SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Recognize, Assist, In-
clude, Support, and Engage Family Caregivers Act of 
2017’’ or the ‘‘RAISE Family Caregivers Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ADVISORY COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Advisory 
Council’’ means the Family Caregiving Advisory 
Council convened under section 4. 
(2) FAMILY
CAREGIVER.—The term ‘‘family 
caregiver’’ means an adult family member or other 
individual who has a significant relationship with, 
and who provides a broad range of assistance to, an 
individual with a chronic or other health condition, 
disability, or functional limitation. 
(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 
(4) STRATEGY.—The term ‘‘Strategy’’ means 
the Family Caregiving Strategy set forth under sec-
tion 3. 
SEC. 3. FAMILY CAREGIVING STRATEGY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 
with the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies, shall 
develop jointly with the Advisory Council and submit to 
the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen-
sions and the Special Committee on Aging of the Senate,
the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the 
House of Representatives, and the State agencies respon-
sible for carrying out family caregiver programs, and make 
publicly available on the internet website of the Depart-
ment of Health and Human Services, a Family Caregiving 
Strategy. 
(b) CONTENTS.—The Strategy shall identify rec-
ommended actions that Federal (under existing Federal 
programs), State, and local governments, communities, 
health care providers, long-term services and supports pro-
viders, and others are taking, or may take, to recognize 
and support family caregivers in a manner that reflects 
their diverse needs, including with respect to the following: 
(1) Promoting greater adoption of person- and 
family-centered care in all health and long-term 
services and supports settings, with the person re-
ceiving services and supports and the family care-
giver (as appropriate) at the center of care teams. 
(2) Assessment and service planning (including 
care transitions and coordination) involving family 
caregivers and care recipients. 
(3) Information, education and training sup-
ports, referral, and care coordination, including with 
respect to hospice care, palliative care, and advance 
planning services.
(4) Respite options. 
(5) Financial security and workplace issues. 
(6) Delivering services based on the perform-
ance, mission, and purpose of a program while elimi-
nating redundancies. 
(c) DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY.—The Secretary, in 
carrying out subsection (a), shall oversee the following: 
(1) Collecting and making publicly available in-
formation submitted by the Advisory Council under 
section 4(d) to the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions and the Special Committee on 
Aging of the Senate, the Committee on Education 
and the Workforce of the House of Representatives, 
and the State agencies responsible for carrying out 
family caregiver programs, including evidence-based 
or promising practices and innovative models (both 
domestic and foreign) regarding the provision of 
care by family caregivers or support for family care-
givers. 
(2) Coordinating and assessing existing Federal 
Government programs and activities to recognize 
and support family caregivers while ensuring max-
imum effectiveness and avoiding unnecessary dupli-
cation.
(3) Providing technical assistance, as appro-
priate, such as disseminating identified best prac-
tices and information sharing based on reports pro-
vided under section 4(d), to State or local efforts to 
support family caregivers. 
(d) INITIAL STRATEGY; UPDATES.—The Secretary 
shall— 
(1) not later than 18 months after the date of 
enactment of this Act, develop, publish, and submit 
to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions and the Special Committee on Aging of the 
Senate, the Committee on Education and the Work-
force of the House of Representatives, and the State 
agencies responsible for carrying out family care-
giver programs, an initial Strategy incorporating the 
items addressed in the Advisory Council’s initial re-
port under section 4(d) and other relevant informa-
tion, including best practices, for recognizing and 
supporting family caregivers; and 
(2) biennially update, republish, and submit to 
the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions and the Special Committee on Aging of the 
Senate, the Committee on Education and the Work-
force of the House of Representatives, and the State 
agencies responsible for carrying out family care-
giver programs the Strategy, taking into account the 
most recent annual report submitted under section 
4(d)(1)— 
(A) to reflect new developments, chal-
lenges, opportunities, and solutions; and 
(B) to review progress based on rec-
ommendations for recognizing and supporting 
family caregivers in the Strategy and, based on 
the results of such review, recommend priority 
actions for improving the implementation of 
such recommendations, as appropriate. 
(e) PROCESS FOR PUBLIC INPUT.—The Secretary 
shall establish a process for public input to inform the de-
velopment of, and updates to, the Strategy, including a 
process for the public to submit recommendations to the 
Advisory Council and an opportunity for public comment 
on the proposed Strategy. 
