H.R.320: Adult Day Center Enhancement Act

The Adult Day Center Enhancement Act (H.R. 320) would mandate the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Community Living (ACL) to survey existing ADC programs, asking them to identify programmatic success, funding, a set of best practices, performance goals, and the like. Within 180 days of this survey, ACL would be required to publish a report on survey findings. Within 90 days of said report, ACL would be responsible for establishing a grant program serving young adults with neurological conditions. ACL would then have 90 days to award grants, and an obligation to produce annual grant reports.

Adult Day Center (ADC) programs provide medical care, social interaction, transportation, medical care, and other services to young adults living with neurological conditions. Additionally, they help caregivers with the assistance of daily living. The bill cites programs for early-onset Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple sclerosis (MS), and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) explicitly, but covers other neurological conditions as well. ADC programs are generally geared towards older adults who may have different needs than younger adults. Overall, such programs have “been shown to provide a range of documented benefits, including improvements in functional status, social support, and reductions in fatigue, depression, and pain.”