A Respite Voucher for Caregivers Everything Else Turned Down

What it's worth: Financial assistance to buy planned respite over roughly a ninety-day award term

• The human services department describes the voucher as a resource for family caregivers who have limited access to respite care or other supports through current systems.
• The stated purpose is to meet planned respite needs for unserved and underserved family caregivers by providing financial assistance to access respite.
• The programme may not be used to provide ongoing, continuous or full-time supervision or care during the caregiver's working hours.
• The caregiver must provide unpaid care for a family member, friend or neighbour — the department says in terms that it broadens the definition of family — and both people must live in the state.
• The caregiver must provide full-time care of forty hours a week or more.
• The care recipient must have a special need. Examples the department gives are developmental disabilities, traumatic brain injuries, physical disabilities, chronic illness, physical, mental or emotional conditions requiring supervision, cognitive impairments such as Alzheimer's disease or dementia, and persons at risk of abuse and neglect.
• The voucher must be used over roughly a ninety-day period or by the expiration date on the award letter, and unused funds are returned to the department.
• The family must not already be receiving respite through other funding or programmes such as a Medicaid waiver or an area agency on aging voucher — the department calls the voucher a payer of last resort.
• A caregiver on a funding waiting list, or whose current service programme has no respite available, or who has been denied respite by that programme, may still receive the voucher.
• Applications are accepted on a continuous cycle and awards are distributed first come, first served. Only one award is granted per household even where a caregiver looks after more than one person.
• A completed application and a W-9 form are required, and an incomplete application is not reviewed.
• Caregivers of individuals of all ages and special health care needs are invited to apply. No veteran route, veteran priority or veteran carve-out appears in the application.