Respite

President Obama’s proposed budget outlines the Administration’s fiscal and program priorities for FY13. ADvancing States’s preliminary analysis is framed by an interest in aging and disability program funding. The analysis reveals the proposal’s requests for food and nutrition services, independent living, caregiver support, protection of vulnerable adults, and Medicare and Medicaid. The accompanying chart shows the President’s FY12 and FY13 requests for relevant aging and disability programs.

This compilation includes information about state 1915(c) Home and Community-Based Medicaid waivers, which provides the largest federal source of funding assistance for respite. New waiver tables have been added to this compendium for the following states: DC, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Individual tables were also added to the Search Results pages for each of these states in the National Respite Locator under Respite Funding and Eligibility.

This fact sheet provides strategies for identifying transportation options and eliminating transportation barriers related to the provision and receipt of respite care. It addresses the importance of transportation and how to help family caregivers, providers and Lifespan Respite programs identify community transportation resources; determine the best transportation options; include transportation in the respite planning process; and create transportation options.

This fact sheet traces the efforts to improve State systems of care for children with serious emotional disturbance (SED) after the Child and Adolescent Service System Program was implemented in 1984. Information on the benefits of respite services for families and caregivers of children with SED, indicators of SED, and strategies for respite program implementation can be found here. Resources to different organizations are also provided for families and children with SED.

All Americans including people with disabilities and seniors should be able to live at home with the supports they need and participating in communities. To help meet these needs, HHS is creating a new organization, the ACL with the goal of increasing access to community supports and full participation, while focusing attention and resources on the unique needs of older Americans and people with disabilities. Visit the website for funding opportunities and announcements.

The Lifespan Respite Care Act defines respite care as “planned or emergency careprovided to a child or adult with a special need in order to provide temporary relief to the family caregiver of that child or adult.” Respite services may be provided in a variety of settings, on a temporary basis, including the family home, adult day centers, respite centers, or residential care facilities. Respite is a key component of family support & home and community-based longterm services and supports.

These documents prove useful to State Lifespan Respite Programs, which are mandated by federal funding, to work in collaboration with a state respite coalition. Each fact sheet contains the following information on each state respite coalition: Start-Up Process and Coalition History; Structure; Staff; Funding; Membership; Meetings and Communication; Major Activities; Available Documents (Bylaws, Strategic Plans, Surveys, Brochures, etc.); and State Contact Information.

This resource for programs includes State Lifespan Respite Programs, that provide respite and are interested in developing & implementing participant-directed respite, especially through voucher programs. Included are: overview materials that provide content information regarding participant direction, examples from two states that currently implement participant-directed respite programs using a voucher system, important tax and financial information, & resources for additional materials.

The goals of the survey, which was sent to direct-care workers serving participants using the MI Choice SD option, were to: collect baseline demographic information on workers in the SD option; understand the motivations, job satisfaction, and training needs of workers providing services and supports to self-directed participants; and,identify strategies to strengthen and support the recruitment and retention of workers in self-directed programs.

This manual is meant to help community-based programs assess their individual needs, plan & implement volunteer respite programs and assist state Lifespan Respite programs as they address the requirements in the Lifespan Respite Care Act to build respite capacity through volunteer training & recruitment. Review text boxes throughout the document with resources for reading further, highlights of National Volunteer Respite Initiatives plus examples of local volunteer respite programs.