Alabama
Family Caregiver Support
Facts at a Glance
|
Facts in Brief |
Alabama |
United States |
| Older Population |
| Population age 60+ |
769,000 |
45,797,200 |
| Population age 65+ |
579,800 |
34,991,800 |
| Population age 85+ |
67,300 |
4,239,600 |
| Proportion age 65+ (National rank) |
21st |
N/A |
| Proportion age 85+ (National rank) |
26th |
N/A |
| Adults with Disabilities |
| Percent of population age 21 to 64 with a disability |
23.2% |
19.2% |
| Percent of population age 65+ with a disability |
49.5% |
41.9% |
| Children Raised by Grandparents |
| Number of grandparents raising grandchildren |
56,369 |
2.4 million |
| Number of children being raised by grandparents |
92,648 (8.2% of children under age 18) |
4.5 million (6.3% of children under age 18) |
| Informal Caregiving |
| Number of informal caregivers in the state |
.4 million |
27.2 million |
| Caregiving hours per year |
465.2 million |
29 billion |
| Market value of informal care |
$30 billion |
$257 billion |
ALABAMA’S SUPPORT NETWORK
Offers: Adult day, in-home, overnight and weekend/camp respite options, capped at $500-$1,200 per year; other services include counseling, education and training, information and assistance, support groups, care management, transportation, assistive technology, and home modification/repairs.
Funded by: National Family Caregiver Support Program under Older Americans Act Title III E; administered by the Alabama Department of Senior Services and locally by area agencies on aging.
Eligibility: No minimum age for caregivers; care recipients must be age 60 or older unable to perform two instrumental activities of daily living.
- Elderly and Disabled Waiver
Offers: In-home respite capped at 720 hours per year; other services include care management, counseling, assistive technology, and home modification/repairs.
Funded by: Medicaid home and community-based services waiver; administered by Alabama Medicaid Agency and locally by area agencies on aging, departments of public health or departments of social services.
Eligibility: No minimum age for caregivers or recipients; care recipients must meet nursing home level of care criteria.
- Grandparent and Other Relative Caregiver
Support Programs
Offers: Respite care and other support services designed to address the needs of grandparent and other relative caregivers of children. See www.gu.org/factsheets.asp for details on Alabama programs.
Funded by: Older Americans Act Title III E, state general revenues, and other sources. The Family Caregiver Support Program is administered by the Alabama Department of Aging and locally by area agencies on aging.
Eligibility: Grandparent and other relative caregivers must be a minimum of age 60 and caring for a child age 18 or younger to receive services in the Family Caregiver Support Program.
CONSUMER DIRECTION
Consumer direction is a philosophy that accommodates people’s needs and preferences by offering them maximum choice and control over services they use. Both of Alabama’s caregiver support programs offer some level of consumer direction:
- Alabama Cares offers a menu of services from which caregivers may choose, a voucher or budget for respite and/or supplemental services, and a choice of respite providers.
- Elderly and Disabled Waiver permits family members to be paid to provide homemaker, chore, and personal care services.
LEGISLATION
None related to caregiving.
Sources: National Association of State Units on Aging, e-mail survey of State Family Caregiver Support Program contacts, Washington, D.C., June 2005; National Center on Grandparents Raising Grandchildren at Georgia State University, Research—Fact Sheets, Atlanta, Ga., 2005; Feinberg, Lynn Friss, et al., The State of the States in Family Caregiver Support: A 50-State Study, Washington, D.C.: Family Caregiver Alliance, National Center on Caregiving, 2004; Generations United, National Center on Grandparents and Other Relatives Raising Children, State Fact Sheets, Washington, D.C., October 2003; National Family Caregivers Association, Prevalence and Economic Value of Family Caregiving: State-by-State Analysis, Kensington, Md., 2000; U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000.
Contact
Marie Tomlin
Alabama Department of Senior Services
P.O. Box 301851
770 Washington Avenue, Suite 470
Montgomery, Ala. 36130
(334) 242-5765
mtomlin@adss.state.al.us
www.adss.state.al.us/services.htm
For More Information
National Association of State Units on Aging
1201 15th Street, N.W., Suite 350
Washington, D.C. 20005
(202) 898-2578
www.nasua.org
National Conference of State Legislatures
444 North Capitol Street, N.W., Suite 515
Washington, D.C. 20001
(202) 624-5400
www.ncsl.org
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