(f) NO PREEMPTION.—Nothing in this Act preempts 
any authority of a State or local government to recognize 
or support family caregivers. 
(g) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 
shall be construed to permit the Secretary (through regu-
lation, guidance, grant criteria, or otherwise) to— 
(1) mandate, direct, or control the allocation of 
State or local resources;
(2) mandate the use of any of the best practices 
identified in the reports required under this Act; or 
(3) otherwise expand the authority of the Sec-
retary beyond that expressly provided to the Sec-
retary in this Act. 
SEC. 4. FAMILY CAREGIVING ADVISORY COUNCIL. 
(a) CONVENING.—The Secretary shall convene a 
Family Caregiving Advisory Council to advise and provide 
recommendations, including identified best practices, to 
the Secretary on recognizing and supporting family care-
givers. 
(b) MEMBERSHIP.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The members of the Advi-
sory Council shall consist of— 
(A) the appointed members under para-
graph (2); and 
(B) the Federal members under paragraph 
(3). 
(2) APPOINTED MEMBERS.—In addition to the 
Federal members under paragraph (3), the Sec-
retary shall appoint not more than 15 voting mem-
bers of the Advisory Council who are not representa-
tives of Federal departments or agencies and who 
shall include at least 1 representative of each of the 
following:
tor’s designee who has experience in both aging 
and disability). 
(C) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs (or 
the Secretary’s designee). 
(D) The heads of other Federal depart-
ments or agencies (or their designees), includ-
ing relevant departments or agencies that over-
see labor and workforce, economic, government 
financial policies, community service, and other 
impacted populations, as appointed by the Sec-
retary or the Chair of the Advisory Council. 
(4) DIVERSE
REPRESENTATION.—The Sec-
retary shall ensure that the membership of the Advi-
sory Council reflects the diversity of family care-
givers and individuals receiving services and sup-
ports. 
(c) MEETINGS.—The Advisory Council shall meet 
quarterly during the 1-year period beginning on the date 
of enactment of this Act and at least three times during 
each year thereafter. Meetings of the Advisory Council 
shall be open to the public. 
(d) ADVISORY COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 12 months 
after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 
thereafter, the Advisory Council shall submit to the
Secretary, the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions and the Special Committee on 
Aging of the Senate, the Committee on Education 
and the Workforce of the House of Representatives, 
and the State agencies responsible for carrying out 
family caregiver programs, and make publicly avail-
able on the internet website of the Department of 
Health and Human Services, a report concerning the 
development, maintenance, and updating of the 
Strategy, including a description of the outcomes of 
the recommendations and any priorities included in 
the initial report pursuant to paragraph (2), as ap-
propriate. 
(2) INITIAL REPORT.—The Advisory Council’s 
initial report under paragraph (1) shall include— 
(A) an inventory and assessment of all fed-
erally funded efforts to recognize and support 
family caregivers and the outcomes of such ef-
forts, including analyses of the extent to which 
federally funded efforts are reaching family 
caregivers and gaps in such efforts; 
(B) recommendations— 
(i) to improve and better coordinate 
Federal programs and activities to recog-
nize and support family caregivers, as well
as opportunities to improve the coordina-
tion of such Federal programs and activi-
ties with State programs; and 
(ii) to effectively deliver services based 
on the performance, mission, and purpose 
of 
a 
program 
while 
eliminating 
redundancies, avoiding unnecessary dupli-
cation and overlap, and ensuring the needs 
of family caregivers are met; 
(C) the identification of challenges faced 
by family caregivers, including financial, health, 
and other challenges, and existing approaches 
to address such challenges; and 
(D) an evaluation of how family caregiving 
impacts the Medicare program, the Medicaid 
program, and other Federal programs. 
(e) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The Federal Ad-
visory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to 
the Advisory Council. 
SEC. 5. FUNDING. 
No additional funds are authorized to be appro-
priated to carry out this Act. This Act shall be carried 
out using funds otherwise authorized.
SEC. 6. SUNSET PROVISION. 
The authority and obligations established by this Act 
shall terminate on the date that is 3 years after the date 
of enactment of this Act. 
Passed the House of Representatives December 18, 
2017. 
Attest: 
Clerk.
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 3759 
AN ACT 
To provide for the establishment and maintenance 
of a Family Caregiving Strategy, and for other 
purposes.