Colorado

COLORADO’S SUPPORT NETWORK

• Family Caregiver Support Program

Offers: Adult day, in-home, overnight, or weekend/camp respite options, capped at an average of $250 to $500 per year; other services include information and assistance, case management, counseling/support groups/family consultation, education and training assistive technology, emergency response systems, medical supplies, home modification/repairs, and transportation.

Funded by: National Family Caregiver Support Program under Older Americans Act Title III E; administered at the state level by the Colorado Department of Human Services and locally by area agencies on aging.

Eligibility: Caregivers must be age 18 or older. Care recipients must be age 60 or older and have impairment in two or more activities of daily living for respite/supplemental services and a diagnosis of dementia or related disorder and/or require supervision.

• Home and Community Based Services for the Elderly, Blind and Disabled

Offers: Adult day, in-home, overnight, or weekend/camp respite options, capped at 30 days per year; other services include information, education, and assistance, case management, counseling/support groups/family consultation, assistive technology, emergency response systems, medical supplies, home modification/repairs, and transportation.

Funded by: Medicaid home and community-based services waiver; administered at the state level by the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, the state’s Medicaid agency and locally by either area agencies on aging, county departments of human or social services, county health departments, private for-profit agencies or private nonprofit case management agencies.

Eligibility: Both the caregiver and care receiver must be over age 18. The care receiver must meet the nursing home level of care.

• 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 Colorado programs.

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

• The Family Caregiver Support Program offers a menu of services as well as vouchers or budgets for respite and/or supplemental services. Families also have a choice of respite providers.
• Home and Community-Based Services for the Elderly, Blind and Disabled allows family members to be paid to provide personal care services.

LEGISLATION

• CO H.B. 1152 (Enacted 2001): Provides for financial assistance to relatives caring for aged and/or ailing family members.
• CO H.B. 1067 (Enacted 2002): Authorizes the implementation of the family caregiver support program within the Department of Human Services.
• CO S.B. 29 (Enacted 2004): Stipulates that individualized care plans that include respite care for medical purposes (pursuant to section 27-10.5-104) will ensure that people who are receiving services and supports may continue to receive those supports if the person’s family or caregiver is unable to provide care due to an emergency or unforeseen circumstances.

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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