About the National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers
The most significant and comprehensive report to date on family caregiving policy is the National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers, submitted to Congress in 2022.
The Administration for Community Living (ACL) supported the development of the National Strategy together with the Advisory Councils established by the RAISE Family Caregiving Act and the Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Act, along with 15 other federal agencies. The recommendations included in the National Strategy were formulated by these advisory councils and federal agencies based on more than two years of formal open meetings, listening sessions, requests for information, and extensive input from family caregivers, the people they support and hundreds of other stakeholders.
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The National Strategy includes nearly 500 actions that can be adopted at every level of government and across the public and private sectors to ensure that family caregivers have the resources they need to maintain their own health, well-being, and financial security while providing crucial support for others. Specifically, it includes 350 commitments from federal agencies for actions to support family caregivers within its existing programs and authorities and an additional 150 recommendations for state and local governments, businesses, and advocates. The report also included a brief discussion of actions for Congress, with 25 high-level policy recommendations.
Policy recommendations are categorized into five primary goal areas. Each goal area includes up to ten specific recommendations.
Goal 1: Increasing Awareness of Family Caregivers.
Family caregivers’ physical, emotional and financial well-being will improve because of expanded awareness, outreach, and education.
Goal 2: Engaging Family Caregivers as Partners in Healthcare and Long-Term Services and Supports.
Family caregivers are recognized, engaged and supported as key partners with providers of health care and long-term services and supports (LTSS).
Goal 3: Improving Access to Services and Supports for Family Caregivers.
Family caregivers have access to an array of flexible person- and family-centered programs, supports, goods and services that meet the diverse needs of family caregivers and care recipients.
Goal 4: Supporting Financial and Workplace Security for Family Caregivers.
Family caregivers’ lifetime financial and employment security is protected and enhanced.
Goal 5: Generating Research, Data, and Evidence-Informed Practices.
Family caregivers are engaged stakeholders in a national research and data gathering infrastructure that documents their experiences, translates evidence into best practice, develops person- and family-centered interventions, and measures progress toward the National Family Caregiver Strategy.
Following publication of the National Strategy, stakeholder organizations, family caregivers, and providers were invited to comment on its recommendations, with the goal of improving and enhancing the blueprint for supporting family caregivers. Over 600 responses were received and analyzed, offering insight into additional policy recommendations important for caregiver support.
In 2024, ACL submitted to Congress a Progress Report with an update on the status of federal agencies’ implementation of the 350 commitments in the 2022 National Strategy. The report stated that virtually all the agency commitments had been completed or were in process and that agencies had made 40 additional commitments. The report did not address the status of legislative recommendations.