Tennessee

TENNESSEE’S SUPPORT NETWORK

• Family Caregiver Support Program

Offers: Adult day, in-home, and institutional respite options, with varied local caps; other services include outreach, counseling, education and training, information and assistance, support groups, case management, assistive technology, home modification/repairs, personal emergency response systems, medical equipment and supplies, and home delivered meals.

Funded by: National Family Caregiver Support Program under Older Americans Act Title III E; administered by Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability and locally by area agencies on aging.

Eligibility: No minimum age for caregivers; care recipients must be age 60 or older. To receive respite or supplemental services, care recipient must be unable to perform two activities of daily living or have a cognitive or other mental impairment that requires substantial supervision to prevent harm to self or others.

• Alzheimer’s Demonstration Project

Offers: Adult day, in-home, and institutional respite options; other services include family-directed care, capped at $100 per month, and caregiver skill-building sessions.

Funded by: Alzheimer’s Disease Demonstration Grant; administered by Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability and locally by service providers in two areas of the state.

Eligibility: No minimum age for caregivers or care receivers.  Care receivers must have a diagnosis of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.

• Family Support Grant Program

Offers: Adult day, in-home, institutional and week-end/camp respite options, with no service caps; other services include family counseling, evaluation and training, home and vehicular modifications, specialized equipment and repair/maintenance, specialized nutrition, personal assistance, and transportation.

Funded by: State funds; administered by the Tennessee Division of Mental Retardation Services.

Eligibility: No minimum age for caregivers or care receivers.  Care receivers must have impairment in at least three activities of daily living.

• Home and Community-Based Long-Term Care for Non-Medicaid Elderly and Adults with Disabilities

Offers: In-home respite options, with variable caps on services; other services include homemaker, home delivered meals, emergency response, and home modification/repair.

Funded by: State general funds; administered by Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability and locally by area agencies on aging.

Eligibility: Caregivers and care recipients must be age 18 or older. Care recipients also must be impaired in one or more activities of daily living.

• 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 Tennessee programs.

Funded by: Older Americans Act Title III E, state general revenues, and other sources. The Family Caregiver Support Program is administered by the Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability 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. One Tennessee caregiver support program offers consumer direction.

• Family Caregiver Support Program offers vouchers or individual budgets for respite care and/or supplemental services in some areas of the state.

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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