II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4198 

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

the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, 

to award grants for providing evidence-based caregiver skills training 

to caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 12, 2022 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 

acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, to award grants 

for providing evidence-based caregiver skills training to 

caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder and 

other developmental 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 ‘‘Autism Family Care5 givers Act of 2022’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CAREGIVER SKILLS TRAINING PILOT PROGRAM. 

2 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary, acting through 

3 the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services 

4 Administration, shall carry out a program, to be known 

5 as the Caregiver Skills Training Pilot Program, under 

6 which the Secretary shall award grants to eligible entities 

7 to provide evidence-based caregiver skills training to care8 givers, including family caregivers, of children with autism 

9 spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities, for 

10 the purposes of— 

11 (1) improving the health outcomes and quality 

12 of life of such children and their caregivers; and 

13 (2) teaching caregivers of such children evi14 denced-based intervention strategies to promote— 

15 (A) improvement in the mental and phys16 ical well-being of such children and their care17 givers; and 

18 (B) the greater inclusion of such children 

19 in family and community life. 

20 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive an award 

21 under subsection (a), an entity shall be— 

22 (1) a nonprofit or other community-based orga23 nization; 

24 (2) a Federally qualified health center; 

25 (3) an academic health center; 

26 (4) a health system; or 


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1 (5) a collaboration or consortium of 2 or more 

2 entities listed in paragraphs (1) through (4). 

3 (c) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity wishing to re4 ceive a grant under this section shall submit to the Sec5 retary an application that includes— 

6 (1) a description of— 

7 (A) the applicant’s experience delivering 

8 evidence-based caregiver skills training to care9 givers, including family caregivers, of children 

10 with autism spectrum disorder and other devel11 opmental disabilities; 

12 (B) the activities that the applicant pro13 poses to carry out through the grant; and 

14 (C) how such activities will achieve the 

15 purposes described in subsection (a); and 

16 (2) a plan for— 

17 (A) coordination with community-based or18 ganizations, State and local early intervention 

19 providers, State Medicaid systems, schools, and 

20 other providers of early intervening services; 

21 (B) collaboration with health care payors 

22 (including public and private insurance), State 

23 departments of insurance, health plans, and 

24 other relevant payors; 


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1 (C) expanding the skills training program 

2 proposed to be carried out through the grant; 

3 and 

4 (D) achieving sustainability of such pro5 gram. 

6 (d) SELECTION OF GRANTEES.— 

7 (1) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In awarding a 

8 grant to an eligible entity or a collaboration or con9 sortium of 2 or more entities described in subsection 

10 (b), the Secretary shall require at least one of the 

11 recipients to— 

12 (A) have at least 3 years of demonstrated 

13 experience— 

14 (i) delivering evidence-based, cul15 turally competent caregivers skills training 

16 programs described in subsection (a), in17 cluding in medically underserved commu18 nities; 

19 (ii) providing services to children with 

20 autism spectrum disorder and other devel21 opmental disabilities, and collaborating di22 rectly with their families; 

23 (iii) providing individual caregiver 

24 coaching as part of skills training to care25 givers of children with autism spectrum 


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1 disorder and other developmental disabil2 ities; and 

3 (iv) working with self-advocates or 

4 adults with autism spectrum disorder and 

5 other developmental disabilities; and 

6 (B) demonstrate the ability to access re7 sources from and collaborate with— 

8 (i) health care providers; 

9 (ii) allied health professionals; 

10 (iii) educators; 

11 (iv) social workers; and 

12 (v) nonprofessional family caregivers 

13 who assist with daily living and develop14 mental activities, including for children 

15 with autism spectrum disorder and other 

16 developmental disabilities. 

17 (2) REDUCING DISPARITIES.—In awarding 

18 grants under this section, the Secretary may con19 sider, as appropriate, the extent to which an eligible 

20 entity can deliver evidence-based, culturally com21 petent caregivers skills training programs for chil22 dren with autism spectrum disorder and other devel23 opmental disabilities from diverse racial, ethnic, geo24 graphic, or linguistic backgrounds. 


