

2 to the appropriate committees of the Congress an 

3 annual report that summarizes the information, re4 ceived under subsection (b) from participating 

5 States and includes— 

6 (A) how many adults were served, how 

7 often calls were placed and answered, how 

8 many voluntary referrals made or connected to 

9 other services as needed, and a qualitative re10 view on the substance of such calls and overall 

11 satisfaction from such adults, and 

12 (B) such additional relevant information 

13 the Secretary deems appropriate. 

14 (2) EXCEPTION FOR PERSONALLY IDENTIFI15 ABLE INFORMATION.—The report under paragraph 

16 (1) shall not include any personally identifiable in17 formation. 

18 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

19 For purposes of this Act— 

20 (1) the term ‘‘adult’’ means an individual more 

21 that 18 years of age, 

22 (2) the term ‘‘disability’’ has the meaning given 

23 it in section 3 of the Americans with Disabilities Act 

24 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102), 


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1 (3) the term ‘‘older adult’’ means an individual 

2 60 years of age or older, and 

3 (4) the term ‘‘telephone reassurance services’’ 

4 means regular and weekly telephone calls placed by 

5 volunteers, or employed staff, to older adults, and 

6 adults with disabilities, who are at risk of social iso7 lation or loneliness, and do not have supportive as8 sistance. 

9 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 There is authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 

11 for each of the fiscal years 2025, 2026, and 2027. 

12 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

13 This Act shall take effect October 1, 2024. 

Æ 


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