Title 25IndiansRelease 119-73not60

§1616 Community Health Representative Program

Title 25 › Chapter 18— INDIAN HEALTH CARE › Subchapter I— INDIAN HEALTH PROFESSIONAL PERSONNEL › § 1616

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary must run a Community Health Representative Program that trains Indians to work as health aides and uses them to provide health care, teach healthy habits, and help prevent disease in Indian communities. The program must give strong training that mixes classroom lessons with supervised hands-on work. Training must include health promotion and disease prevention and pay attention to lifestyle issues like alcoholism, family problems, and poverty. The Service must also give continuing education, close supervision, regular review and evaluation of the workers, and support traditional tribal healing practices when they fit Service care standards.

Full Legal Text

Title 25, §1616

Indians — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Under the authority of section 13 of this title, the Secretary shall maintain a Community Health Representative Program under which the Service—
(1)provides for the training of Indians as health paraprofessionals, and
(2)uses such paraprofessionals in the provision of health care, health promotion, and disease prevention services to Indian communities.
(b)The Secretary, acting through the Community Health Representative Program of the Service, shall—
(1)provide a high standard of training for paraprofessionals to Community Health Representatives to ensure that the Community Health Representatives provide quality health care, health promotion, and disease prevention services to the Indian communities served by such Program,
(2)in order to provide such training, develop and maintain a curriculum that—
(A)combines education in the theory of health care with supervised practical experience in the provision of health care, and
(B)provides instruction and practical experience in health promotion and disease prevention activities, with appropriate consideration given to lifestyle factors that have an impact on Indian health status, such as alcoholism, family dysfunction, and poverty,
(3)maintain a system which identifies the needs of Community Health Representatives for continuing education in health care, health promotion, and disease prevention and maintain programs that meet the needs for such continuing education,
(4)maintain a system that provides close supervision of Community Health Representatives,
(5)maintain a system under which the work of Community Health Representatives is reviewed and evaluated, and
(6)promote traditional health care practices of the Indian tribes served consistent with the Service standards for the provision of health care, health promotion, and disease prevention.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1992—Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 102–573, § 105(1), inserted “and maintain” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (b)(2)(B). Pub. L. 102–573, § 105(2), inserted at end “with appropriate consideration given to lifestyle factors that have an impact on Indian health status, such as alcoholism, family dysfunction, and poverty,”. Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 102–573, § 105(3), substituted “maintain” for “develop” in two places. Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 102–573, § 105(4), struck out “develop and” before “maintain”. Subsec. (b)(5). Pub. L. 102–573, § 105(3), substituted “maintain” for “develop”.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

25 U.S.C. § 1616

Title 25Indians

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60