Washington

WASHINGTON’S SUPPORT NETWORK

• Family Caregiver Support Program

Offers: Adult day, in-home and residential respite options, with variable local service caps; other services include counseling, education and training, information and assistance, support groups, family consultation, legal consultation, transportation, assistive technologies, home modifications, homemaker/ chore/ personal care, and medical supplies.

Funded by: National Family Caregiver Support Program under Older Americans Act Title III E; administered by Washington Department of Social and Health Services, Aging and Disability Services Administration, 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 two or more activities of daily living for respite/supplemental services and a diagnosis of dementia or related disorder and/or require supervision.

• Washington Family Caregiver Support Program

Offers: Adult day, in-home and residential respite options, with variable local service caps; other services include education and training, information and assistance, support groups, family consultation, legal consultation, transportation, assistive technologies, home modifications, homemaker/chore/personal care, and medical supplies.

Funded by: State general revenue funds; administered by Washington Department of Social and Health Services, Aging and Disability Services Administration and locally by area agencies on aging.

Eligibility: No minimum age for caregivers; recipients must be a minimum of age 18, need continuous care or supervision due to functional disability (including dementia) and require placement in a long term care facility in the absence of unpaid care.

• Respite Care Services

Offers: Adult day, in-home and residential respite options, with variable local service caps; other services include education and training, information and assistance, support groups, family consultation, legal consultation, transportation, assistive technologies, home modifications, homemaker/chore/personal care, and medical supplies.

Funded by: State general funds and client contributions; administered by Washington Department of Social and Health Services, Aging and Disability Services Administration, and locally by area agencies on aging.

Eligibility: No minimum age for caregivers. Recipients must be a minimum of age 18, need continuous care or supervision due to functional disability (including dementia) and require placement in a long-term care facility in the absence of unpaid care.

• 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 Washington programs.

Funded by: Older Americans Act Title III E, state general revenues, and other sources. The Family Caregiver Support Program is administered by the Washington Department of Social and Health Services, Aging and Disability Services Administration 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. The three Washington caregiver support programs offer a menu of services and a choice of respite providers to meet the unique needs and preferences of caregivers. In addition, Community Options Program Entry System (COPES) Medicaid Waiver Program (which does not provide services directly to family caregivers but acknowledges the critical role they play in maintaining the independence of care recipients) permits family members to be paid to provide personal care services.

LEGISLATION

• SSB 6426 (Enacted 2002): Required the state to offer family and medical leave benefits beyond the federally prescribed minimum. Employers must allow employees to use sick leave or other paid leave to care for a spouse, parent, child, in-law or grandparent with a health condition.

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

Hilari Hauptman
Washington Aging and Disability
Services Administration
Olympia, Wash. 98504
(800) 422-3263
haupthp@dshs.wa.gov
www.adsa.dshs.wa.gov/topics/caregiving/caregiving.htm