[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2342 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2342

   To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of 
  Veterans Affairs to establish a family caregiver program to furnish 
 support services to family members certified as family caregivers who 
 provide personal care services for certain disabled veterans, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 11, 2009

 Mr. Michaud introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of 
  Veterans Affairs to establish a family caregiver program to furnish 
 support services to family members certified as family caregivers who 
 provide personal care services for certain disabled veterans, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Wounded Warrior Project Family 
Caregiver Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FAMILY CAREGIVER PROGRAM.

    (a) Program.--Section 1717 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c), as (c) and 
        (d), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new 
        subsection (b):
    ``(b)(1)(A) As part of home health services provided for under this 
section, the Secretary, upon the joint request of a veteran described 
in subparagraph (C) and a family member of such veteran (or other 
individual designated by the veteran), shall furnish to an individual 
described in subparagraph (B), advanced instruction and training and 
certification as a family caregiver.
    ``(B) An individual described in this subparagraph is a family 
member of a veteran described in subparagraph (C) (or other individual 
designated by such a veteran) who elects (in accordance with the 
agreement of the veteran) to provide personal care services to the 
veteran.
    ``(C) A veteran described in this paragraph is a veteran who--
            ``(i) incurred serious wounds (including traumatic brain 
        injury and psychological trauma or other mental disorder) on 
        active duty during, or in training for, Operation Enduring 
        Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom; and
            ``(ii) is determined by the Secretary to need personal care 
        services because of--
                    ``(I) an inability to perform one or more 
                activities of daily living;
                    ``(II) a need for supervision or protection based 
                on symptoms or residuals of neurological or other 
                impairment or injury; or
                    ``(III) such other criteria as the Secretary shall 
                establish.
    ``(D) In the case of a veteran who lacks the capacity to make 
decisions necessary under this subsection, the Secretary shall 
establish procedures for a surrogate for the veteran to act on behalf 
of the veteran for purposes of this subsection.
    ``(2) The Secretary shall furnish to a family caregiver, under 
criteria established by the Secretary, appropriate support services 
including--
            ``(A) direct technical support, information, and assistance 
        to timely address routine, emergency, and specialized 
        caregiving needs;
            ``(B) counseling and mental health services;
            ``(C) establishment and maintenance of a comprehensive 
        interactive caregiver website addressing all aspects of the 
        program;
            ``(D) respite care of not less than 30 days annually;
            ``(E) medical care under section 1781 of this title; and
            ``(F) a monthly family caregiver allowance.
    ``(3) In providing respite care referred to in paragraph 
(3)(A)(iv), the Secretary shall provide such care through--
            ``(A) facilities of the Department that are appropriate to 
        the needs of the veteran;
            ``(B) contracts under section 1720B of this title; or
            ``(C) in the case of a veteran for whom, in the judgment of 
        the individual certified as the veteran's family caregiver, the 
        needs of the veteran cannot be accommodated through care 
        provided under subparagraph (A) or (B), through other 
        facilities or arrangements selected in consultation with the 
        veteran's family caregiver.
    ``(4) In providing for a monthly family caregiver allowance to a 
family caregiver under paragraph (3)(A)(vi), the Secretary shall 
establish a schedule of allowances under which the Secretary shall seek 
to ensure, to the extent practicable, that the amount of the monthly 
allowance is not less than--
            ``(A) the amount that the Secretary determines the 
        Secretary would have paid to a commercial home health care 
        agency to provide necessary personal care services for such 
        veteran, if the veteran did not have a family caregiver to 
        provide such services; or
            ``(B) if the Secretary does not have enough information to 
        make the determination under subparagraph (A), the amount of 
        the cost of such care at a location other than a commercial 
        home health care agency, selected by the Secretary for such 
        purpose, where such care is available, adjusted to reflect the 
        pertinent local cost-of-living.''.
    (b) Provision of Health Care to Personal Care Assistants.--Section 
1781(a) of such title is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as (3) and (4), 
        respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following new 
        paragraph:
            ``(2) a family caregiver;''.
    (c) Definitions.--Section 1701 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
            ``(10) The term `family caregiver' means an individual 
        who--
                    ``(A) is a member of the family (including parents, 
                spouses, children, siblings, stepfamily members, and 
                extended family members) of a disabled veteran;
                    ``(B) provides personal care services to such 
                veteran for such disability; and
                    ``(C) is certified as a family caregiver--
                            ``(i) pursuant to the family caregiver 
                        instruction, training, and certification 
                        furnished by the Secretary under section 
                        1717(b) of this title; or
                            ``(ii) pursuant to such other 
                        qualifications as the Secretary may approve.
            ``(11) The term `personal care services' means 
        noninstitutional extended care, including homemaker and home 
        health aid services.''.
    (d) Deadline for Implementation.--Not later than 9 months after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall implement subsection (b) of section 1717 of title 38, United 
States Code, as added by subsection (a), and paragraph (2) of section 
1781(a), as added by subsection (b).
    (e) Reports.--
            (1) Report on implementation.--Not later than 6 months 
        after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
        Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress a report containing 
        the following:
                    (A) The Secretary's plan to carry out subsection 
                (d).
                    (B) A description of the consultations carried out 
                by the Secretary with organizations representing 
                wounded veterans and their families regarding such 
                plan.
                    (C) A description of any recommendation provided by 
                any such organization that the Secretary did not adopt 
                and the reasons the Secretary did not adopt such 
                recommendation.
            (2) Evaluation.--Not later than 2 years after the date on 
        which the Secretary of Veterans Affairs implements the 
        provisions of law referred to in subsection (d), the Secretary 
        shall submit to Congress a comprehensive report containing the 
        Secretary's evaluation of such provisions of law. Such report 
        shall include--
                    (A) data on the number of veterans who receive 
                assistance under subsection (b) of section 1717 of 
                title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection 
                (a), resources expended to carry out such subsection 
                (b), outcomes achieved, and measurable benefits; and
                    (B) legislative and other recommendations of the 
                Secretary to improve the implementation of such 
                subsection.
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