[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4743 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4743

            To improve the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 23, 2024

 Mr. Kaine (for himself and Mr. Casey) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
            To improve the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program.

    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 ``Strengthening Advocacy for Long-Term 
Care Residents Act''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVING TRAINING OF VOLUNTEERS UNDER THE STATE LONG-TERM CARE 
              OMBUDSMAN PROGRAM.

    Section 712 of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3058g) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (h)(5)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) by striking ``the representatives'' and 
                        inserting ``each type of representative''; and
                            (ii) by inserting ``types of'' before 
                        ``unpaid volunteers'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``for each 
                such type of representative'' before the semicolon at 
                the end;
                    (C) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by striking ``and'' 
                at the end;
                    (D) in subparagraph (C), by adding ``and'' at the 
                end; and
                    (E) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) with respect to representatives of the Office 
                who are unpaid volunteers, take into consideration the 
                degree to which each such type of unpaid volunteer 
                performs activities requiring specialized training, 
                with a goal of reducing unnecessary training 
                requirements for prospective unpaid volunteers;''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(k) Training Requirements for Unpaid Volunteers.--
            ``(1) In general.--In providing the model standards 
        described in subsection (h)(5), the Director of the Office of 
        Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programs shall review and, as 
        necessary, update such model standards on a regular basis to 
        tailor such model standards to the individualized training 
        needs of each type of representative of the Office, including 
        each type of unpaid volunteer.
            ``(2) Considerations.--In carrying out paragraph (1), the 
        Director of the Office of Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programs 
        shall take into consideration the degree to which each type of 
        representative of the Office performs activities that require 
        specialized training, with a goal of reducing unnecessary 
        training requirements for unpaid volunteers.''.

SEC. 3. DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF LONG-TERM CARE OMBUDSMAN PROGRAMS.

    Section 201(d)(2)(A) of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 
3011(d)(2)(A)) is amended in the second sentence by inserting ``serve 
on a full-time basis and'' after ``shall''.

SEC. 4. STUDY ON STATE LONG-TERM CARE OMBUDSMAN PROGRAMS.

    (a) In General.--The Assistant Secretary for Aging shall seek to 
enter into a contract with the National Academies of Sciences, 
Engineering, and Medicine (referred to in this section as the 
``National Academies'') to conduct a study on the State Long-Term Care 
Ombudsman programs carried out under the Older Americans Act of 1965 
(42 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.), including an assessment of the effectiveness 
of such programs and any related challenges, and recommendations. The 
study shall include an assessment of the current (as of the date on 
which the contract is entered into) recommended staff-to-bed ratio for 
such programs, as appropriate.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date on which a 
contract is entered into under subsection (a), the National Academies 
shall publicly issue a report on the findings of such study.
                                 <all>