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1 (e) USE OF FUNDS.—The recipient of a grant under 

2 this section shall use the grant to provide— 

3 (1) evidence-based caregiver skills training to 

4 caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder 

5 and other developmental disabilities; and 

6 (2) such training in areas related to children’s 

7 learning and development, including— 

8 (A) communication skills; 

9 (B) social engagement; 

10 (C) daily living skills; and 

11 (D) caregiver response strategies to ag12 gressive behavior. 

13 (f) REQUIREMENTS.— 

14 (1) NUMBER OF RECIPIENTS AND STATES.— 

15 The Secretary shall award grants under subsection 

16 (a) to not fewer than 25 eligible entities in not fewer 

17 than 15 States. 

18 (2) AMOUNT.—The total amount of each grant 

19 awarded under subsection (a) shall be not less than 

20 $500,000 over a 5-year period. 

21 (g) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Amounts made 

22 available to carry out this section shall be in addition to 

23 amounts made available to provide for— 


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1 (1) behavioral, medical, habilitative, and other 

2 services covered by the Medicaid program or private 

3 health insurance; 

4 (2) services provided under the Individuals with 

5 Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.); 

6 or 

7 (3) adaptations of a training program using evi8 dence-based approaches to serve children of different 

9 ages, communities, and underrepresented groups. 

10 (h) ACTIVITIES OF THE SECRETARY.—The Sec11 retary, acting through the Administrator of the Health 

12 Resources and Services Administration, shall— 

13 (1) assist recipients of grants under subsection 

14 (a)— 

15 (A) in the implementation of caregiver 

16 skills training programs using lessons learned 

17 from other evidenced-based activities or care18 giver programs conducted or supported by the 

19 Health Resources and Services Administration; 

20 (B) in ensuring their programs assist 

21 medically underserved communities, when pos22 sible; and 

23 (C) in developing plans for achieving sus24 tainability of their programs; 


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1 (2) conduct an annual evaluation of activities 

2 funded through grants under subsection (a), in con3 sultation with the grant recipients, including evalua4 tion of the effectiveness of such grants at improving 

5 health outcomes and quality of life for children with 

6 autism spectrum disorder and other developmental 

7 disabilities and their family caregivers; and 

8 (3) convene at least one national or regional 

9 meeting of grant recipients to discuss best practices. 

10 (i) REPORTS.— 

11 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 6 months 

12 after awarding the first grant under subsection (a), 

13 the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Ap14 propriations of the House of Representatives and the 

15 Senate, and to other appropriate congressional com16 mittees, a report on the implementation of this sec17 tion. Such report shall include— 

18 (A) how many grants have been awarded; 

19 (B) the name and location of the grant re20 cipients; 

21 (C) the communities impacted by the 

22 grants; 

23 (D) a description of the kind of activities 

24 to be carried out with the grants; 


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1 (E) an analysis, conducted by the Health 

2 Resources and Services Administration, based 

3 on the evaluation under subsection (h)(2), of 

4 the effectiveness of such grants at improving 

5 health outcomes and quality of life for children 

6 with autism or other developmental disabilities 

7 or delays and their family caregivers; and 

8 (F) best practices to increase access to 

9 caregiver skills training programs described in 

10 subsection (a) in medically underserved commu11 nities. 

12 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than the end of 

13 fiscal year 2027, the Secretary shall submit to the 

14 Committees on Appropriations of the House of Rep15 resentatives and the Senate, and to other appro16 priate congressional committees, a final report on 

17 the implementation of this section, including— 

18 (A) the information, analysis, and best 

19 practices listed in subparagraphs (A) through 

20 (F) of paragraph (1); and 

21 (B) recommendations on how to expand 

22 and extend the program under this section. 

23 (j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

24 (1) The term ‘‘family caregiver’’ means an 

25 adult family member or other individual who has a 


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1 significant relationship with, and who provides a 

2 broad range of assistance to, a child between the 

3 ages of 0 and 9 diagnosed with autism spectrum dis4 order and other developmental disabilities. 

5 (2) The term ‘‘Federally qualified health cen6 ter’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

7 1861(aa) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

8 1395x(aa)). 

9 (3) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

10 of Health and Human Services. 

11 (k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

12 out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 

13 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027. 

Æ 


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