[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 132, 115th Congress, 2nd Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


Public Law 115-119
115th Congress

An Act


 
To provide for the establishment and maintenance of a Family Caregiving
Strategy, 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 ``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) <>  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

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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) <>  Initial Strategy; Updates.--The
Secretary shall--
(1) <>  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.

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