I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3782 

To amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to support family caregivers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 16, 2019 

Mr. LEVIN of Michigan (for himself and Ms. STEFANIK) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to support 

family caregivers. 

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 ‘‘Supporting Family 

5 Caregivers Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL FAMILY CAREGIVER SUPPORT PRO7 GRAM. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 372(a) of the Older 

9 Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3030s(a)) is amend10 ed— 


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1 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and 

2 (3) as paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), respectively, and 

3 (2) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so re4 designated, the following: 

5 ‘‘(1) CAREGIVER ASSESSMENT.—The term 

6 ‘caregiver assessment’ means a systematic process of 

7 gathering information about the situation of a care8 giver who voluntarily participates in such process to 

9 identify the caregiver’s specific needs, barriers, and 

10 existing supports as identified by the caregiver 

11 that— 

12 ‘‘(A) provides the opportunity for the rec13 ognized caregiver to participate in such process; 

14 ‘‘(B) requires direct contact with the care15 giver and is used to appropriately target and 

16 tailor support services to the caregiver’s unique 

17 needs; and 

18 ‘‘(C) includes reassessment of such specific 

19 needs, barriers, and existing supports conducted 

20 at appropriate intervals, including to accommo21 date a significant change in the caregiving situ22 ation.’’. 

23 (b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—Section 373 of the 

24 Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3030s–1) is 

25 amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (b), in the matter preceding 

2 paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘which may be informed 

3 through the use of caregiver assessments,’’ after 

4 ‘‘provided’’, 

5 (2) in the first sentence of subsection (e)(3) by 

6 inserting ‘‘, including caregiver assessments used in 

7 the State,’’ after ‘‘mechanisms’’, and 

8 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(h) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR CAREGIVER AS10 SESSMENTS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of en11 actment of the Supporting Family Caregivers Act of 2019, 

12 the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with caregivers, 

13 older individuals, individuals with a disability who receive 

14 care from an older relative caregiver, the aging network, 

15 and other experts and stakeholders, and, as appropriate, 

16 potentially informed by the strategy developed under the 

17 RAISE Family Caregivers Act, shall provide technical as18 sistance to promote and implement the use of caregiver 

19 assessments. Such technical assistance shall include shar20 ing available tools and templates, comprehensive assess21 ment protocols, and best practices concerning— 

22 ‘‘(1) conducting caregiver assessments and re23 assessments; 

24 ‘‘(2) implementing such assessments that are 

25 consistent across a planning and service area; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) implementing caregiver support service 

2 plans, including referrals to and coordination of ac3 tivities with relevant State and local services. 

4 ‘‘(i) REPORT ON CAREGIVER ASSESSMENTS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years 

6 after the date of enactment of the Supporting Fam7 ily Caregivers Act of 2019, the Assistant Secretary 

8 shall issue a report on the use of caregiver assess9 ments by area agencies on aging, entities contracting 

10 with such agencies, and Tribal organizations. Such 

11 report shall include— 

12 ‘‘(A) an analysis of the current use of care13 giver assessments, including a repository of 

14 caregiver assessment tools or templates and 

15 comprehensive assessment protocols, as of the 

16 date of the report; 

17 ‘‘(B) an analysis of the potential impact of 

18 caregiver assessments on— 

19 ‘‘(i) family caregivers and older rel20 ative caregivers; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) the individuals to whom the care22 givers described in clause (i) provide care; 

23 ‘‘(C) an analysis of the potential impact of 

24 using caregiver assessments on the aging net25 work; 


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1 ‘‘(D) an analysis of how caregiver assess2 ments are being used to identify the specific 

3 needs, barriers, and existing supports of family 

4 caregivers and older relative caregivers; 

5 ‘‘(E) recommendations for furthering the 

6 use of caregiver assessments, including in rural 

7 or underserved areas; and 

8 ‘‘(F) recommendations for assisting State 

9 agencies and area agencies on aging, particu10 larly in rural or underserved areas, in imple11 menting the use of caregiver assessments. 

12 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 6 months 

13 after the issuance of the report under paragraph (1), 

14 the Assistant Secretary shall submit the report to 

15 the appropriate legislative committees of the Senate 

16 and the House of Representatives and to the Special 

17 Committee on Aging of the Senate.’’. 

Æ 


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