New Jersey

NEW JERSEY’S SUPPORT NETWORK

• Family Caregiver Support Program

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

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

Eligibility: No minimum age for caregivers; care recipients must be age 60 or older.

• Community Care Program for the Elderly and Disabled

Offers: Adult day, in-home, overnight and weekend respite options, capped at 30 days per year in a skilled nursing facility or 336 hours per year when provided in the home; other services include counseling, education and training, emergency response, family consultation and family meetings, and information and assistance.

Funded by: Medicaid home and community-based services waiver; administered by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services and locally by area agencies on aging, boards of social services and the Visiting Nurses Association.

Eligibility: No minimum age for caregivers or care receivers; care recipients must meet nursing home level of care criteria.

• Enhanced Community Options

Offers: Adult day, in-home, overnight, and weekend respite options, capped at $1,100 per month; other services include counseling, education and training, emergency response, family consultation and family meetings, and information and assistance.

Funded by: Medicaid home and community-based services waiver; administered by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services and locally by area agencies on aging or their designees and Adult Family Care Sponsor Agencies.

Eligibility: No minimum age for caregivers; care receivers must be age 21 or older and meet a nursing home level of care criteria.

• New Jersey Statewide Respite Care Program

Offers: Adult day, in-home, overnight, and weekend/camp respite options, capped at $4,500 per year; other services include education and training, emergency response and family support.

Funded by: Casino revenues and client contributions; administered by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services and locally by county sponsored agencies, including area agencies on aging, county welfare agencies, hospitals and other nonprofit organizations, including homemaker and home health agencies.

Eligibility: Caregiver and care recipient must be age 18 or older. Care recipient must have a chronic physical or mental disability requiring supervision or assistance with daily needs.

• Adult Day Services Program for Persons with Alzheimer’s Disease or Related Disorders

Offers: Adult day care respite services only, capped at three days per week; other services include education and training, counseling, information and assistance, and support groups.

Funded by: State general funds, casino revenues, and client contributions; administered by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services and locally by county health departments, hospitals, independent service providers, nursing homes, private for-profit agencies and Visiting Homemaker Service.

Eligibility: Both caregiver and care receiver must be age 18 or older; care receiver must have a diagnosis of dementia or related disorder.

• Jersey Assistance for Community Caregiving

Offers: Adult day, in home, overnight, or weekend respite options, capped at $600 per month; other services include counseling, education and training, emergency response, family consultation and family meetings, and information and assistance.

Funded by: State general funds; administered by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services and locally by area agencies on aging or their designees.

Eligibility: No minimum age for caregivers; care recipients must be age 60 or older and 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 New Jersey programs.

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

• Family Caregiver Support Program offers family members a choice of respite providers.
• Enhanced Community Options offers a menu of services from which caregivers may choose, and family members or non-relatives may be paid to provide services as a “client employed provider.”
• New Jersey Statewide Respite Care Program offers a menu of services from which caregivers may choose and will offer a caregiver-directed service option statewide beginning in January 2006.
• Jersey Assistance for Community Caregiving offers a menu of services from which caregivers may choose and a choice of respite providers, and family members or non-relatives may be paid to provide services as a “client employed provider.”

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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