Pennsylvania

PENNSYLVANIA’S SUPPORT NETWORK

• Family Caregiver Support Program

Offers: Adult day, in-home, overnight, and weekend respite options, with no cap on services; other services include information and assistance, assistive technology, care management, counseling, and education and training.

Funded by: National Family Caregiver Support Program under the Older Americans Act Title III E, Title XX of the Social Security Act, state general revenues, tobacco and lottery funds and client contributions; administered at the state level by the Pennsylvania Department of Aging and locally by area agencies on aging.

Eligibility: Caregivers must be age 18 or older. Care receivers must be age 60 or older and have impairment in one or more activities of daily living.

• Pennsylvania Family Caregiver Support Program

Offers: Adult day, in-home, overnight, and weekend respite options, with no cap on services; other services include information and assistance, assistive technology, care management, counseling, and education and training.

Funded by: State general revenues, tobacco and lottery funds and client contributions; administered at the state level by the Pennsylvania Department of Aging and locally by area agencies on aging.

Eligibility: Caregivers must be age 18 or older. Care receivers must be age 18 or older. Care recipients have impairment in two or more activities of daily living, a diagnosis of dementia or related disorder and/or require supervision.

• Pennsylvania Department of Aging 60+Medicaid Waiver ¹

Offers: Adult day, in-home, overnight and weekend respite options, with no cap on services, and information and assistance.

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

Eligibility: Caregivers must be age 18 or older; care recipients must be a age 60 or older, need nursing home level of care and have a need for supervision.

• OPTIONS ²

Offers: Adult day, in-home, overnight, and weekend respite options, with no cap on services; and information and assistance.

Funded by: National Family Caregiver Support Program under the Older Americans Act, Title III E, Title XX of the Social Security Act, state general revenues, tobacco and lottery funds and client contributions; administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Aging and locally by area agencies on aging.

Eligibility: Caregivers must be age 18 or older; care recipients must be age 60 or older.

• 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 Pennsylvania programs.

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

• Family Caregiver Support Program will reimburse caregivers up to $500 per month to cover the costs of respite, durable goods or medical supplies and offers one-time reimbursement of up to $2,000 for home modification and/or assistive devices.
• Pennsylvania Family Caregiver Support Program allows caregivers to choose from a menu of services to meet their needs, and families have a choice of respite providers.
• PDA Waiver offers consumer-directed attendant services, permitting care receivers and/or family members to hire an independent worker or agency provider.
• OPTIONS offers consumer-directed attendant services, permitting care receivers and/or family members to hire an independent worker or agency 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.

Contact

Bob McNamara
Department of Aging
555 Walnut Street, 5th Floor
Harrisburg, Pa. 17101
(717) 783-6207
bmcnamara@state.pa.us
www.caregiverpa.psu.edu