Part E—National Family Caregiver Support Program
Prior Provisions
A prior part E, consisting of
A prior part F of this subchapter, consisting of
A prior part G of this subchapter consisting of
§3030s. Definitions
(a) In general
In this part:
(1) Caregiver assessment
The term "caregiver assessment" means a defined process of gathering information to identify the specific needs, barriers to carrying out caregiving responsibilities, and existing supports of a family caregiver or older relative caregiver, as identified by the caregiver involved, to appropriately target recommendations for support services described in
(2) Child
The term "child" means an individual who is not more than 18 years of age.
(3) Individual with a disability
The term "individual with a disability" means an individual with a disability, as defined in
(4) Older relative caregiver
The term "older relative caregiver" means a caregiver who—
(A)(i) is age 55 or older; and
(ii) lives with, is the informal provider of in-home and community care to, and is the primary caregiver for, a child or an individual with a disability;
(B) in the case of a caregiver for a child—
(i) is the grandparent, stepgrandparent, or other relative (other than the parent) by blood, marriage, or adoption, of the child;
(ii) is the primary caregiver of the child because the biological or adoptive parents are unable or unwilling to serve as the primary caregivers of the child; and
(iii) has a legal relationship to the child, such as legal custody, adoption, or guardianship, or is raising the child informally; and
(C) in the case of a caregiver for an individual with a disability, is the parent, grandparent, or other relative by blood, marriage, or adoption, of the individual with a disability.
(b) Rule
In providing services under this part, for family caregivers who provide care for individuals with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders with neurological and organic brain dysfunction, the State involved shall give priority to caregivers who provide care for older individuals with such disease or disorder.
(
Amendments
2020—Subsec. (a).
2016—
Subsec. (a)(1).
Subsec. (a)(2), (3).
Subsec. (b).
2006—
Short Title
For short title of this part as the "National Family Caregiver Support Act", see section 371 of
Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and Engage Family Caregivers
"SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
"This Act may be cited as the 'Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and Engage Family Caregivers Act of 2017' or the 'RAISE Family Caregivers Act'.
"SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
"In this Act:
"(1)
"(2)
"(3)
"(4)
"SEC. 3. FAMILY CAREGIVING STRATEGY.
"(a)
"(b)
"(1) Promoting greater adoption of person- and family-centered care in all health and long-term services and supports settings, with the person receiving services and supports and the family caregiver (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 supports, 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 performance, mission, and purpose of a program while eliminating redundancies.
"(c)
"(1) Collecting and making publicly available information 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 [now Committee on Education and Labor] 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 caregivers.
"(2) Coordinating and assessing existing Federal Government programs and activities to recognize and support family caregivers while ensuring maximum effectiveness and avoiding unnecessary duplication.
"(3) Providing technical assistance, as appropriate, such as disseminating identified best practices and information sharing based on reports provided under section 4(d), to State or local efforts to support family caregivers.
"(d)
"(1) not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act [Jan. 22, 2018], 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 Workforce [now Committee on Education and Labor] of the House of Representatives, and the State agencies responsible for carrying out family caregiver programs, an initial Strategy incorporating the items addressed in the Advisory Council's initial report under section 4(d) and other relevant information, 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 Workforce [now Committee on Education and Labor] of the House of Representatives, and the State agencies responsible for carrying out family caregiver programs the Strategy, taking into account the most recent annual report submitted under section 4(d)(1)—
"(A) to reflect new developments, challenges, opportunities, and solutions; and
"(B) to review progress based on recommendations 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)
"(f)
"(g)
"(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 Secretary beyond that expressly provided to the Secretary in this Act.
"SEC. 4. FAMILY CAREGIVING ADVISORY COUNCIL.
"(a)
"(b)
"(1)
"(A) the appointed members under paragraph (2); and
"(B) the Federal members under paragraph (3).
"(2)
"(A) Family caregivers.
"(B) Older adults with long-term services and supports needs.
