Library: Policy

340:105-10-90.1. National Family Caregiver Support Program

Revised 9-14-24

(a) Policy. The Area Agency on Aging (AAA) awards grants to entities to provide supportive services, including information and assistance (I & A), counseling, support groups, respite, and other home and community-based services to families caring for their frail older members. The National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP) also recognizes the needs of a grandparent, step-grandparent, or other older person who is a relative caregiver of a child or person not more than 18 years of age or who is a person with a disability. NFCSP services include:

(1) caregiver assistance: case management;

(2) caregiver assistance: I & A;

(3) counseling;

(4) information services;

(5) respite care, including:

(A) in-home respite;

(B) out-of-home respite; and

(6) supplemental services;

(7) support groups; and

(8) training.

(b) Authority. The authority for this Section is Sections 371 through 374 of the Older Americans Act of 1965, as amended,

(1) Provisions of this Section are incorporated into the Title III policies and procedures manual.

(2) Technical assistance is provided to prospective and funded Title III projects regarding this rule.

(3) AAA monitors Title III project compliance according to Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC) 340:105-10-43, except on specific projects where Oklahoma Human Services has agreed with the AAA to provide a direct service or a direct service waiver and in that case the AAA is not required to monitor compliance. The project:

(A) gathers information on an approved intake form, including, at a minimum:

(i) the family caregiver's identifying information;

(ii) the caregiver's relationship to the care receiver;

(iii) the care receiver's identifying information; and

(iv) a written description of the caregiver's current situation, including the care receiver's need for assistance due to inability to perform specific activities of daily living (ADLs) or need for supervision due to Alzheimer's disease or other neurological and organic brain dysfunction or disability; and

(B) conducts a reassessment of NFCSP service recipients annually, at minimum, to evaluate service provision and update participant status;

(D) receives in-service training each fiscal year specifically designed to increase the project's knowledge and understanding of the programs and participants served.

(4) Services are targeted to caregivers who are older persons in greatest social and economic need, priority is given to:

(A) family caregivers providing care for persons with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders with neurological and organic brain dysfunction; and

(B) grandparents or older persons who are relative caregivers providing care for a person or child with a severe disability.

(5) Supportive services may be provided to caregivers providing care for frail older family members who are 60 years or older and who have difficulty with ADLs or instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) or cognitive or other mental impairment requiring substantial supervision because the individual behaves in a manner that poses a serious health or safety hazard to the individual or to another individual.

(A) ADLs include:

(i) dressing;

(ii) bathing;

(iii) eating;

(iv) transferring;

(v) toileting; and

(vi) walking.

(B) IADLs include:

(i) preparing meals;

(ii) shopping for personal items;

(iii) managing medication;

(iv) managing money;

(v) using the telephone;

(vi) doing heavy housework;

(vii) doing light housework; and

(viii) making use of available transportation without assistance.

(6) Supportive services may be provided on a limited basis to grandparents and older persons who are relative caregivers of a child who is 18 years of age or younger.

(A) Child means a person who is not older than 18 years of age or who is a person with a disability.

(B) Grandparent or older person who is a relative caregiver means 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 and:

(i) lives with the child;

(ii) is the child's primary caregiver because the biological or adoptive parents are unable or unwilling to serve as the child's primary caregiver; and

(iii) has a legal relationship to the child, such as legal custody or guardianship, or is raising the child informally.

(7) AAA ensures the cost of carrying out the program meets the requirement of a minimum non-federal share of 25 percent. The non-federal share is provided from state and local sources.

(8) Funds are not used to supplant, replace, or substitute, any funds expended under any federal, state, or local law for the same purposes, such as Medicaid ADvantage program, Lifespan Respite, Developmental Disabilities Services respite program.

(9) AAA considers awarding funds to expand successful caregiver activities currently in communities, such as respite providers, support groups, outreach, I & A, adult day services, counseling, and case management.

(d) Cross references. See OAC 340:105-10-37, 340:105-10-38, 340:105-10-40, 340:105-10-41, 340:105-10-43, 340:105-10-44, and 340:105-10-50.1(a)(17).