Dream’s Caregiver Health and Wellness Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
Dream's Caregiver Health and Wellness Act directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administration for Community Living, to create a grant program for nonprofit organizations that promote caregiver wellness. The program is intended to strengthen caregiver retention, reduce burnout, improve mental health and wellness, build caregiver support networks, strengthen community cohesion among caregivers and grant recipients, and sustain flexible caregiver supports that adapt to changing needs.
Nonprofit grantees may use funds to provide caregivers with meals, transportation to and from work, mental health services including PTSD services and supports, holistic wellness programs, and other services approved by the Secretary. Beginning no later than 90 days after the first grant year and annually afterward, HHS must report to Congress on how each recipient used funds, the populations served, and measurable outcomes for caregiver wellness and retention. The bill authorizes $250 million for each fiscal year from 2027 through 2031.
Who Benefits and How
Caregivers for seniors, people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, and people with chronic illness benefit from meals, transportation, mental health services, wellness programs, support networks, and retention supports. Nonprofit caregiver support organizations benefit from federal grant funding to deliver those services. Seniors, disabled individuals, and chronically ill people who rely on caregivers may benefit if caregiver burnout falls and retention improves.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The Administration for Community Living must design, award, oversee, and report on the grant program. Nonprofit applicants must prepare applications and track services, populations, and outcomes. Federal HHS grant accounts bear $250 million per year in authorized costs from fiscal years 2027 through 2031. Congress must receive and evaluate annual reports on the program's results.
Key Provisions
- Creates an Administration for Community Living grant program for nonprofit caregiver wellness programs.
- Authorizes grants for meals, transportation, mental health services, PTSD supports, holistic wellness programs, and other approved services.
- Requires nonprofit applicants to submit applications with information required by the Secretary.
- Requires annual reports to Congress on fund use, populations served, and measurable caregiver wellness and retention outcomes.
- Defines caregivers as individuals providing care to seniors, people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, or people with chronic illness who need supportive services.
- Authorizes $250 million for each fiscal year 2027 through 2031.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Creates an HHS Administration for Community Living grant program for nonprofit organizations to promote caregiver wellness, retention, mental health, support networks, meals, transportation, wellness services, annual reporting, and $250 million per year in authorized appropriations for fiscal years 2027 through 2031.
Key Policy Areas
Caregivers, Aging, Disability Services, Mental Health, HHS Grants
Primary Purpose
Creates an HHS Administration for Community Living grant program for nonprofit organizations to promote caregiver wellness, retention, mental health, support networks, meals, transportation, wellness services, annual reporting, and $250 million per year in authorized appropriations for fiscal years 2027 through 2031.
Policy Domains
Section 2 Dream Grants for caregiver wellness
Identified Gains
- Caregivers for seniors
- Caregivers for people with intellectual disabilities
- Caregivers for people with chronic illness
- Nonprofit caregiver support organizations
- Seniors relying on caregivers
Identified Costs
- Administration for Community Living grant administrators
- Nonprofit caregiver grant applicants
- Federal HHS grant accounts
- Congressional health oversight staff
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Introduced in House
Mr. Lawler introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Administration for Community Living grant administrators, Federal HHS grant accounts
Caregivers for people with intellectual disabilities
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "caregiver"
- → Individual providing care to a senior, person with intellectual or developmental disability, or person with chronic illness
- "nonprofit"
- → Nonprofit organization seeking caregiver wellness grants
- "secretary"
- → Secretary of Health and Human Services acting through the Administration for Community Living
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
An individual who provides care to a senior, an individual with an intellectual or developmental disability, or an individual with a chronic illness who needs supportive services.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology