Supporting Family Caregivers Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3782 To amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to support family caregivers. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 16, 2019 Mr. LEVIN of Michigan (for himself and Ms. STEFANIK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to support family caregivers. 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 Family 4 Caregivers Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. NATIONAL FAMILY CAREGIVER SUPPORT PRO- 6 GRAM. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 372(a) of the Older 8 Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3030s(a)) is amend- 9 ed— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:50 Jul 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3782.IH H3782 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3782 IH (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and 1 (3) as paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), respectively, and 2 (2) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so re- 3 designated, the following: 4 ‘‘(1) CAREGIVER ASSESSMENT.—The term 5 ‘caregiver assessment’ means a systematic process of 6 gathering information about the situation of a care- 7 giver who voluntarily participates in such process to 8 identify the caregiver’s specific needs, barriers, and 9 existing supports as identified by the caregiver 10 that— 11 ‘‘(A) provides the opportunity for the rec- 12 ognized caregiver to participate in such process; 13 ‘‘(B) requires direct contact with the care- 14 giver and is used to appropriately target and 15 tailor support services to the caregiver’s unique 16 needs; and 17 ‘‘(C) includes reassessment of such specific 18 needs, barriers, and existing supports conducted 19 at appropriate intervals, including to accommo- 20 date a significant change in the caregiving situ- 21 ation.’’. 22 (b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—Section 373 of the 23 Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3030s–1) is 24 amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:50 Jul 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3782.IH H3782 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3782 IH (1) in subsection (b), in the matter preceding 1 paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘which may be informed 2 through the use of caregiver assessments,’’ after 3 ‘‘provided’’, 4 (2) in the first sentence of subsection (e)(3) by 5 inserting ‘‘, including caregiver assessments used in 6 the State,’’ after ‘‘mechanisms’’, and 7 (3) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(h) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR CAREGIVER AS- 9 SESSMENTS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of en- 10 actment of the Supporting Family Caregivers Act of 2019, 11 the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with caregivers, 12 older individuals, individuals with a disability who receive 13 care from an older relative caregiver, the aging network, 14 and other experts and stakeholders, and, as appropriate, 15 potentially informed by the strategy developed under the 16 RAISE Family Caregivers Act, shall provide technical as- 17 sistance to promote and implement the use of caregiver 18 assessments. Such technical assistance shall include shar- 19 ing available tools and templates, comprehensive assess- 20 ment protocols, and best practices concerning— 21 ‘‘(1) conducting caregiver assessments and re- 22 assessments; 23 ‘‘(2) implementing such assessments that are 24 consistent across a planning and service area; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:50 Jul 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3782.IH H3782 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3782 IH ‘‘(3) implementing caregiver support service 1 plans, including referrals to and coordination of ac- 2 tivities with relevant State and local services. 3 ‘‘(i) REPORT ON CAREGIVER ASSESSMENTS.— 4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years 5 after the date of enactment of the Supporting Fam- 6 ily Caregivers Act of 2019, the Assistant Secretary 7 shall issue a report on the use of caregiver assess- 8 ments by area agencies on aging, entities contracting 9 with such agencies, and Tribal organizations. Such 10 report shall include— 11 ‘‘(A) an analysis of the current use of care- 12 giver assessments, including a repository of 13 caregiver assessment tools or templates and 14 comprehensive assessment protocols, as of the 15 date of the report; 16 ‘‘(B) an analysis of the potential impact of 17 caregiver assessments on— 18 ‘‘(i) family caregivers and older rel- 19 ative caregivers; and 20 ‘‘(ii) the individuals to whom the care- 21 givers described in clause (i) provide care; 22 ‘‘(C) an analysis of the potential impact of 23 using caregiver assessments on the aging net- 24 work; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:50 Jul 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3782.IH H3782 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3782 IH ‘‘(D) an analysis of how caregiver assess- 1 ments are being used to identify the specific 2 needs, barriers, and existing supports of family 3 caregivers and older relative caregivers; 4 ‘‘(E) recommendations for furthering the 5 use of caregiver assessments, including in rural 6 or underserved areas; and 7 ‘‘(F) recommendations for assisting State 8 agencies and area agencies on aging, particu- 9 larly in rural or underserved areas, in imple- 10 menting the use of caregiver assessments. 11 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 6 months 12 after the issuance of the report under paragraph (1), 13 the Assistant Secretary shall submit the report to 14 the appropriate legislative committees of the Senate 15 and the House of Representatives and to the Special 16 Committee on Aging of the Senate.’’. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:50 Jul 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3782.IH H3782 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS