New York State

New York: Family-Directed Home Care Demonstration Program:  A. 865 would establish a family-directed home care demonstration program that allows adults with long-term care needs and their families greater flexibility and freedom of choice in obtaining home care services.  Approved home care agencies would administer the demonstration programs, providing care recipients and their family caregivers ongoing education and assistance regarding the recruitment, selection, scheduling and management of the nurses who provide in-home care services.  The bill is intended to deliver home care in a more cost-effective manner and to increase and retain the pool of nurses willing to provide home care services. For more information, visit: http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A00865

Family and Medical Leave Act in States:  Several states are currently working on establishing or expanding paid family leave benefits to workers.   Thus far, only three states have enacted paid family leave acts: California, Washington, and New Jersey.   California’s program has been in place since 2004, and both Washington and New Jersey will begin providing paid leave benefits this year. 

A number of states are working on introducing family leave legislation for the 2009 session that would provide paid leave benefits to workers:

Lifespan Respite Funding Provided:  The FY09 Omnibus Appropriations bill includes $2.5 million for Lifespan Respite. Funding for the program was included in the omnibus appropriations bill for FY 2009, which funds the government until September 30, 2009.  The measure was signed into law on March 11, 2009 (P.L. 111-8).   The program’s finding will be housed in the Office of the Secretary’s General Fund.

Social Security Caregiver Credit Act Reintroduced:  On January 28, 2009, Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY) reintroduced the Social Security Caregiver Credit Act (H.R. 769).  The bill would allow unpaid family caregivers to claim Social Security benefits as if they had worked for a wage (according to a specified formula) during each month they were engaged for at least 80 hours in providing care to a dependent relative, for up to five years of such service.  The bill was introduced but not voted upon in the 110th Congress.  Bill Summary: http://thomas.loc..gov/cgi-bin/thomas

Senior Democrats Push for National Long-Term Care Program through Reintroduction of the “CLASS ACT:” Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) and a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee John Dingell (D-MI) are working again to pass legislation that would create a national insurance program to help adults with disabilities or cognitive impairments who need long-term care.  The legislation, S. 697, the Community Living Assistance, Services, and Supports Act (CLASS) was reintroduced on March 25, 2009.  Like last years’ bill, the measure would impose payroll taxes of $30 a month on working Americans to pay for the program (workers can opt out of the program if they do not want to contribute).  The program would provide funding for long-term care services to adults who become severely functionally impaired.   People who suffer from disabilities could sign up for benefits after contributing to the program for five years or more.  Once eligible for the benefits after five years, individuals would receive $50 to $100 a day, based on their ability to carry out activities of daily living.  They could use their benefit to pay family caregivers for services, if they want.  Sponsors of the measure say that about 10 million Americans could benefit from this program and as many as 15 million by the year 2020. 

Expansion of Home and Community-Based Services:  On February 13, 2009, Senator John Kerry (D-MA) and Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) introduced the “Empowered-At-Home Act” which grants states more flexibility to enroll more individuals for home and community-based services (HCBS).  The bill is designed to expand HCBS programs in each state by raising the income eligibility standard to 300 percent of the federal poverty level.  The bill also incorporates provisions to permit employers to offer qualified long-term care insurance products to employees under flexible spending account programs and in cafeteria plans.  Finally, the measure permits family caregivers to receive a $3,000 tax credit per year for long-term care expenses.  Senator Grassley is ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee and hopes to move the bill forward by summer.

