Maine

MAINE’S SUPPORT NETWORK

• Family Caregiver Support Program

Offers: Adult day, in-home, and overnight respite options, capped at $500 per year; other services include education and training, family consultation, information and assistance, and support groups.

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

Eligibility: Caregivers must be age 18 or older; care receivers must be age 60 or older and have impairment in at least two activities of daily living in order to receive respite/supplemental services and have a diagnosis of dementia or related disorder and/or require supervision for all other services.

• MaineCare

Offers: Adult day, in-home, and overnight respite options, capped at $4,281 per year; additional services include information and assistance and support groups.

Funded by: Medicaid home and community-based services waiver; administered by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services/Office of Elder Services.

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

• Home-Based Care

Offers: Adult day, in-home, and overnight respite options, capped at $3,800 per year; additional services include information and assistance and support groups.

Funded by: State general funds and client contributions; administered by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services/Office of Elder Services.

Eligibility: Caregivers and care receivers must be age 18 or older. Care receivers must have impairments in a combination of activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living.

• Partners in Caring

Offers: Adult day, in-home, or up to two weeks of institutionally based respite service¯respite care is capped at $3,800 per year; additional services include care management, education and training, family consultation, home modification/repairs, information and assistance.

Funded by: State general funds, federal Alzheimer’s Disease Demonstration grant and client contributions; administered by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services/Office of Elder Services and locally by area agencies on aging.

• 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 Maine programs.

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

• The Family Caregiver Support Program offers family members a menu of services from which to choose, a choice of respite providers, and a voucher or budget for respite services.  Family members may be paid to provide respite care.
• MaineCare offers families a menu of services, a choice of respite providers, and permits family members to be paid to provide personal care.
• Home-Based Care offers families a menu of services, a choice of respite providers, and direct payments to family members for the purchase of goods and services.
• Partners in Caring offers a menu of services, a choice of respite providers, and vouchers or budgets for respite and/or supplemental services.

LEGISLATION

• 22 MRSA, Section 7308 (Enacted July 2002): Directs the Maine Department of Human Services to administer the Respite Care Fund for the purpose of providing short-term respite care for people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. The respite may include short-term, in-home care, nursing or residential care facility stays, care in hospital or adult day settings, or home modifications. The department also may use the fund to carry out the purposes of the National Family Caregiver Support 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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