1.This Act may be cited as the
Wounded Warrior Caregiver Assistance
Act
.
2.Support Services
for Family Caregivers
(a)Chapter 17 of title
38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new
section:
1786.Support
services for family caregivers
(a)The Secretary shall make available
interactive training sessions for family caregivers and individuals who provide
such caregivers support under this chapter or through the aging network
(including respite care providers, nursing care providers, and counselors).
Such training shall—
(1)be made available
both in person and on an Internet website;
(2)incorporate
telehealth technologies to the extent practicable; and
(3)teach techniques, strategies, and skills
for caring for a disabled veteran, including, at a minimum, effective methods
of—
(A)caring for a veteran—
(i)with
post-traumatic stress disorder or a traumatic brain injury; and
(ii)who was deployed
in support of Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom; and
(B)recording details
regarding the health of the veteran.
(b)Access to
support servicesThe Secretary shall provide family caregivers
with information concerning public, private, and non-profit agencies that offer
support to such caregivers. In providing such information, the Secretary
shall—
(1)collaborate with the Assistant Secretary
for Aging of the Department of Health and Human Services in order to provide
family caregivers access to Aging and Disability Resource Centers under the
Administration on Aging of the Department of Health and Human Services;
and
(2)contract with a
private entity to provide family caregivers with an Internet-based service that
contains—
(A)a directory of
services available at the county level;
(B)message boards and
other similar tools that provide family caregivers with the ability to interact
with each other and disabled veterans for the purpose of fostering peer support
and creating support networks; and
(C)comprehensive
information explaining health-related topics and issues relevant to the needs
of disabled veterans and family caregivers.
(c)The Secretary shall
conduct outreach to inform disabled veterans and the families of such veterans
of the services under this section. Such outreach shall include the
following:
(1)Public service
announcements.
(2)Brochures and
pamphlets.
(3)Full use of
Internet-based outreach methods, including—
(A)participating on
social networking websites;
(B)methods designed
specifically for rural families; and
(C)establishing a web page on the Internet
website of the Department that—
(i)is
dedicated to caregiver support; and
(ii)contains
interactive elements, including providing information based on the location of
the person using the web page.
(d)In this section:
(1)The term aging network has the
meaning given that term in section 102(5) of the Older Americans Act of 1965
(42 U.S.C. 3002(5)).
(2)The term
caregiver services means noninstitutional extended care (as used
in section 1701(6) of this title), including homemaker and home health aid
services.
(3)The term
family caregiver means an individual who—
(A)is a member of the family (including
parents, spouses, children, siblings, step-family members, and extended family
members) of a disabled veteran;
(B)provides caregiver services to such veteran
for such disability; and
(C)may or may not
reside with such
veteran.
.
(b)The table of
sections at the beginning of chapter 17 of title 38, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following new item:
1786. Support services for family
caregivers.
.
3.Counseling and
mental health services for family caregivers
(a)Section 1782 of title
38, United States Code, is amended—
(1)in the section
heading, by striking immediate
;
and
(2)in subsection
(c)—
(A)in paragraph (1),
by striking ; or
and inserting a semicolon;
(B)by redesignating
paragraph (2) as paragraph (3); and
(C)by inserting after
paragraph (1) the following new paragraph (2):
(2)a family caregiver as defined in section
1786 of this title;
or
.
(b)The table of
sections at the beginning of chapter 17 of title 38, United States Code, is
amended by striking the item relating to section 1782 and inserting the
following new item:
1782. Counseling, training, and mental
health services for family
members.
.
4.Respite care to
assist family caregiversSection 1720B of title 38, United States
Code, is amended—
(1)in subsection (a),
by striking title.
and inserting title or who receives
care from a family caregiver as defined in section 1786 of this title.
;
and
(2)by adding at the
end the following new subsection:
(d)In furnishing respite care services under
this section, the Secretary shall ensure that such services—
(1)fulfill the needs
of the veteran receiving care; and
(2)are appropriate
for the veteran (including by taking the age of the veteran into account when
selecting the respite care provided to such
veteran).
.