Supporting America's Caregivers and Families Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1017 To amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 in order to address the needs of caregivers, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 3, 2019 Mr. DURBIN (for himself and Mr. KAINE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 in order to address the needs of caregivers, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supporting America’s 4 Caregivers and Families Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. ADDRESSING THE NEEDS OF CAREGIVERS. 6 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR FAM- 7 ILY CAREGIVER SUPPORT.—Section 303(e) of the Older 8 Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3023(e)) is amended 9 by striking ‘‘$154,336,482’’ and all that follows through 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:38 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1017.IS S1017 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1017 IS the period at the end and inserting ‘‘$360,000,000 for 1 each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024’’. 2 (b) IMPROVING CAREGIVER ASSESSMENT.— 3 (1) INCREASING USE OF CAREGIVER ASSESS- 4 MENT TOOLS.—Section 202 of the Older Americans 5 Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3012) is amended by adding 6 at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(h) By not later than January 1, 2021, the Assist- 8 ant Secretary shall— 9 ‘‘(1) in consultation with caregivers, older indi- 10 viduals, the aging network, and other experts and 11 stakeholders, develop and implement a strategy to 12 increase the use of comprehensive caregiver assess- 13 ment tools that— 14 ‘‘(A) are standardized across a planning 15 and service area; 16 ‘‘(B) assess the specific problems, needs, 17 strengths, and resources of caregivers— 18 ‘‘(i) as identified by a recognized care- 19 giver, as appropriate, through voluntary 20 participation; 21 ‘‘(ii) through direct contact with the 22 caregiver, which may include in-person, 23 phone, or online contact; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:38 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1017.IS S1017 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1017 IS ‘‘(iii) at appropriate intervals, includ- 1 ing to accommodate significant changes in 2 the caregiving situation; 3 ‘‘(C) determine whether a caregiver would 4 benefit from support services; and 5 ‘‘(D) lead to providing targeted caregiver 6 support services to best benefit caregivers, 7 where appropriate and available based upon 8 identified unmet needs, including through refer- 9 rals; 10 ‘‘(2) conduct a study on the best practices and 11 potential considerations regarding mandatory use of 12 comprehensive caregiver assessment tools standard- 13 ized across a planning and service area by an area 14 agency on aging, which shall examine— 15 ‘‘(A) the current use of caregiver assess- 16 ments, as of the date of the study; 17 ‘‘(B) the efficacy and feasibility of manda- 18 tory use of comprehensive caregiver assessment 19 tools standardized across a planning and service 20 area, including the value to caregivers and the 21 older individuals to whom they provide care; 22 and 23 ‘‘(C) the potential impact on the aging net- 24 work of using such assessments; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:38 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1017.IS S1017 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1017 IS ‘‘(3) prepare and submit to Congress a report 1 regarding the study under paragraph (2) that pro- 2 vides recommendations for the appropriate use of 3 comprehensive caregiver assessments standardized 4 across a planning and service area by an area agen- 5 cy on aging, and a proposed budget, based on the 6 Assistant Secretary’s professional judgment, for ap- 7 propriately implementing the recommendations.’’. 8 (2) ASSESSING NEEDS OF CAREGIVERS.—Sec- 9 tion 373(e)(3) of the Older Americans Act of 1965 10 (42 U.S.C. 3030s–1(e)(3)) is amended by inserting 11 ‘‘assess the needs of family caregivers or older rel- 12 ative caregivers and’’ before ‘‘provide’’. 13 (3) FAMILY CAREGIVER RESOURCE CENTER 14 AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Section 202(b) of 15 the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 16 3012(b)) is amended— 17 (A) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘and’’ 18 after the semicolon; 19 (B) by redesignating paragraph (11) as 20 paragraph (12); and 21 (C) by inserting after paragraph (10) the 22 following: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:38 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1017.IS S1017 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1017 IS ‘‘(11) establish and operate the National Fam- 1 ily Caregiver Resource and Technical Assistance 2 Center, which will— 3 ‘‘(A) by grant or contract with a public or 4 private nonprofit entity, provide information 5 and assistance to State agencies, area agencies 6 on aging, and community-based service pro- 7 viders funded under this Act, including— 8 ‘‘(i) through technical assistance, re- 9 search, training, program analysis, and 10 data collection; 11 ‘‘(ii) activities described in section 12 411(a)(11); and 13 ‘‘(iii) dissemination of best practices, 14 including best practices for conducting as- 15 sessments of caregiver needs using com- 16 prehensive assessment tools standardized 17 across a planning and service area; and 18 ‘‘(B) directly or through grant or contract, 19 provide information, education, and assistance 20 to family caregivers in a manner that is acces- 21 sible and understandable to the family care- 22 givers.’’. 23 (c) BUSINESS ACUMEN PROVISIONS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:38 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1017.IS S1017 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1017 IS (1) ASSISTANCE RELATING TO GROWING AND 1 SUSTAINING CAPACITY.—Section 202(b)(9) of the 2 Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3 3012(b)(9)) is amended— 4 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 5 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 6 (B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 7 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; and 8 (C) by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(C) business acumen, capacity building, 10 organizational development, innovation, and 11 other methods of growing and sustaining the 12 capacity of the aging network to serve older 13 adults and caregivers most effectively;’’. 14 (2) CLARIFYING PARTNERSHIPS FOR AREA 15 AGENCIES ON AGING.—Section 306 of the Older 16 Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3026) is amend- 17 ed by adding at the end the following: 18 ‘‘(g) Nothing in this Act shall restrict an area agency 19 on aging from providing services not provided or author- 20 ized under this Act, including through— 21 ‘‘(1) contracts with health care payers; 22 ‘‘(2) consumer private pay programs; or 23 ‘‘(3) other arrangements with entities or indi- 24 viduals that increase the availability of home and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:38 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1017.IS S1017 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1017 IS community-based services and supports in the plan- 1 ning and service area supported by the area agency 2 on aging.’’. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:38 Apr 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1017.IS S1017 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS