S. 2490

119 S2490 IS: Strengthening Advocacy for Long-Term Care Residents Act
 U.S. Senate
 2025-07-29
 text/xml
 EN
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 II  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  S. 2490  IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES   July 29, 2025   Mr. Kaine  (for himself and  Mr. Kim ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the  Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions    A BILL
To improve the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Strengthening Advocacy for Long-Term Care Residents Act  .
2.
Improving training of volunteers under the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program
Section 712 of the Older Americans Act of 1965 ( 42 U.S.C. 3058g ) is amended—
(1)
in subsection (h)(5)—
(A)
in the matter preceding subparagraph (A)—
(i)
by striking  the representatives  and inserting  each type of representative ; and
(ii)
by inserting  types of  before  unpaid volunteers ;
(B)
in subparagraph (A), by inserting  for each such type of representative  before the semicolon at the end;
(C)
in subparagraph (B)(iii), by striking  and  at the end;
(D)
in subparagraph (C), by adding  and  at the end; and
(E)
by adding at the end the following:
(D)
with respect to representatives of the Office who are unpaid volunteers, take into consideration the degree to which each such type of unpaid volunteer performs activities requiring specialized training, with a goal of reducing unnecessary training requirements for prospective unpaid volunteers;
 ; and
(2)
by adding at the end the following:
(k)
Training requirements for unpaid volunteers
(1)
In general
In providing the model standards described in subsection (h)(5), the Director of the Office of Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programs shall review and, as necessary, update such model standards on a regular basis to tailor such model standards to the individualized training needs of each type of representative of the Office, including each type of unpaid volunteer.
(2)
Considerations
In carrying out paragraph (1), the Director of the Office of Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programs shall take into consideration the degree to which each type of representative of the Office performs activities that require specialized training, with a goal of reducing unnecessary training requirements for unpaid volunteers.
 .
3.
Director of the Office of Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programs
Section 201(d)(2)(A) of the Older Americans Act of 1965 ( 42 U.S.C. 3011(d)(2)(A) ) is amended in the second sentence by inserting  serve on a full-time basis and  after  shall .
4.
Study on State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programs
(a)
In general
The Assistant Secretary for Aging shall seek to enter into a contract with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (referred to in this section as the  National Academies ) to conduct a study on the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman programs carried out under the Older Americans Act of 1965 ( 42 U.S.C. 3001 et seq. ), including an assessment of the effectiveness of such programs and any related challenges, and recommendations. The study shall include an assessment of the current (as of the date on which the contract is entered into) recommended staff-to-bed ratio for such programs, as appropriate.
(b)
Report
Not later than 1 year after the date on which a contract is entered into under subsection (a), the National Academies shall publicly issue a report on the findings of such study.