FAMILY CAREGIVER SUPPORT PROGRAM

Families are the major provider of long-term care in America. The Family Caregiver Support Program (FCSP) offers services and support for caregivers. Our goal is to provide caregivers with the needed support to reduce depression, anxiety, and stress and enable them to provide care longer, thereby avoiding or delaying the need for costly institutional care.

The goals of the FCSP are for caregivers to:

1. Be empowered through education
2. Be informed of services available to them that can support their own well-being
3. Be connected to a support system that can help reduce their level of stress, social isolation, and caregiver burden

Who is a caregiver?

A caregiver can be defined numerous ways. In general, we define a caregiver as anyone providing care and support to a loved one on a continual basis. You are a caregiver if you:

• Provide personal care such as toileting, bathing, dressing, assist with eating, or ambulation
• Help with shopping, medical appointments, finances, housework, and home repairs
• Seek information and assistance in acquiring services for your loved one
• Help your loved one manage healthcare, appointments, and coordinating services while you are living an hour or more away
• Oversee the care of your loved one while they reside in a facility

Eligible Family Caregivers Are:

• A caregiver of any age providing care for an older adult age 60 or older OR providing care for a person with Alzheimer’s Disease or related brain disorder
• A caregiver (who is not the birth or adoptive parent), age 55 or older, raising a related child age 18 and under or an adult with a disability *caregivers with the greatest social and economic need are priority as well as those over 60 caring for children under 18 who are mentally or developmentally delayed*

AND

In addition to the eligibility presented above, the Older Americans Act specifies that the caregiver receiving Respite or Supplemental services must be taking care of a care recipient who meets the definition of ‘‘frail.’’ “Frail means that the older individual is determined to be functionally impaired because the individual—

(A)(i) is unable to perform at least two activities of daily living without substantial human assistance, including verbal reminding, physical cueing, or supervision; or

(B) due to a cognitive or other mental impairment, requires substantial supervision because the individual behaves in a manner that poses a serious health or safety hazard to the individual or to another individual.”

Services Provided through the Family Caregiver Support Program Include:

The NFCSP offers a range of services to support family caregivers:

• Information to caregivers about available services.
• Assistance to caregivers in gaining access to the services.
• Individual counseling, support groups and training to assist caregivers in the areas of health, nutrition and financial literacy.
• Respite care to enable caregivers to be temporarily relieved from their caregiving responsibilities.
• Supplemental services on a limited basis.

These services can work in conjunction with other State and Community-Based Services to provide a coordinated set of supports. Studies have shown that these services can reduce caregiver depression, anxiety, and stress and enable them to provide care longer, thereby avoiding or delaying the need for costly institutional care.

The Eastern Carolina Council Area Agency on Aging provides information and referral, support group assistance, educational opportunities to caregivers that will provide them skills and resources to sustain them in there caregiving roles.  The services vary in each county, please contact your county FCSP provider for details on services.

Local Family Caregiver Support Contacts:

• Coastal Community Action, Inc. Senior Companion Program: 252-223-1630
• Wayne County Senior Center: 919-731-1591
• Duplin County Service for the Aged: 910-296-2140
• Lenoir County Council on Aging: 252-527-1545
• Greene County Department of Social Services: 252-747-5932
• Onslow Senior Services: 910-455-2747
• Havelock Senior Center: 252-444-6445
• Prime Time: 252-249-0213

County Resources

CARTERET	CRAVEN	DUPLIN
GREENE	JONES	LENOIR
ONSLOW	PAMLICO	WAYNE

Respite Resources:

• North Carolina Respite Care Coalition
• State Lifespan Respite Program Services
• AARP Caregiver Resource

Other Resources:

• Preventing Elder Financial Fraud
• Budgeting, Spending & Investing During Retirement
• Action Plan for Managing your Aging Parent's Money 

 

FAQ's About the Family Caregiver Support Program

Can I get paid for caring for my relative by the Family Caregiver Support Program?

No.  Unfortunately, North Carolina’s Family Caregiver Support Program does not have sufficient funding to offer pay for family care, although it is provided in certain other states.  If the care receiver is receiving home care paid for by Medicaid (not Medicare), the family caregiver can sometimes (rarely) be hired to provide the Medicaid care.  Such arrangements are made by your county DSS Adult Medicaid Office.

What do you mean by respite?

Respite care services provide caregivers with intermittent, occasional, and emergency supports or living arrangements for care recipients in order to provide a period of rest or relief from caregiving responsibilities.

How much assistance can I receive?

FCSP services are “temporary” (a short period of relief, falling into intermittent, occasional, or emergency assistance.)  FCSP service funding and programs are not to supplant (supersede or replace; state or local funds) but shall supplement other funded services.

For more information contact: