Kansas

KANSAS’ SUPPORT NETWORK

• Family Caregiver Support Program

Offers: Adult day, in-home, overnight and weekend/camp respite options¯respite care may not be provided for more than seven consecutive days; other services include counseling, caregiver training, information and assistance, and supplemental services that may include attendant/personal care, bathroom items, chore, homemaker, nutrition counseling, home repair/maintenance/renovation, and transportation.

Funded by: National Family Caregiver Support Program under Older Americans Act Title III E and state general funds; administered by the Kansas Department of Aging and locally by area agencies on aging, which determine the services to be provided in their area.

Eligibility: Caregivers must be age 18 or older. Care receivers 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.

• Frail Elder Waiver Program

Offers: Adult day, in-home, or overnight respite options, capped at 180 hours per year; additional services include assistive technology, attendant care services, nursing evaluation visits, personal emergency response, sleep cycle support, wellness monitoring, and medication reminder.

Funded by: Medicaid home and community-based services waiver and state general funds; administered by the Kansas Department of Aging and locally by area agencies on aging.

Eligibility: Caregivers must be age 18 or older caring for people age 65 and older who are impaired in two activities of daily living, three or more instrumental activities of daily living or a combination of the two, or who meet a nursing home level of care.

• Senior Care Act Program

Offers: Adult day, in-home and weekend/camp respite options, with no cap on service; other services include assistive technologies, care management, emergency response, home modification/repairs, transportation, and homemaker/chore/personal care.

Funded by: State general revenues, local/county funds, and client contributions; administered by the Kansas Department of Aging and locally by area agencies on aging.

Eligibility: Caregivers and care receivers both must be over age 60; care receivers must be impaired in two activities of daily living, three or more instrumental activities of daily living or a combination of the two.

• 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 Kansas programs.

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

• Family Caregiver Support Program offers a menu of services from which caregivers may choose. “Flex services” also are available and are designed to provide support to the caregiver when other resources have been researched, are unavailable, and they do not meet any other Title III E service definition.
• Frail Elder Waiver Program offers family members a choice of respite providers, and family members may be paid to provide personal care, respite, and other types of service needed by the care recipient.
• Senior Care Act Program offers consumer-directed attendant care.

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.

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