Delaware

DELAWARE’S SUPPORT NETWORK

• CARE Delaware

Offers: Adult day, in-home or facility-based respite options, capped at 260 hours per year; other services include information and assistance, case management, counseling/support groups, education and training for caregivers, assistive technology, home modification/repairs, and emergency response.

Funded by: National Family Caregiver Support Program under Older Americans Act Title III E and state general funds; administered by the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Services for Aging and Adults with Physical Disabilities.

Eligibility: No minimum age for caregivers; care receivers must be age 60 or older. Care recipients must have impairment in two or more activities of daily living for respite/supplemental services or a diagnosis of dementia or related disorder and/or require supervision.

• Elderly and Disabled Medicaid Waiver

Offers: Adult day, in-home, and overnight respite options, capped at 336 hours per year; other services include case management, personal care, durable medical equipment and supplies, emergency response and transportation.

Funded by: Medicaid home and community based services waiver; administered by the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Services for Aging and Adults with Physical Disabilities.

Eligibility: No minimum age for caregivers; care recipients must be age 18 or older and 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 Delaware programs.

Funded by: Older Americans Act Title III E, state general revenues, and other sources. The Family Caregiver Support Program is administered by the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Services for Aging and Adults with Physical Disabilities.

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. Currently, no consumer-directed options are available in caregiver programs in Delaware.

LEGISLATION

• DE H.B. 142 (Signed by the governor on June 14, 2005): Adds “relative caregiver” to the definition of a parent in the School District Enrollment Choice Program legislation to make the definition of “parent” consistent with Delaware Code.

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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