Ohio

OHIO’S SUPPORT NETWORK

• Family Caregiver Support Program

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

Funded by: National Family Caregiver Support Program under Older Americans Act Title III E, state general funds, local/county funds, and client contributions, administered by the Ohio Department of Aging 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.

• PASSPORT HCBS Waiver Program

Offers: Adult day and in-home respite options, with no cap on services; other services include education and training, emergency response, homemaker/ chore/personal care, information and assistance, assistive technology, counseling, home modification/repairs, and transportation.

Funded by: Medicaid home and community-based services waiver, state general funds, nursing facility franchise fees, and off-track betting/gambling revenues; administered by the Ohio Department of Aging and locally by area agencies on aging.

Eligibility: No minimum age for caregivers; care recipients must be age 60 or older and meet nursing home level of care criteria.

• Alzheimer’s Respite Program

Offers: Adult day, in-home, overnight, or weekend/camp respite options, with no cap on service; other services include education and training, emergency response, information and assistance, homemaker/chore/personal care, care management, counseling, family consultation and family meetings, and support groups.

Funded by: State general funds and client contributions; administered by the Ohio Department of Aging and locally by area agencies on aging.

Eligibility: No minimum age for caregivers or care receivers; care receivers must have a diagnosis of dementia or related disorder and/or require supervision.

• 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 Ohio programs.

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

• Family Caregiver Support Program offers a menu of services from which caregivers may choose, a choice of respite providers, vouchers or budgets for respite and/or supplemental services, and direct payments to family members for the purchase of goods and services. Family members may be paid to provide respite or personal care.
• PASSPORT HCBS Waiver Program offers a consumerdirected option called “Choices,” in which family members (excluding spouses and parents) may be paid to provide care.
• The Alzheimer’s Respite Program offers a menu of services, a choice of respite providers and budgets or vouchers for respite services. Family members may be paid to provide respite care.

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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