[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 210 (Wednesday, November 3, 2021)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 60543-60544]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-24120]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 210 / Wednesday, November 3, 2021 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 60543]]


                Proclamation 10301 of October 29, 2021

                
National Family Caregivers Month, 2021

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Every day, millions of Americans provide essential care 
                and medical assistance to their loved ones. These acts 
                of love, commitment, and compassion enable their family 
                members to receive the support they need to live a life 
                with dignity. This has been especially true throughout 
                the COVID-19 pandemic, during which Americans of all 
                ages have made substantial sacrifices to keep family 
                members safe and healthy. During National Family 
                Caregivers Month, we recognize the important role of 
                our Nation's family caregivers and thank them for the 
                invaluable and instrumental care they provide.

                While the opportunity to provide care to a loved one 
                can be a blessing and a source of connection, it often 
                requires sacrifice. Millions of Americans have 
                sacrificed jobs and altered careers in order to perform 
                caregiving duties. Workers, their families, and our 
                economy suffer when workers are forced to choose 
                between their jobs and their caregiving 
                responsibilities or between putting food on the table 
                and caring for a relative. Too many Americans who need 
                caregiving support struggle with the high costs of 
                caring for a family member in need, or providing long-
                term care for people with disabilities or older adults.

                My Administration is committed to strengthening 
                American families and easing the burdens of caregiving. 
                That is why my American Rescue Plan provided an 
                additional $145 million in funding for the National 
                Family Caregiver Support Program, which continues to 
                help State and community organizations support family 
                and informal caregivers through in-home programs 
                including counseling, respite care, and training. The 
                American Rescue Plan also provided States with 
                additional Medicaid funding to strengthen and enhance 
                their home- and community-based services (HCBS) 
                program. My Administration's Build Back Better agenda 
                will build on this down payment by continuing to invest 
                in the caregiving infrastructure for HCBS and 
                increasing pay and benefits to address the direct care 
                workforce crisis. I will also fight to expand paid 
                family and medical leave nationwide. Each of these 
                elements is critical to better supporting family 
                caregivers. We want to see our Nation's paid 
                caregivers, including the majority of home health care 
                workers and over 90 percent of child care workers who 
                are women--disproportionately women of color--have jobs 
                that provide dignity, safety, and decent pay.

                Earlier this year, the RAISE (Recognize, Assist, 
                Include, Support, and Engage) Family Caregiving 
                Advisory Council, with support from the Department of 
                Health and Human Services, delivered an initial report 
                on how the Federal, State, Tribal, and local 
                governments can work with our partners in the private 
                sector to better support our Nation's family 
                caregivers, and we will continue working to provide 
                that support.

                As my own family members have been caregivers, I 
                understand the struggles family caregivers face and the 
                importance of the care they provide. This month, as we 
                continue our fight to expand access to caregiving, we 
                recognize our caregivers who wake up every single day 
                to do this physically and emotionally demanding yet 
                vitally important work.

[[Page 60544]]

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of 
                the United States of America, by virtue of the 
                authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws 
                of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 2021 
                as National Family Caregivers Month. I encourage all 
                Americans to reach out to those who provide care for 
                their family members, friends, and neighbors in need, 
                to honor and to thank them.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord 
                two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                sixth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2021-24120
Filed 11-2-21; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F2-P