Maryland

MARYLAND’S SUPPORT NETWORK

• Family Caregiver Support Program

Offers: Adult day, in-home, overnight and weekend/camp respite options, capped at $599 per year; other services include care management, emergency response, family consultation, homemaker/chore/personal care, education and training, counseling, information and assistance, and support groups, assistive technology, supplies, home modification/repairs, transportation and the “Caregiver to Caregiver” message board at www.mdoa.state.md.us.

Funded by: National Family Caregiver Support Program under Older Americans Act Title III E; administered by the Maryland Department of Aging and locally by area agencies on aging.

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

• Medicaid Waiver for Older Adults

Offers: Adult day, in-home, and overnight respite options, capped at 168 hours per year; other services include care management, education and training, emergency response, family consultation, homemaker/chore/personal care, supplies and home modification/repairs.

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

Eligibility: Caregivers must be age 18 or older; care recipients must be age 50 or older and meet a nursing home level of care.

• Respite for Caregivers of Adults with Functional Disabilities

Offers: Adult day, in-home, overnight, and weekend/camp respite options, capped at 164 hours per year; other services include case management, education and training, emergency response, family consultation, counseling, information and assistance, and homemaker/ chore/personal care

Funded by: State general funds; administered by the Maryland Department of Human Resources.

Eligibility: Caregivers and care receivers must be over age 18; care receivers must have impairment in at least three activities of daily living.

• Respite for Caregivers of Adults or Children with Developmental Disabilities

Offers: Adult day, in-home, overnight, and weekend/camp respite options, capped at 164 hours per year; other services include case management, education and training, emergency response, family consultation, and homemaker, chore, and personal care.

Funded by: State general funds; administered by the Maryland Department of Human Resources.

Eligibility: No minimum age requirements for caregivers or care receivers. Care receivers must be impaired in at least three major life activities, including self-care, receptive and expressive language, learning, mobility, self-direction, capacity of independent living, and economic self-sufficiency.

• 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 Maryland programs.

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

• The Family Caregiver Support Program offers families a menu of services, a choice of respite providers, cash payments for respite and/or supplemental services, and direct payments for the purchase of goods or services. Family members also may be paid to provide respite care.
• Medicaid Waiver for Older Adults offers families a choice of respite providers and family members may be paid to provide respite or personal care services.

LEGISLATION

• SB 567 and HB 513 (Enacted 2001): Established the Maryland Family Caregivers Support Coordinating Council within the Department of Human Resources for the purposes of coordinating statewide planning, development and implementation of family caregiver activities.
• SB 475 (Enacted 2001): Requires state residential centers for the developmentally disabled to provide respite and to reserve beds for that purpose; and requires the governor to provide an appropriation in the state budget bill for purpose of providing in-home respite care for families caring for individuals with mental retardation and developmental disabilities.

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.

Contact

Mary Osborne
Maryland Department of Aging
301 West Preston Street, Room 1007
Baltimore, Md. 21201
(410) 767-1100
mro@ooa.state.md.us
www.mdoa.state.md.us/Information/SrIandA.html