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Family Caregiver Support

Announcements

The Family Caregiver Reimbursement Program (FCRP) is no longer taking applications.

Family Caregivers provide most of the assistance that enables older Arizonans and those with disabilities to live independently in their homes and communities. Caregivers can also include grandparent raising grandchildren.

What is the Family Caregiver Support Program?

The program offers five direct services to Caregivers that best meet the range of their needs, including:

  • Information about available services.
  • Assistance in gaining access to supportive services.
  • Individual counseling, organization of support groups, and training to assist caregivers in making decisions and solving problems relating to their roles.
  • Respite care to enable caregivers to be temporarily relieved from their caregiving responsibilities.
  • Supplemental services, on a limited basis, to complement the care provided by caregivers.

Arizona Caregiver Resource Line:

888-737-7494
Speak with a trained volunteer who can provide a compassionate ear, information, assistance, local resources and support Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Caregiver Action Network Resource Line:

855-227-3640

Eligibility

A family caregiver is defined as:

  • An adult family member, or another individual, who is an informal provider of in-home and community care to an older individual or any individual with Alzheimer’s disease or a related neurological disorder.
  • A grandparent or older individual who is a relative caregiver (defined as a grandparent or step-grandparent of a child, or a relative of a child by blood, marriage, or adoption, who is 55 years of age or older):
    1. Lives with the child who is not more than 18 years of age or who is an adult child between 19 and 59 years of age with a disability. In the situation when it is an adult child with a disability, the caregiver cannot be the parent.
    2. Is the primary caregiver of the child because the biological or adoptive parents are unable or unwilling to serve as the primary caregiver of the minor child.
    3. Has a legal relationship to the child, such as legal custody or guardianship, or is raising the child informally.

Services, such as respite care and supplemental services, will only be provided to a family caregiver who is providing care to an older individual who has been determined unable to perform at least two Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) without substantial human assistance, including verbal reminding, physical cueing, or supervision.

Respite services shall only be provided to a family caregiver who is assessed to be at moderate or high risk as determined by an assessment tool designated by the Division of Aging and Adult Services.

Contact a local Area Agency on Aging

Lifespan Respite Programs

The Division of Aging and Adult Services was awarded the Lifespan Respite State Enhancement Grant by the Administration for Community Living. DAAS and the Arizona Caregiver Coalition work collaboratively with the Area Agencies on Aging and community-based and faith-based communities to provide alternative respite care options for caregivers across the lifespan.

This program is meant to be a consumer-directed respite care option, the provider can be:

  • A friend, a neighbor, or a professional caregiver.
  • Must be over 18 and cannot be living with the care recipient.
  • May be a family member, but not the spouse, child, parent, guardian, or any family member that lives with the care receiver.

Eligibility for the Lifespan Respite Programs:

  • Caregivers must live full-time with the family member (care recipient).
  • Caregiver and care recipient cannot be receiving any other respite services paid with federal, state or insurance funds.
  • The care recipient needs constant care and cannot be left alone.
  • For ADHC only: The caregiver is not working outside the home.

Respite Voucher Program:

You arrange for respite, usually in your own home. You can hire an agency, or you can ask a trusted friend or neighbor to come and stay with your family member. You pay them, then you send the receipt and timesheet to the Arizona Caregiver Coalition, and they will reimburse you.

Adult Day Health Center Respite Program:

Your family member has a safe place to go while you (the caregiver) enjoy a break from caregiving. The Arizona Caregiver Coalition will pay the day center for up to 96 hours. You won’t incur any out-of-pocket expenses!

To apply for the Lifespan Respite Programs, call the Caregiver Resource Line at 888-737-7494 or email [email protected] for more information.

Arizona Respite Network:

An important component of the Lifespan Respite Grant is to develop or enhance the state respite coalitions. The Arizona Respite Network is starting the groundwork to help caregivers access alternative respite care options.

Visit the Arizona Caregiver Coalition website to learn more about programs and services.

Being Paid to be a Family Caregiver

The DES Division of Aging and Adult Services (DAAS) offers non-medical home and community based services and supports for individuals that qualify through our aging contractors, the local Area Agencies on Aging (AAA). Caregiver support services may also be provided through the local Area Agency on Aging.

The DES does not offer any type of program or service by which a caregiver will be paid to care for a spouse, relative, neighbor, other loved one or another person. We are often asked the question about being “paid” to be a caregiver to someone in need. In order to potentially be eligible for this program, the person requiring care must already be receiving or be eligible to receive benefits and services under ALTCS programs and services. Then, the person wishing to provide the care would apply to become an employee of one of AHCCCS/ALTCS contracted home health care agencies after passing a thorough screening and eligibility process.

To apply to become a caregiver, call your local AHCCCS/ALTCS office at (602) 417-6600 or find an ALTCS Office online. 

Additional Resources

Related

Caregiver Resources

Crisis Hotlines

  • 24-Hour Crisis Hotlines – National
  • 1-800-273-TALK (8255) National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

Suicide/Crisis Hotlines

  • Maricopa County
    1-800-631-1314 or 602-222-9444
  • Southern Arizona: (Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, La Paz, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz and Yuma Counties)
    1-866-495-6735
  • Northern Arizona: (Apache, Coconino, Gila, Mohave, Navajo and Yavapai Counties)
    1-877-756-4090

Non-Crisis Warm Lines

  • 602-347-1100 (Maricopa County)
  • 520-770-9909 (Pima County)
  • 1-888-404-5530 (Arizona Warm Line)

For grandparents or older adult relatives raising children

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