California

CALIFORNIA’S SUPPORT NETWORK

• Family Caregiver Support Program

Offers: Adult day, in-home, institutional respite options; counseling, education and training, information and assistance, support groups, comprehensive assessment, care management, transportation, and “supplemental services” such as: respite registry referrals, peer counseling, family consultation and meetings, friendly visiting, legal and/or financial consultation, transportation, assistive devices, minor home modifications/repairs, homemaker services, translation/interpretation, material aid, money management, and (when needed) extended care facility placement assistance.

Funded by: National Family Caregiver Support Program under Older Americans Act Title III E, local/county funds and voluntary contributions; administered by California Department of Aging and locally by area agencies on aging.

Eligibility: Caregivers must be age 18 or older. Care recipient must be age 60 or older and unable to perform two activities of daily living or have a significant cognitive impairment to receive respite or supplemental services.

• Multipurpose Senior Services Program

Offers: Adult day, in-home, and institutional respite options.

Funded by: Medicaid home and community- based services waiver; administered by California Department of Aging and locally by area agencies on aging, county health departments, nonprofis, or other local government agencies.

Eligibility: No minimum age for caregivers; recipients must be a minimum of age 65 and meet nursing home level of care criteria.

• Linkages

Offers: Adult day, in-home, and institutional respite options.

Funded by: State general funds, client share of costs and Medicaid targeted case management funds; administered by California Department of Aging and locally by area agencies on aging.

Eligibility: No minimum age for caregivers. Care recipient must be age 18 or older, at risk of nursing home placement and need assistance with one activity of daily living, two instrumental activities of daily living or unable to manage affairs due to cognitive impairment.

• Adult Day Health Care Programs

Offers: Adult day respite only.

Funded by: Medicaid, state general funds and client contributions; licensed by the California Department of Health Services and certified by the California Department of Aging for Medicaid reimbursement. Both departments monitor for compliance.

Eligibility: No minimum age for caregivers. Recipients must be a minimum of age 18 and meet the following criteria: have a medical condition requiring services (but not 24-hour care) prescribed by a physician; impairments in activities of daily living; a “reasonable expectation” that services will maintain or improve functioning; and high potential for placement in a nursing home if Adult Day Health Care is not available.

• Alzheimer’s Day Care Resource Centers

Offers: Adult day respite care; counseling; education and training; information and assistance; and support groups.

Funded by: State general funds, local/county sources and client share of cost; administered by California Department of Aging and locally by area agencies on aging.

Eligibility: No minimum age for caregivers. Recipients must be a minimum of age 18, have a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia and require supervision.

• Caregiver Resource Centers

Offers: Adult day, in-home, institutional respite options, capped at $3,600 annually; weekends at respite camps for care receivers; weekend caregiver retreats; counseling; education and training; outreach, information and assistance; support groups; Internet support services; comprehensive assessment; care management; family consultation and meetings; legal and/or financial consultation; and transportation to caregivers.

Funded by: State general funds and client share of costs; administered by the California Department of Mental Health through a statewide resources consultant contract.

Eligibility: No minimum age for caregivers. Recipients must be a minimum of age 18 and have a diagnosis of adult-onset cognitive disorder. Caregiver must live with recipient to receive respite services.

• Respite Purchase of Services Program

Offers: Respite options include short-term, in-home respite, adult day respite, and 24-hour care in a licensed facility—services are capped at $450 per year.

Funded by: State general funds; administered by the California Department of Aging and locally by 27 of the 33 area agencies on aging.

Eligibility: Primary caregivers of frail older persons or adults with functional disabilities who are at risk of institutional placement. The Respite Purchase of Services Program is used only when respite is not available from any other program.

• 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 California programs.

Funded by: Older Americans Act Title III E, state general revenues, and other sources. The Family Caregiver Support Program is administered by the California 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. Two California caregiver support programs offer some level of consumer direction.

• Family Caregiver Support Program offers a menu of services to meet the unique needs and preferences of caregivers. Unpaid caregivers may receive emergency cash or service vouchers and hire other family members to provide temporary respite.
• Caregiver Resource Centers offer a menu of services, as well as vouchers and/or individual budgets for respite care, and family members have a choice of respite providers. Family members may receive direct payments for the purchase of goods or services and may be paid to provide respite services.

LEGISLATION

• SB 739 (Enacted 2001): Required the California Department of Aging to establish guidelines for the use of National Family Caregiver Support Program funds to ensure the quality of services provided with those funds.
• AB 464 Chapter 105 (Enacted 2003): Prohibits adult day health centers from requiring family members to assist participants with activities of daily living while at the center.

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.

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