I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6783 

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 or other developmental disabilities or delays, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 18, 2022 

Ms. MENG (for herself, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. 

FITZPATRICK, Ms. WILD, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. 

BACON, Ms. DEAN, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. POCAN, Ms. CLARKE of New 

York, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. TLAIB, Mrs. AXNE, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mrs. HAYES, and 

Ms. CRAIG) 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 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 or 

other developmental disabilities or delays, 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 ‘‘Autism Family Care3 givers Act of 2022’’. 

4 SEC. 2. CAREGIVER SKILLS TRAINING PILOT PROGRAM. 

5 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of Health and 

6 Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the 

7 Health Resources and Services Administration, shall carry 

8 out a program, to be known as the Caregiver Skills Train9 ing Pilot Program, under which the Secretary shall award 

10 grants to eligible entities to provide evidence-based care11 giver skills training to caregivers, including family care12 givers, of children with autism spectrum disorder or other 

13 developmental disabilities or delays, for the purposes of— 

14 (1) improving the health outcomes and quality 

15 of life of such children and their caregivers; and 

16 (2) teaching caregivers of such children evi17 denced-based intervention strategies to promote— 

18 (A) improvement in the mental and phys19 ical well-being of such children and their care20 givers; and 

21 (B) the greater inclusion of such children 

22 in family and community life. 

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

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

25 (1) a nonprofit or other community-based orga26 nization; 


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1 (2) a Federally qualified health center; 

2 (3) an academic health center; 

3 (4) a health system; or 

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

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

6 (c) APPLICATION.—To seek a grant under this sec7 tion, an eligible entity shall submit to the Secretary an 

8 application that includes— 

9 (1) a description of— 

10 (A) the applicant’s experience delivering 

11 evidence-based caregiver skills training to care12 givers, including family caregivers, of children 

13 with autism spectrum disorder or other develop14 mental disabilities or delays; 

15 (B) the activities that the applicant pro16 poses to carry out through the grant; and 

17 (C) how such activities will achieve the 

18 purposes described in subsection (a); and 

19 (2) a plan for— 

20 (A) coordination with community-based or21 ganizations, State and local early intervention 

22 providers, Medicaid systems, schools, and other 

23 providers of early intervening services; 

24 (B) collaboration with health care payors 

25 (including public and private insurance), State 


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1 departments of insurance, health plans, and 

2 other relevant payors; 

3 (C) expanding the skills training program 

4 proposed to be carried out through the grant; 

5 and 

6 (D) achieving sustainability of such pro7 gram. 

8 (d) SELECTION OF GRANTEES.— 

9 (1) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In awarding a 

10 grant to an eligible entity or a collaboration or con11 sortium of 2 or more entities described in subsection 

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

13 recipients to— 

14 (A) have at least 3 years of demonstrated 

15 experience— 

16 (i) delivering evidence-based, cul17 turally competent caregivers skills training 

18 programs described in subsection (a), in19 cluding in medically underserved commu20 nities; 

21 (ii) providing services to children with 

22 autism spectrum disorder or other develop23 mental delays and disabilities, as well as 

24 collaborating directly with their families; 


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1 (iii) providing individual caregiver 

2 coaching as part of skills training to care3 givers of children with autism spectrum 

4 disorder or other developmental delays and 

5 disabilities; and 

6 (iv) working with self-advocates or 

7 adults with autism spectrum disorder or 

8 other developmental delays and disabilities; 

9 and 

10 (B) demonstrate the ability to access re11 sources from and collaborate with— 

12 (i) health care providers; 

13 (ii) allied health professionals; 

14 (iii) educators; 

15 (iv) social workers; and 

16 (v) nonprofessional family caregivers 

17 who assist with daily living and develop18 mental activities, including for children 

19 with autism spectrum disorder or other de20 velopmental delays and disabilities. 

21 (2) REDUCING DISPARITIES.—In awarding 

22 grants under this section, the Secretary may con23 sider, as appropriate, the extent to which an eligible 

24 entity can deliver evidence-based, culturally com25 petent caregivers skills training programs for chilVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:37 Mar 08, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6783.IH H6783

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1 dren with autism spectrum disorder or other devel2 opmental delays and disabilities from diverse racial, 

3 ethnic, geographic, or linguistic backgrounds. 

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

5 this section shall use the grant to provide— 

6 (1) evidence-based caregiver skills training to 

7 caregivers of children with autism spectrum dis8 orders or other developmental delays and disabilities; 

9 and 

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

11 learning and development, including— 

12 (A) communication skills; 

13 (B) social engagement; 

14 (C) daily living skills; and 

15 (D) caregiver response strategies to ag16 gressive behavior. 