"(C) Individuals with disabilities.
"(D) Health care and social service providers.
"(E) Long-term services and supports providers.
"(F) Employers.
"(G) Paraprofessional workers.
"(H) State and local officials.
"(I) Accreditation bodies.
"(J) Veterans.
"(K) As appropriate, other experts and advocacy organizations engaged in family caregiving.
"(3)
"(A) The Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (or the Administrator's designee).
"(B) The Administrator of the Administration for Community Living (or the Administrator'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 departments or agencies (or their designees), including relevant departments or agencies that oversee labor and workforce, economic, government financial policies, community service, and other impacted populations, as appointed by the Secretary or the Chair of the Advisory Council.
"(4)
"(c)
"(d)
"(1)
"(2)
"(A) an inventory and assessment of all federally funded efforts to recognize and support family caregivers and the outcomes of such efforts, 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 recognize and support family caregivers, as well as opportunities to improve the coordination of such Federal programs and activities with State programs; and
"(ii) to effectively deliver services based on the performance, mission, and purpose of a program while eliminating redundancies, avoiding unnecessary duplication 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)
"SEC. 5. FUNDING.
"No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated 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 4 years after the date of enactment of this Act [Jan. 22, 2018]."
§3030s–1. Program authorized
(a) In general
The Assistant Secretary shall carry out a program for making grants to States with State plans approved under
(1) for family caregivers; and
(2) for older relative caregivers.
(b) Support services
The services provided, which may be informed through the use of caregiver assessments, in a State program under subsection (a), by an area agency on aging, or entity that such agency has contracted with, shall include—
(1) information to caregivers about available services;
(2) assistance to caregivers in gaining access to the services;
(3) individual counseling, organization of support groups, and caregiver training to assist the caregivers in the areas of health, nutrition, and financial literacy, and in making decisions and solving problems relating to their caregiving roles;
(4) respite care to enable caregivers to be temporarily relieved from their caregiving responsibilities; and
(5) supplemental services, on a limited basis, to complement the care provided by caregivers.
(c) Population served; priority
(1) Population served
Services under a State program under this part shall be provided to family caregivers, and older relative caregivers, who—
(A) are described in paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (a); and
(B) with regard to the services specified in paragraphs (4) and (5) of subsection (b), in the case of a caregiver described in paragraph (1), is providing care to an older individual who meets the condition specified in subparagraph (A)(i) or (B) of
(2) Priority
In providing services under this part, the State, in addition to giving the priority described in
(A) to caregivers who are older individuals with greatest social need, and older individuals with greatest economic need (with particular attention to low-income older individuals); and
(B) to older relative caregivers of children with severe disabilities, or individuals with disabilities who have severe disabilities.
(d) Use of volunteers
In carrying out this part, each area agency on aging shall make use of trained volunteers to expand the provision of the available services described in subsection (b) and, if possible, work in coordination with organizations that have experience in providing training, placement, and stipends for volunteers or participants (such as organizations carrying out Federal service programs administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service), in community service settings.
(e) Best Practices
Not later than 1 year after March 25, 2020, and every 5 years thereafter, the Assistant Secretary shall—
(1) identify best practices relating to the programs carried out under this section and
(A) the use of procedures and tools to monitor and evaluate the performance of the programs carried out under such sections;
(B) the use of evidence-based caregiver support services; and
(C) any other issue determined relevant by the Assistant Secretary; and
(2) make available, including on the website of the Administration and pursuant to
(f) Quality standards and mechanisms and accountability
(1) Quality standards and mechanisms
The State shall establish standards and mechanisms designed to assure the quality of services provided with assistance made available under this part.
(2) Data and records
The State shall collect data and maintain records relating to the State program in a standardized format specified by the Assistant Secretary. The State shall furnish the records to the Assistant Secretary, at such time as the Assistant Secretary may require, in order to enable the Assistant Secretary to monitor State program administration and compliance, and to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of the State programs.
