[115th Congress Public Law 119]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



[[Page 132 STAT. 23]]

Public Law 115-119
115th Congress

                                 An Act


 
To provide for the establishment and maintenance of a Family Caregiving 
    Strategy, and for other purposes. <<NOTE: Jan. 22, 2018 -  [H.R. 
                                3759]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Recognize, 
Assist, Include, Support, and Engage Family Caregivers Act of 2017. 42 
USC 3030s note.>> 
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) Advisory council.--The term ``Advisory Council'' means 
        the Family Caregiving Advisory Council convened under section 4.
            (2) Family caregiver.--The term ``family caregiver'' means 
        an adult family member or other individual who has a significant 
        relationship with, and who provides a broad range of assistance 
        to, an individual with a chronic or other health condition, 
        disability, or functional limitation.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Health and Human Services.
            (4) Strategy.--The term ``Strategy'' means the Family 
        Caregiving Strategy set forth under section 3.
SEC. 3. FAMILY CAREGIVING STRATEGY.

    (a) <<NOTE: Consultation. Public information. Web posting.>>  In 
General.--The Secretary, in consultation with the heads of other 
appropriate Federal agencies, shall develop jointly with the Advisory 
Council 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 of the House of Representatives, and the 
State agencies responsible for carrying out family caregiver programs, 
and make publicly available on the internet website of the Department of 
Health and Human Services, a Family Caregiving Strategy.

    (b) Contents.--The Strategy shall identify recommended actions that 
Federal (under existing Federal programs), State, and local governments, 
communities, health care providers, long-term services and supports 
providers, and others are taking, or may take, to recognize and support 
family caregivers in a manner that reflects their diverse needs, 
including with respect to the following:
            (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

[[Page 132 STAT. 24]]

        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) Duties of the Secretary.--The Secretary, in carrying out 
subsection (a), shall oversee the following:
            (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 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) <<NOTE: Publications.>>  Initial Strategy; Updates.--The 
Secretary shall--
            (1) <<NOTE: Deadline.>>  not later than 18 months after the 
        date of enactment of this Act, 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 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 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.

[[Page 132 STAT. 25]]

    (e) <<NOTE: Recommenda- tions.>>  Process for Public Input.--The 
Secretary shall establish a process for public input to inform the 
development of, and updates to, the Strategy, including a process for 
the public to submit recommendations to the Advisory Council and an 
opportunity for public comment on the proposed Strategy.

    (f) No Preemption.--Nothing in this Act preempts any authority of a 
State or local government to recognize or support family caregivers.
    (g) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed to 
permit the Secretary (through regulation, guidance, grant criteria, or 
otherwise) to--
            (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) <<NOTE: Recommenda- tions.>>  Convening.--The Secretary shall 
convene a Family Caregiving Advisory Council to advise and provide 
recommendations, including identified best practices, to the Secretary 
on recognizing and supporting family caregivers.

    (b) Membership.--
            (1) In general.--The members of the Advisory Council shall 
        consist of--
                    (A) the appointed members under paragraph (2); and
                    (B) the Federal members under paragraph (3).
            (2) Appointed members.--In addition to the Federal members 
        under paragraph (3), the Secretary shall appoint not more than 
        15 voting members of the Advisory Council who are not 
        representatives of Federal departments or agencies and who shall 
        include at least 1 representative of each of the following:
                    (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) Federal members.--The Federal members of the Advisory 
        Council, who shall be nonvoting members, shall consist of the 
        following:
                    (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).

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                    (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) Diverse representation.--The Secretary shall ensure that 
        the membership of the Advisory Council reflects the diversity of 
        family caregivers and individuals receiving services and 
        supports.

    (c) <<NOTE: Time period. Public information.>>  Meetings.--The 
Advisory Council shall meet quarterly during the 1-year period beginning 
on the date of enactment of this Act and at least three times during 
each year thereafter. Meetings of the Advisory Council shall be open to 
the public.

    (d) Advisory Council Annual Reports.--
            (1) <<NOTE: Public information. Web posting.>>  In 
        general.--Not later than 12 months after the date of enactment 
        of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Advisory Council shall 
        submit to the Secretary, the Committee on Health, Education, 
        Labor, and Pensions and the Special Committee on Aging of the 
        Senate, the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the 
        House of Representatives, and the State agencies responsible for 
        carrying out family caregiver programs, and make publicly 
        available on the internet website of the Department of Health 
        and Human Services, a report concerning the development, 
        maintenance, and updating of the Strategy, including a 
        description of the outcomes of the recommendations and any 
        priorities included in the initial report pursuant to paragraph 
        (2), as appropriate.
            (2) Initial report.--The Advisory Council's initial report 
        under paragraph (1) shall include--
                    (A) <<NOTE: Records. Assessment.>>  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) <<NOTE: Recommenda- tions.>>  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) <<NOTE: Evaluation.>>  an evaluation of how 
                family caregiving impacts the Medicare program, the 
                Medicaid program, and other Federal programs.

    (e) Nonapplicability of FACA.--The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 
U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Advisory Council.

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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 3 years after the date of enactment of 
this Act.

    Approved January 22, 2018.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 3759 (S. 1028):
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD:
                                                        Vol. 163 (2017):
                                    Dec. 18, considered and passed 
                                        House.
                                                        Vol. 164 (2018):
                                    Jan. 8, considered and passed 
                                        Senate.

                                  <all>