Addressing SILO Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2692 To amend title XX of the Social Security Act to provide grants and training to support area agencies on aging or other community-based organiza- tions to address social isolation among vulnerable older adults and adults with disabilities. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 18, 2023 Ms. SA´NCHEZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To amend title XX of the Social Security Act to provide grants and training to support area agencies on aging or other community-based organizations to address social isolation among vulnerable older adults and adults with disabilities. 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 ‘‘Addressing Social Iso- 4 lation and Loneliness in Older Adults Act of 2023’’ or the 5 ‘‘Addressing SILO Act of 2023’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:13 Apr 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2692.IH H2692 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2692 IH SEC. 2. INCENTIVES FOR DEVELOPING AND SUSTAINING 1 STRUCTURAL COMPETENCY IN PROVIDING 2 HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES. 3 Part II of subtitle B of title XX of the Social Security 4 Act (42 U.S.C. 1397m–1397m-5) is amended by adding 5 at the end the following: 6 ‘‘SEC. 2047. INCENTIVES FOR DEVELOPING AND SUS- 7 TAINING STRUCTURAL COMPETENCY IN PRO- 8 VIDING HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES. 9 ‘‘(a) GRANTS AND TRAINING TO SUPPORT AREA 10 AGENCIES ON AGING OR OTHER COMMUNITY-BASED OR- 11 GANIZATIONS TO ADDRESS SOCIAL ISOLATION AMONG 12 VULNERABLE OLDER ADULTS AND ADULTS WITH DIS- 13 ABILITIES.— 14 ‘‘(1) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall make 15 grants to eligible area agencies on aging or other 16 community-based organizations for the purpose of— 17 ‘‘(A) conducting outreach to individuals at 18 risk for, or already experiencing, social isolation 19 or loneliness, through established screening 20 tools or other methods identified by the Sec- 21 retary; 22 ‘‘(B) developing community-based interven- 23 tions for the purposes of mitigating loneliness 24 or social isolation (including evidence-based pro- 25 grams, as defined by the Secretary, developed 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:13 Apr 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2692.IH H2692 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2692 IH with multi-stakeholder input for the purposes of 1 promoting social connection, mitigating social 2 isolation or loneliness, or preventing social iso- 3 lation or loneliness) among at-risk individuals; 4 ‘‘(C) connecting at-risk individuals with 5 community social and clinical supports; and 6 ‘‘(D) evaluating the effect of programs de- 7 veloped and implemented under subparagraphs 8 (B) and (C). 9 ‘‘(2) TRAINING.—The Secretary shall establish 10 programs to provide and improve training for area 11 agencies on aging or community-based organizations 12 with respect to addressing and preventing social iso- 13 lation and loneliness among older adults and adults 14 with disabilities. 15 ‘‘(3) EVALUATION.—Not later than 3 years 16 after the date of the enactment of this section and 17 every 3 years thereafter, the Secretary shall submit 18 to the Congress a written report which assesses the 19 extent to which the programs established under this 20 subsection address social isolation and loneliness 21 among older adults and people with disabilities. 22 ‘‘(4) APPROPRIATION.—Out of any money in 23 the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, there are 24 appropriated to the Secretary $62,500,000 for each 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:13 Apr 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2692.IH H2692 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2692 IH of fiscal years 2024 through 2027 to carry out this 1 subsection. 2 ‘‘(5) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall co- 3 ordinate with resource centers, grant programs, or 4 other funding mechanisms established under section 5 411(a)(18) of the Older Americans Act (42 U.S.C. 6 3032(a)(18)), section 417(a)(1) of such Act (42 7 U.S.C. 3032F(a)(1)), or other programs as deter- 8 mined by the Secretary. 9 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 10 ‘‘(1) AREA AGENCY ON AGING.—The term ‘area 11 agency on aging’ means an area agency on aging 12 designated under section 305 of the Older Ameri- 13 cans Act of 1965. 14 ‘‘(2) SOCIAL ISOLATION.—The term ‘social iso- 15 lation’ means objectively being alone, or having few 16 relationships or infrequent social contact. 17 ‘‘(3) LONELINESS.—The term ‘loneliness’ 18 means subjectively feeling alone, or the discrepancy 19 between one’s desired level of social connection and 20 one’s actual level of social connection. 21 ‘‘(4) SOCIAL CONNECTION.—The term ‘social 22 connection’ means the variety of ways one can con- 23 nect to others socially, through physical, behavioral, 24 social-cognitive, and emotional channels. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:13 Apr 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2692.IH H2692 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2692 IH ‘‘(5) COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATION.—The 1 term ‘community-based organization’ includes, ex- 2 cept as otherwise provided by the Secretary, a non- 3 profit community-based organization, a consortium 4 of nonprofit community-based organizations, a na- 5 tional nonprofit organization acting as an inter- 6 mediary for a community-based organization, or a 7 community-based organization that has a fiscal 8 sponsor that allows the organization to function as 9 an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the 10 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from 11 taxation under section 501(a) of such Code.’’. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:13 Apr 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2692.IH H2692 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS