The Provincial Government is committed to enhancing long-term care and community support services. Effective October 22, 2015, The Paid Family Care Giving Option, under the Provincial Home Support Program, is available to new and current home support clients and will assist clients to remain in their homes and communities.
This option was introduced in March 2014 to provide up to 250 subsidies for seniors and adults with disabilities to pay a family member for approved home support. The subsidies may be provided through a direct individualized funding model which provides more flexibility for clients and reduces the administrative burden.
When this option for home support was introduced, there was a planned evaluation. This evaluation has been completed with positive findings. The Paid Family Caregiving Option has been approved as a permanent option of choice for the delivery of home support services with no fixed number of subsidies.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for the Paid Family Caregiving Option of the Provincial Home Support Program, individuals must:
- Be a new or current client for one of the Adult Home Support Programs;
- Have a long-term need for a home support subsidy;
- Meet the eligibility requirements for publically funded home support services as outlined in the Provincial Home Support Program Operational Standards (2005);
- Be eligible for service under the Adults with Disability Home Support Program or the Seniors Home Support Program;
- Meet the clinical and financial assessment for service, which will be the same as other home support options with the clinical assessment including an enhanced focus on the role of informal support;
- Have a clinical assessment that indicates a care need for personal care/behavioural support and that care can be appropriately provided by a family member; and
- Agree to the financial contribution, if any, as indicated by the financial assessment.
Individuals who are eligible to be paid to provide care under the Paid Family Caregiving Option are: parents, children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren and relatives residing in the same home, excluding spouses and common law partners.
Service
Service eligibility for the Paid Family Caregiving Option requires that a client have a requirement for personal care/behavioural supports. Once personal care/behavioural supports have been identified as a care need, subsidy funding may be available as follows:
- Funding for assessed personal care/behavioural supports to a maximum of 4 hours/day for a senior, or 5 hours/day for an adult with a disability.
- Funding may also be provided for homemaking/meal preparation:
- Up to 1 hour/day for meal preparation and 2 hours/week for homemaking when a caregiver does not reside with the client.
- Up to 2 hours/week for homemaking when the paid caregiver resides with the client and there is an additional homemaking requirement involved in the care of the client. For example, additional laundry for client incontinence.
- Funding for respite, up to the balance within the financial ceiling, when the caregiver resides with a client requiring 24-hour care/supervision.
Families will be required to meet the remaining needs of the client and provide the informal care normally provided by family members without payment.
Clients will be provided with home support at the minimum level to meet their needs while remaining within the maximum amount allowed.
Under the Paid Family Caregiving Option, the approval of respite to be provided in an individual’s home may be considered if there are qualifying circumstances such as no other person to provide a sole caregiver with a break. The support plan for an individual approved for respite must include an alternate respite provider that is not a family member. It is recommended that the respite care be provided through an agency where that care option is available.
Client Assessment and Approval
Clients who are eligible for a home support subsidy indicate their preferred home support delivery option. Clients indicating a preference for the Paid Family Caregiving Option will be granted the option providing their assessment indicates that it is a viable option for them and there is a subsidy available under the option. The process for assessment and approval is:
- An individual who is requesting access to the Provincial Home Support Program with the Paid Family Caregiving Option must have an in-person assessment completed and a support plan completed.
- The assessment indicates the formal care needs of the client and considers care that will continue to be provided informally by family and any other supports in the support plan.
- The assessment identifies any risks (i.e. coercion, collusion, neglect, concerns regarding the ability of family members) to initiating home support in the Paid Family Caregiving Option and the support plan identifies actions to decrease the risk.
- An assessment where a requirement for respite care is indicated will identify the respite source who is not a family member. The respite hours approved and the respite provider will be identified in the support plan.
- The applicable financial assessment is completed and any client contribution is identified and accepted by the client.
- Approval for the home support hours is through the current accepted regional process.
- The funding agreement is completed per the Provincial Home Support Standards.
- Clients/family members who are approved for the Paid Family Caregiving Option and find themselves in a circumstance where they are not comfortable or able to fulfill the payroll functions, may recruit the services of a bookkeeper to administer payroll and related remittances.
- Clients that are approved to have their care provided under the Paid Family Caregiving Option will minimally receive an in-person visit quarterly for monitoring of care outcomes. Assessments revealing a decline in a client’s well-being may result in further increases in assessment frequency and/or discontinuance of the Paid Family Caregiving Option.
- Clients approved to have their care provided under the Paid Family Caregiving Option will be provided with direct individualized funding or can choose invoice billing that is to be utilized to fund their formal personal care/behavioural support and homemaking requirements that have been identified within the funding ceiling in their care assessment. Respite will be paid on invoice only.
Discontinuing the Paid Family Caregiving Option
Once approved for a subsidy through the Paid Family Caregiving Option, the client’s choice will continue as long as the family member is willing to provide the service and there is no change in the assessed care needs of the client, which would require a different care arrangement.
The Paid Family Caregiving Option is discontinued when the need for home support no longer exists, the client dies, there is non-compliance with the terms and agreements of the program or the subsidy option or there are significant quality and/or safety issues.
Regional health authorities have the right to discontinue funding arrangements under the Paid Family Caregiving Option and decisions will be communicated in writing with justification provided to the client and considered final.
For more information on accessing this service, contact your regional health authority:
Regional Health Authority Contact Numbers
Eastern Health: 709-752-4835
Central Health: 1.833.210.8491
Western Health: 709-695-6263
Labrador Grenfell Health: 1.833.284.4751