On September 21, 2022, the 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers was published by the Administration for Community Living and developed by the Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and Engage (RAISE) Act Family Caregiving Advisory Council and the Advisory Council to Support Grandparents Raising Grandchildren (the Advisory Councils). The Strategy includes nearly 500 actions that can be adopted at every level of government, as well as across 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 they provide critical support for others.
Background
The two Advisory Councils were formed in 2019 to explore and document the challenges faced by family caregivers, seeking out actionable recommendations for supporting their caregiving populations in a holistic way – now and in the future. In 2021, each Advisory Council delivered an initial report to Congress, including recommendations for increasing awareness and outreach, inclusion, and services; reducing the financial challenges faced by family caregivers; and improving data, research, and the use of evidence-informed approaches in the field.
A family caregiver includes “people of all ages, from youth to grandparents; people with and without disabilities; people providing care from a distance; and people meeting a wide variety of needs, such as supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD) across the lifespan, caring for people with serious and/or progressive illnesses like dementia and cancer, and assisting with daily tasks that can be challenging for older people and people with disabilities . The term also recognizes that a single person may receive care from multiple family caregivers.”
Strategy Components
The Strategy includes four documents. The first is the narrative discussion (which includes twenty-seven recommendations/outcomes) and is organized around three components: goals and outcomes to support family caregivers and indicators of success. The five goals are to: increase awareness of and outreach; advance partnership and engagement; strengthen services and supports; ensure financial and workplace security; and expand data, research, and evidence-based practices.
In addition to the overarching narrative, the Strategy narrative discussion includes lists of actions, organized by goal, that can be taken by a wide range of stakeholders to achieve a vision where people can provide care and support to others without putting their own physical, emotional, or financial well-being on hold or at risk.
The second document is the 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers: Federal Actions, which includes 345 commitments submitted by 15 federal agencies to support the 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers. While the federal actions are significant, they are restrained in that they must be “within the scope of existing programs” and are therefore limited to activities possible under existing budgets, programs, and authorities. The Advisory Councils also outlined other types of federal actions that would require new legislation in the Strategy.
The third document is the 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers: Actions for States, Communities, and Others, which includes a list of more than 150 actions that states, communities, and other stakeholders can take to advance the goals of the Strategy.
Finally, the fourth document is the First Principles: Cross-Cutting Considerations for Family Caregiver Support, which outlines four “first principles” that must be embedded in all support to family caregivers: person- and family-centered care; the impact of trauma on families; advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility; and elevating direct care workers as essential partners to the family caregiver.
How to Use the Strategy
The Strategy is not a set of operating instructions or a how-to manual, but is more of a “menu” of actions organized by outcomes and goals to provide stakeholders with a range of options that can be implemented based on local needs. The Advisory Councils recommend that stakeholders review, identify, and prioritize the goals, outcomes, and actions they can best support.
Another important step is for stakeholders to form partnerships with others in other sectors that can be used to further the goals of the Strategy.
Administration for Community Living Comments
Alison Barkoff, the Acting Administrator and Assistant Secretary for Aging of the Administration for Community Living notes that “The Strategy arrives at a unique moment in time. The need for a robust, coordinated approach to supporting family caregivers has never been greater. But the opportunities in front of us to build that system also are unprecedented.”