New York

NEW YORK’S SUPPORT NETWORK

• New York Elder Caregiver Support Program

Offers: Social adult day, adult day health, in-home or overnight respite options; other services include emergency response, assistive technology and supplies, transportation, home, repairs/ modifications, information and assistance, counseling, education and training, and support groups. Services vary by area agency on aging.

Funded by: National Family Caregiver Support Program under Older Americans Act Title III E, participant contributions, and local funds; administered by the New York Office for the Aging and locally by area agencies on aging.

Eligibility: Caregivers must be age 18 or older. Care recipients must be age 60 or older. For respite or supplemental services, the care receiver must have impairment in two or more activities of daily living or require supervision due to cognitive or mental impairment.

• Respite Program

Offers: Adult day, in-home, or temporary institutional respite options, capped at 100 days per year. Services vary by area agency on aging.

Funded by: State general funds; 10 areas of the state offer the program, which is administered locally by community-based organizations, two of which are area agencies on aging.

Eligibility: No minimum age for caregivers or care receivers, however priority is given to those age 60 or older.

• Caregiver Assistance Program

Offers: Training, counseling, support groups, and information and assistance.

Funded by: State general funds; administered by the New York Office for the Aging and at the local level by Caregiver Resource Centers located in 17 of the state’s area agencies on aging.

Eligibility: Caregivers must be age 18 or older. Care recipients must be a minimum of age 60.

• 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 York 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 York Office for the 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.  In New York, the Respite Program in Madison County offers caregivers a choice of respite options.

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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