The National Family Caregiver Support Program

The National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP), funded by the federal Older Americans Act, Title III E, helps persons any age who serve as unpaid caregivers for persons sixty or older. The goal of this program is to relieve the emotional, physical, and financial hardships of providing continual care.

Most caregivers receiving assistance have been providing heavy-duty care for a while with little support when they hear about this program. Some have been on a waiting list for traditional funding for seniors for a long time because having a caregiver made their care recipient a lower priority for services when compared to someone who did not have anyone to help him or her. With this new funding, having a caregiver is a requirement for service. In Pinellas and Pasco County, Florida, caregivers providing 24-hour care are considered high priority for services through this program.

The National Family Caregiver Support Program seeks to find families who are economically or socially needy, but low income is not an eligibility requirement for service. A second part of the program helps grandparents sixty or over serving as primary caregivers for grandchildren or other related children under eighteen living in the grandparent's home. There is no charge for services to caregivers of older persons or grandchildren; but as is true with all Older Americans Act Programs, donations are accepted.

Services provided by the National Family Caregiver Support Program include:

• Screening and assessment
• Respite care or time off for the caregiver in several forms-companions, homemakers, home health aides, adult day care, and in-facility care
• Counseling
• Chore Services
• Medical supplies such as disposable undergarments or nutritional supplements

The usual entry point for the National Family Caregiver Support Program in Pinellas County and Pasco County, Florida, is the Senior Helpline of the Area Agency on Aging of Pasco-Pinellas, Inc. In Pinellas, call 727-576-1533 to reach the Senior Helpline. In Pasco, call toll -free at 1-800-861-8111. Explain that you are a caregiver and think you need the National Family Caregiver Support Program (or you can call it the Title III-E program). The National Family Caregiver Support Program is one of two caregiver programs of the Area Agency on Aging of Pasco-Pinellas, Inc. The other is the Caregivers REST Project, which focuses on education to help Pinellas County, Florida, caregivers prepare for the best caregiving experience possible.

The National Family Caregiver Support Program is available throughout the United States, with some variation in priority for services and types of services offered in different areas. For more about this program, visit the web site of the U. S. Administration on Aging, www.aoa.gov. Click on Elders and Families, followed by For Caregivers, then by National Family Caregiver Support Program.

To find NFCSP programs serving other Florida counties, call the state Elder Helpline toll-free number: 1-800-96ELDER (1-800-963-5337). A national toll-free number to call about the National Family Caregiver Support Program and other services in any part of the country is 1-800-677-1116. This is the Eldercare Locator, which connects with elder helplines throughout the United States. There is also an Eldercare Locator website, www.eldercare.gov.