Sec. 2. Findings and purpose
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The Congress finds the following: The baby boom generation will require health care attention that will exceed the current supply of health care providers. There is a shortage of training programs specializing in health care and long-term services that focus on home care instead of institutionalized care. Although the need for home-based health services transcends all income levels, the availability of such services is more limited for residents of public housing. Estimates indicate that there are 39.8 million caregivers in the United States providing unpaid care to at least one adult.
Of working persons providing unpaid care, 6 out of every 10 have had to make adjustments to work schedules or leave employment. Many low-income families in the United States are placed in an untenable position of choosing between work and caregiving responsibilities at home. Many residents of public housing in the United States are aging and in need of care. The Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates the percentage of households assisted by the Department that are elderly households is 33 percent.
Households that include a member who is a person with disabilities comprise 21 percent of households living in public housing. New service programs are needed to provide home-based health services to residents of public housing and to provide job training and job placement for persons receiving assistance from the Department of Housing and Urban Development needing employment. The Department of Housing and Urban Development should establish a home-based health services pilot program to meet the challenges of the increasing number of elderly persons and persons with disabilities in public housing, which would simultaneously create an opportunity to train job seekers in a trade that provides home-based health services.
The purposes of this Act are— to give flexibility to the Department of Housing and Urban Development and other entities to establish training programs in home-based health services for public housing residents; and to provide needed home care options to elderly and disabled public housing residents (including elderly and disabled veterans who are public housing residents) and elderly and disabled residents of federally-assisted rental housing to allow them to remain in their homes and their communities.