17 (f) REQUIREMENTS.— 

18 (1) NUMBER OF RECIPIENTS AND STATES.— 

19 The Secretary shall award grants under subsection 

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

21 than 15 States. 

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

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

24 $500,000 over a 5-year period. 


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1 (g) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Amounts made 

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

3 amounts made available to provide for— 

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

5 services covered by the Medicaid program or private 

6 health insurance; 

7 (2) services provided under the Individuals with 

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

9 or 

10 (3) adaptations of a training program using evi11 dence-based approaches to serve children of different 

12 ages, communities, and underrepresented groups. 

13 (h) CAREGIVER SKILLS TRAINING NATIONAL TECH14 NICAL ASSISTANCE AND EVALUATION CENTER.—The 

15 Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Health 

16 Resources and Services Administration, shall establish and 

17 operate a center, to be known as the Caregiver Skills 

18 Training National Technical Assistance and Evaluation 

19 Center, to— 

20 (1) assist recipients of grants under subsection 

21 (a) in the implementation of caregiver skills training 

22 programs using lessons learned from other evi23 denced-based activities or caregiver programs con24 ducted or supported by the Health Resources and 

25 Services Administration; 


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1 (2) assist such grant recipients in ensuring 

2 their programs assist medically underserved commu3 nities, when possible; 

4 (3) assist such grant recipients in developing 

5 plans for achieving sustainability of their programs; 

6 (4) collect and report on the effectiveness of 

7 practices adopted pursuant to grants under sub8 section (a); 

9 (5) conduct an annual evaluation of activities 

10 funded through grants under subsection (a), in con11 sultation with the grant recipients, including evalua12 tion of the effectiveness of such grants at improving 

13 health outcomes and quality of life for children with 

14 autism spectrum disorder or other developmental 

15 delays and disabilities and their family caregivers; 

16 (6) convene national or regional meetings of 

17 such grant recipients to discuss best practices; and 

18 (7) provide other assistance as needed to im19 prove or carry out the program under this section. 

20 (i) REPORTS.— 

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

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

23 the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Ap24 propriations of the House of Representatives and the 

25 Senate, and to other appropriate congressional comVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:37 Mar 08, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6783.IH H6783

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1 mittees, a report on the implementation of this sec2 tion. Such report shall include— 

3 (A) how many grants have been awarded; 

4 (B) the name and location of the grant re5 cipients; 

6 (C) the communities impacted by the 

7 grants; 

8 (D) a description of the kind of activities 

9 to be carried out with the grants; 

10 (E) an analysis, conducted by the Care11 giver Skills Training National Technical Assist12 ance and Evaluation Center in consultation 

13 with the recipients of grants under subsection 

14 (a), of the effectiveness of such grants at im15 proving health outcomes and quality of life for 

16 children with autism or other developmental 

17 disabilities or delays and their family care18 givers; and 

19 (F) best practices, developed in consulta20 tion with the Caregiver Skills Training National 

21 Technical Assistance and Evaluation Center, to 

22 increase access to caregiver skills training pro23 grams described in subsection (a) in medically 

24 underserved communities. 


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

2 fiscal year 2027, the Secretary shall submit to the 

3 Committees on Appropriations of the House of Rep4 resentatives and the Senate, and to other appro5 priate congressional committees, a final report on 

6 the implementation of this section, including— 

7 (A) the information, analysis, and best 

8 practices listed in subparagraphs (A) through 

9 (F) of paragraph (1); and 

10 (B) recommendations on how to expand 

11 and extend the program under this section. 

12 (j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

14 adult family member or other individual who has a 

15 significant relationship with, and who provides a 

16 broad range of assistance to, a child between the 

17 ages of 0 and 9 diagnosed with autism spectrum dis18 order or other developmental disabilities or delays. 

19 (2) The term ‘‘Federally qualified health cen20 ter’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

21 1861(aa) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

22 1395x(aa)). 

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

24 of Health and Human Services. 

25 (k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—To carry out this section, 

2 there is authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 

3 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027. 

4 (2) ALLOCATION FOR CENTER.—Of the amount 

5 authorized by paragraph (1) to be appropriated to 

6 carry out this section for a fiscal year, $450,000 

7 shall be for establishing or operating the Caregiver 

8 Skills Training National Technical Assistance and 

9 Evaluation Center. 

Æ 


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