NASHP Expands Family Caregiving Work with Grants from RRF Foundation for Aging and the US Administration for Community Living

The National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) recently received two grants to expand its work supporting family caregivers, which began last year when it launched the Family Caregiver Resource and Dissemination Center to support creation of the country’s first national family caregiver strategy.

Congress passed the Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and Engage (RAISE) Family Caregivers Act in 2018, which established the Family Caregiving Advisory Council, whose task is to create a national strategy.

The two grants include:

• A two-year grant from the RRF Foundation for Aging to create a RAISE Act State Policy Roadmap for Family Caregiving; and
• A three-year Lifespan Respite Care program grant from the US Administration for Community Living, in partnership with the ARCH National Respite Network, to support and foster state and national efforts to promote access to respite care and strengthen the direct care workforce for family caregivers of all ages.

NASHP’s RAISE Act Family Caregiver Resource and Dissemination Center, which is funded by The John A. Hartford Foundation, will lead the activities under these grants. The center supports the RAISE Act Family Caregiving Advisory Council, which recently adopted recommendations that will be incorporated into an initial report to Congress.

Both of the new awards will help strengthen the country’s first national family caregiver strategy by supporting state policy that Recognizes, Assists, Includes, Supports, and Engages [RAISE] family caregivers. NASHP is excited to work with state policymakers as well as its federal partners and funders to better address the needs of family caregivers and to build upon the important work of the RAISE Act Advisory Council.