The Family Caregiver Support Program provides temporary
supportive services for two types of Caregivers:
- Grandparents raising grandchildren and relatives age 60 and older who are raising children age 18 and younger.
- Family Caregivers of individuals age 60 and older.
ANYONE providing INFORMAL (unpaid) care to any persons expected to care for themselves, but are unable to due to a physical/mental disability.
Support services for eligible Caregivers are as follows:
- Information-group services such as public
education;
- Assistance-individual one-on-one contact such as
information and assitance or case management;
- Counseling, support groups and training advice,
guidance and instruction to caregivers in an
individual or group setting;
- Respite Services-temporary, substitute supports or
living arrangements.
You must meet one of the four types of criteria as noted in the targeted population; AND
The care provided must be informal care, which means the service provided is unpaid.
We provide services in the following counties: Jasper, Lake, Newton, Porter, Pulaski and Starke Counties. Potential recipients are:
- Persons in greatest social and economic need;
- Family Caregivers age 60+ taking care of children age 18 and younger and older adults;
- Older individuals providing care to children older than age 18 with mental retardation or developmental disabilities;
- Grandparents and relative caregivers of children 18 years old and younger. There are specific guidelines to receive services.*
This includes grandparents who are sole caregivers of grandchildren and children who are affected by mental retardation or developmental disabilities. However, a disability is not a requirement for assistance in this category.
Potential recipients for this service must meet all of the following criteria:
- The individual must be the grandparent or step-grandparent of a child or relative of a child by blood or marriage;
- Must be over age 60;
- Must live with the child;
- Must act as a primary caregiver of the child;
- Must have a legal relationship to the child or raise the child informally.