(3) Reports
The State shall prepare and submit to the Assistant Secretary reports on the data and records required under paragraph (2), including information on the services funded under this part, and standards and mechanisms, including caregiver assessments used in the State, by which the quality of the services shall be assured. The reports shall describe any mechanisms used in the State to provide to persons who are family caregivers, or older relative caregivers, information about and access to various services so that the persons can better carry out their care responsibilities.
(g) Caregiver allotment
(1) In general
(A) From sums appropriated under
(B) In determining the amounts allotted to States from the sums appropriated under
(C) The number of individuals 70 years of age or older in any State and in all States shall be determined by the Assistant Secretary on the basis of the most recent data available from the Bureau of the Census and other reliable demographic data satisfactory to the Assistant Secretary.
(2) Minimum allotment
(A) The amounts allotted under paragraph (1) shall be reduced proportionately to the extent necessary to increase other allotments under such paragraph to achieve the amounts described in subparagraph (B).
(B)(i) Each State shall be allotted ½ of 1 percent of the amount appropriated for the fiscal year for which the determination is made.
(ii) Guam and the Virgin Islands of the United States shall each be allotted ¼ of 1 percent of the amount appropriated for the fiscal year for which the determination is made.
(iii) American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands shall each be allotted 1/16 of 1 percent of the amount appropriated for the fiscal year for which the determination is made.
(C) For the purposes of subparagraph (B)(i), the term "State" does not include Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands of the United States, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
(h) Availability of funds
(1) Use of funds for administration of area plans
Amounts made available to a State to carry out the State program under this part may be used, in addition to amounts available in accordance with
(2) Federal share
(A) In general
Notwithstanding
(B) Non-Federal share
The non-Federal share of the cost shall be provided from State and local sources.
(i) Activities of national significance
The Assistant Secretary may award funds authorized under this section to States, public agencies, private nonprofit agencies, institutions of higher education, and organizations, including tribal organizations, for conducting activities of national significance that—
(1) promote quality and continuous improvement in the support provided to family caregivers and older relative caregivers through programs carried out under this section and
(2) include, with respect to such programs, program evaluation, training, technical assistance, and research.
(j) Technical assistance for caregiver assessments
Not later than 1 year after March 25, 2020, the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with stakeholders with appropriate expertise and, as appropriate, informed by the strategy developed under the RAISE Family Caregivers Act (
(1) conducting caregiver assessments (including reassessments) as needed;
(2) implementing such assessments that are consistent across a planning and service area, as appropriate; and
(3) implementing caregiver support service plans, including conducting referrals to and coordination of activities with relevant State services.
(
References in Text
The RAISE Family Caregivers Act, referred to in subsec. (j), is
Amendments
2020—Subsec. (b).
Subsec. (e).
Subsec. (e)(3).
Subsecs. (f) to (h).
Subsec. (h)(2)(C).
Subsecs. (i), (j).
2016—
Subsec. (a)(2).
Subsec. (c)(1).
Subsec. (c)(2)(B).
Subsec. (e)(3).
Subsec. (f)(1)(A).
Subsec. (g)(2)(C).
2006—Subsec. (b)(3).
Subsec. (c)(1)(B).
Subsec. (c)(2).
Subsec. (d).
Subsec. (e)(3).
Subsec. (f)(1)(A).
Subsec. (g)(2)(C).
Monitoring the Impact of the Elimination of the Cap on Funds for Older Relative Caregivers
"(1)
"(2)
§3030s–2. Maintenance of effort
Funds made available under this part shall supplement, and not supplant, any Federal, State, or local funds expended by a State or unit of general purpose local government (including an area agency on aging) to provide services described in
(
Prior Provisions
Prior sections 3030s–11 and 3030s–12, which comprised subpart II of this part, were repealed by
Section 3030s–11,
Section 3030s–12,
Amendments
2016—