Mississippi

MISSISSIPPI’S SUPPORT NETWORK

• Family Caregiver Support Program

Offers: Adult day, in-home, overnight, and weekend/camp respite options, capped at 32 hours per month; additional services include homemaker/chore/personal care, supplies, home delivered meals, counseling, education and training, family meetings, home modification/ repairs, information and assistance, and support groups.

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

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 and a diagnosis of dementia or related disorder and/or require supervision.

• Elderly and Disabled Waiver

Offers: Adult day, in-home, and overnight respite options, capped at 40 hours per month; the caregiver must reside with the care receiver to be eligible for respite services; other services include care management and transportation.

Funded by: Medicaid home and community-based services waiver; administered by the Mississippi Governor’s Office of Medicaid and locally by area agencies on aging.

Eligibility: Caregivers and care receivers both must be over age 21; care receivers must be impaired in three or more activities of daily living or 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 Mississippi programs.

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

• The Family Caregiver Support Program offers caregivers a menu of services from which to choose. In addition, in one area of the state, the AAA provides a voucher or budget for respite and families have a choice of respite providers.
• The Elderly and Disabled Waiver offers a menu of services.

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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