Today the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through its Administration for Community Living (ACL), delivered to Congress a progress report on federal implementation of the 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers. The strategy presents a vision, establishes goals, and provides recommendations for ensuring that family caregivers have the support and resources they need. The strategy also includes commitments from 15 federal agencies to nearly 350 actions to implement these recommendations. Today, nearly all these actions have been completed or are in progress, and federal agencies have committed to almost 40 new actions since the strategy’s release.
“With the actions described in this report, we have created new initiatives that directly support family caregivers, strengthened existing programs, and improved coordination across the federal government,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “These accomplishments represent real change and real improvement in the lives of family caregivers. They reflect the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to strengthening the care infrastructure, which is an important component of the Administration’s broader strategy to strengthen the U.S. economy, reduce health care costs, and improve the health and well-being of Americans.”
“Without the support family caregivers provide, millions of people would not be able to continue living and participating in their communities. Ensuring they have the support they need is a critical issue that affects everyone,” said Alison Barkoff, who leads the Administration for Community Living. “Achieving the goals described in the National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers requires a comprehensive, coordinated approach, with contributions from every level of government, every sector, and each of us. The accomplishments detailed in this report illustrate the federal commitment to that national effort.”
Each year, more than 53 million Americans provide a broad range of assistance to support the health, quality of life, and independence of an older adult or person with a disability. In addition, millions of grandparents - and an unknown number of other kinship caregivers - open their arms and homes each year to children who cannot remain with their parents. The number of family caregivers continues to increase as the populations of disabled people and older adults grow and as the opioid crisis and other issues create thousands of new “grandfamilies” each year.
Family caregivers are the backbone of the nation’s system of long-term care - replacing the support they provide with paid services would cost an estimated $600 billion each year. But when they do not have training, support, and opportunities for rest and self-care, their health, well-being, and quality of life often suffer. Their financial future can also be put at risk; lost income due to family caregiving is estimated to be a staggering $522 billion each year. And if caregivers are unable to continue to provide care, the people they support may have no option but to move to nursing homes or other facilities or, for children, to enter foster care. This deprives the person receiving support of their right to live in their community and often results in poorer health, usually at an increased cost to public programs.
The National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers was released in 2022 as a first step in a coordinated national effort to address this issue. It was developed by the Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and Engage (RAISE)Family Caregiving Advisory Council and the Advisory Council to Support Grandparents Raising Grandchildren(SGRG), with extensive input from family caregivers and the people they support. The strategy describes the most pressing needs as identified by family caregivers and the people they support - and defines a framework for meeting those needs. In addition to the federal commitments, the strategy also includes more than two dozen recommendations for legislative and policy changes and more than 150 recommendations for actions that can be implemented by anyone.
“The Administration for Children and Families continues to partner with ACL in our shared goal of supporting grandfamilies and kinship families, both to prevent unnecessary involvement in the child welfare system and to maintain connection to kin when intervention is necessary,” said ACF Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Jeff Hild.
“Family caregivers play a pivotal role in supporting the health and well-being of millions of Americans,” said Health Resources and Services Administration Administrator Carole Johnson. “At HRSA, we are committed to empowering caregivers by expanding access to resources and strengthening the health care workforce to ensure they have the support needed to deliver person-centered care and improve health outcomes across the country.”
"Family caregivers are the backbone of long-term care provided in people’s homes,” said Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Mandy K. Cohen. “CDC data shows caregiving can lead to physical, emotional, and financial strain, with 1 in 5 caregivers reporting fair or poor health, according to CDC data. CDC invests in 43 state and local partners to support and enhance the health and well-being of caregivers through the Building Our Largest Dementia (BOLD) Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act.”
“Caregivers are a vital part, and frankly the backbone, of our health care system in doing things like helping with medication management, transportation to appointments, food shopping, bathing and dressing, and getting around the house,” said Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. “Today’s report to Congress on federal progress in implementing the 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers demonstrates the accomplishments the Biden-Harris Administration has made in strengthening caregiver support. While it’s important to recognize and commemorate our progress - there is more work to be done. We will continue to build upon the strides made for caregivers. We have worked to make sure that in fulfilling our mission to deliver better health and better health care to all people, that we are also strengthening levers to support caregivers. Caregiver support remains a top priority for President Biden and Vice President Harris as we work to continue to advance high-quality, person-centered, affordable care for all Americans.”
“Millions of Americans take care of a friend or family member with a serious health condition. Being a caregiver can be a labor of love, but it can also be stressful,” said National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Monica M. Bertagnolli. “Recognizing the acute needs of caregivers, NIH continues to fund research that promotes the health, function, and well-being of those living with disease as well as their caregivers, with an emphasis on improved rigor and real-world applicability across broad and diverse populations.”
“Family caregivers are critical to providing support to loved ones with mental health conditions or substance use disorders. We know that the stress of providing care to loved ones can be difficult on the caregiver and their well-being, so it’s important that we help get them the support and resources they need as well,” said Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use and leader of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Miriam E. Delphin-Rittmon. “SAMHSA helps support the National Strategy to Support Caregivers in a number of ways, including by increasing the capacity of states and other organizations to help families and caregivers who are raising young people with serious emotional disturbance or co-occurring disorders, and by working with federal partners to prevent suicide among caregivers and support caregivers during emergency situations.”
“Caregivers are from diverse communities across America and support loved ones across the lifespan - from children, to adults with behavioral health disorders, to older adults,” said Dr. Tisamarie Sherry, the deputy assistant secretary for behavioral health, disability and aging policy who is performing the delegable duties of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. “It is crucial that we provide services that meet their varied needs to the greatest degree possible. The strategy is a key piece of expanding, improving, and replicating those services and supports.”
The 2024 federal progress update to the 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers was delivered to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor. Future reports and updates to the strategy will cover topics such as new and emerging policy considerations impacting family caregivers and the people they support, new recommendations for actions for all sectors to implement, and analysis of the impact of the strategy.
Learn more about the RAISE Family Caregiving Advisory Council at ACL.gov/RAISE and the Advisory Council to Support Grandparents Raising Grandchildren at ACL.gov/SGRG.