Florida

FLORIDA’S SUPPORT NETWORK

• Family Caregiver Support Program

Offers: Adult day, in-home, overnight, or weekend/camp respite options, with no cap on services; additional services include assistive technologies, supplies, counseling, education and training, emergency response, home modification/repairs, information and assistance, homemaker/chore/personal care, legal and/or financial consultation and support groups.

Funded by: National Family Caregiver Support Program under Older Americans Act Title III E and voluntary contributions; administered by the Florida Department of Elder Affairs and locally by area agencies on aging.

Eligibility: Caregivers of older recipients must be age 19 or older. Care recipients must be age 60 or older and unable to perform two activities of daily living, have a diagnosis of dementia or related disorder and/or require supervision.

• Aged and Disabled Adult Medicaid HCBS Waiver

Offers: Adult day, in-home, overnight, or weekend/camp respite options, with no cap on services; additional services include assistive technologies, supplies, counseling, education and training, emergency response, home modification/repairs, information and assistance, homemaker/chore/personal care, and legal and/or financial consultation.

Funded by: Medicaid home and community- based services waiver; administered by the Florida Department of Elder Affairs and locally by area agencies on aging.

Eligibility: No minimum age for caregivers; recipients must be age 18 or older and meet nursing home level of care criteria.

• Respite for Elders Living in Everyday Families (RELIEF)

Offers: In-home respite only, requires the caregiver to reside with the care receiver, capped at four hours per week; additional services include assistive technologies, supplies, counseling, education and training, emergency response, home modification/repairs, information and assistance, homemaker/chore/personal care, and legal and/or financial consultation.

Funded by: State general funds and tobacco funds; administered at the state level by the Florida Department of Elder Affairs and locally by area agencies on aging.

Eligibility: No minimum age for caregivers. Care recipients must be age 60 or older and be homebound.

• Home Care for the Elderly

Offers: Adult day, in-home, overnight, or weekend/camp respite options, requires the caregiver to reside with the care receiver, no cap on services; additional services include assistive technologies, supplies, counseling, education and training, emergency response, home modification/repairs, information and assistance, homemaker/chore/personal care, and legal and/or financial consultation.

Funded by: State general funds; administered by the Florida Department of Elder Affairs and locally by area agencies on aging.

Eligibility: Caregivers must be age 18 or older; care recipients must be age 60 or older and meet nursing home level of care criteria.

• Community Care for the Elderly

Offers: Adult day, in-home, overnight, or weekend/camp respite options, with no cap on services; additional services include assistive technologies, supplies, counseling, education and training, emergency response, home modification/repairs, information and assistance, homemaker/chore/personal care, and legal and/or financial consultation.

Funded by: State general funds, tobacco funds and voluntary contributions; administered by the Florida Department of Elder Affairs and locally by area agencies on aging.

Eligibility: No minimum age for caregivers. Care receivers must be age 60 or older and meet nursing home level of care criteria.

• Alzheimer’s Disease Initiative

Offers: Adult day, in-home, overnight, or weekend/camp respite options, with no cap on services; additional services include assistive technologies, supplies, counseling, education and training, emergency response, home modification/repairs, information and assistance, homemaker/chore/personal care, and legal and/or financial consultation.

Funded by: State general revenue funds and voluntary contributions; administered by the Florida Department of Elder Affairs and locally by area agencies on aging.

Eligibility: No minimum age for caregivers; care recipients must be age 18 or older and have a diagnosis of dementia or related disorder requiring supervision.

• 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 Florida programs.

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

• Family Caregiver Support Program offers direct payments to families for the purchase of goods and services, vouchers or budgets for respite and/or supplemental services, and a choice of respite providers. Family members may be paid to provide homemaker/chore or respite services.
• Aged and Disabled Medicaid HCBS Waiver Program offers direct payments to family members for the purchase of goods and services and permits family members to be paid to provide respite and personal care services.
• Home Care for the Elderly offers direct payments to family members for purchase of goods and services, vouchers or budgets for respite and/or supplemental services and a choice of respite providers. Family members may be paid to provide any services needed by the care receiver, including personal care and respite services.

LEGISLATION

• FL H.B. 1865 (Enacted 2004): Revises the definition of “stipend” provided to respite care volunteers to mean an allotment based on a maximum hourly rate, and specifies that the stipend must not exceed the federal minimum wage.
• FL H.B. 1559 (Enacted 2005): Created an intergenerational respite care assisted living facility pilot program.

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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