Bill Would Train and Compensate Family Caregivers of Veterans with TBI:  On January 23, 2009, Representative John Salazar (D-CO) reintroduced the Heroes at Home Act (H.R. 667), a bill he and former Senator Hillary Clinton had introduced in the 110th Congress.  The bill would establish a program to provide training for family members caring for veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI), certifying them as "personal care attendants."  Caregivers with such certification would be eligible for compensation.  The bill would also establish a demonstration project to assess the feasibility of using telehealth technology to assess cognitive functioning of service members who have sustained head trauma in order to improve their diagnosis and treatment.  Bill Summary:  http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/thomas

Federal Family and Medical Leave Act Legislation:
On February 3, 2009, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) introduced the Family and Medical Leave Enhancement Act of 2009 (H.R. 824).  The legislation would broaden the protections of the Family and Medical Leave Act to allow employees in companies with more than 25 employees to take family and medical leave.  Current law applies only to companies with 50 or more employees. The legislation would also provide up to 24 hours per year of unpaid Parental Involvement and Family Wellness leave, which would allow parents and grandparents to attend parent-teacher conferences, attend school activities, or take children, grandchildren, or parents to doctor appointments. 

News, Reports and Publications

Two recent articles in the Gerontologist address caregiving issues:

"Long-Term Effects of Bereavement and Caregiver Intervention on Dementia Caregiver Depressive Symptoms," reveals that dementia caregivers who received enhanced caregiver support interventions prior to the death of the care recipient had lower depressive symptoms before and after the death compared to the caregivers who had not received the intervention.  To read the full abstract, visit: http://gerontologist.gerontologyjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/48/6/732

“Familism Beliefs and Psychological Distress Among African American Women Caregivers,” finds that spousal caregivers, caregivers with lower levels of education, and caregivers with lower levels of mastery hold more traditional caregiving beliefs.  They also found that a poor caregiving relationship, being younger or unemployed, and reporting lowers levels of education, self-rated health, and mastery are all predictors of higher levels of depression and perceived stress.  To read the full abstract, visit:  http://gerontologist.gerontologyjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/48/6/772

U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Disability Employment Policy released findings of the most extensive employer survey in history of employer’s actions and attitudes toward employing people with disabilities.  Among other things, the study found that a majority of large businesses are hiring people with disabilities and discovering that costs for accommodations differ very little from those for the general employee population.  The survey also showed that once an employer hires one person with a disability, it is much more likely that employer will hire other people with disabilities.  The report is available at www.dol.gov/odep.

Two New Research Reports Published on Children and Young Adults Who Are Carers:

According to a new report, Young Adult Carers in the UK: Experiences, Needs and Services for Carers aged 16-24, there are almost 300,000 caregivers aged 16-24 in the UK, with a quarter of a million aged between 18-24 years. This research provides an in-depth picture of the numbers, needs, experiences and service responses to young adult carers aged 16-24. The report draws on original data, including in-depth interviews with carers aged 18-24, focus groups with carers aged 16-17, surveys of young and adult carers services and UK Census data.  The full report is available at: http://static.carers.org/files/yac20report-final-241008-3787.pdf

Another report, Service Needs and Delivery Following the Onset of Caring amongst Children and Young Adults: Evidenced Based Review, provides an overview and synthesis of research and other evidence on 'young carers' and 'young adult carers' in the UK. There are 175,000 children under the age of 18 who are family carers - 2.1% of all children. Additionally, there are another 230,000 carers aged 18-24 -5.3% of all people in this age group. This is the first evidence review that focuses on both young carers and young adult carers and their service and support needs following the onset of caring. The full report is available at: http://www.ruralcommunities.gov.uk/files/CRC%20web36%20YCIRE.pdf

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March, 2009
Lifespan Respite to Receive $2.5 million for this fiscal year!

Last night, the Senate passed the FY09 Omnibus Appropriations bill which packages nine appropriation bills postponed from the last Congress to fund most federal agencies for this current fiscal year. The House passed the bill last week.  It now goes to the President for his signature.  The bill includes:

Lifespan Respite to receive $2.5 million this fiscal year (Funds must be obligated before Sept. 30, 2009).  The funds are included in the Office of the Secretary's General Funds, so a decision will have to be made quickly by incoming Secretary-designate of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, former governor of Kansas, regarding which federal agency will administer the funds. We will be monitoring this process closely.  Funds could be made available to states through a competitive grant process as early as late spring.