COA - Council On Accreditation

Respite Care programs provide temporary relief to caregivers with responsibility for the care and supervision of adults or children who: have physical, emotional, developmental, cognitive, behavioral, or mental health disabilities; are at risk of abuse or neglect; or are in foster care.

Respite Care is provided in a supportive, enriching, and therapeutic environment, in the caregiver’s home, in the service provider’s home, in a program facility, or in the community. Services can be provided on a planned or as needed basis, including in response to a crisis. Families experiencing medical emergencies and stressful home situations such as domestic violence or homelessness may request crisis nursery respite care. Generally, care is provided for a few hours or days at a time. Crisis nursery and short term residential respite services can extend to a few weeks or a month at a time. When services are provided in response to a crisis, the timeframes may be less predictable and dependent upon resolution of the crisis. Respite care providers can include employees, independent contractors, volunteers and foster parents.

Note: In the field of Adult Services, the term “respite services” often refers to an array of respite services that includes respite care in the person’s home or in a facility (RC), in-home homemaker and home health aid services (HCS), medical or social day programs (AD), foster care (GLS), and residential respite services (RC).

Note: Please see Self-Paced_Training: Respite Care (RC) in the Tools Index for additional assistance with this standard.


	PURPOSE: Respite Care reduces caregiver stress, promotes the well-being and safety of care recipients, and contributes to stable families.

RELATED FILES

DDS Supplement Replacement.pdf
NA Request.doc
RC Reference List.pdf
RC Private Template.doc


	CAREGIVER The provider of physical, emotional, and social needs to another person, often dependent and unable to provide for his or her own needs. Caregiver is the generic term used for the direct service providers in Community Care and Support Services (CCS).


	PROGRAM A system of services offered by an organization. For example, an organization providing a mental health service may offer several mental health programs to different populations, e.g., a mental health program for adolescent teens. The word "program" can be used interchangeably with the word "service" or to describe specific programs.


	SUPERVISION Assumption of responsibility for directly overseeing and evaluating the work or work products of personnel within an organization. Also includes inspecting the act or process of accomplishing a function or activity.


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	COMMUNITY A specific group of people living in the same locality and who may share a common culture, values, and norms. Communities can also be defined by race, religion, ethnicity, age, occupation, political status, tribal affiliation, interest in particular problems or outcomes, or other common bonds. The term "community" encompasses worksites, schools, tribes, residential neighborhoods, business districts, recreational areas, and health and human service sites.


	EMPLOYEE Paid member of an organization. Foster parents are not considered employees and are specifically referenced in relevant standards.


	INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR An independently employed individual who contracts with an organization to do a piece of work according to his/her own methods and is subject to an employer's control only as to end product or final result of the work, not as to the means whereby it is to be accomplished.


	VOLUNTEER An individual who performs services for an organization for civic, charitable, or humanitarian reasons, without promise, expectation, or receipt of compensation for services rendered. Such service must be offered freely and without pressure or coercion, direct or implied, from an employer. If the individual is otherwise employed by the same employer for which s/he volunteers, the individual cannot volunteer to perform the same type of services that s/he is paid to perform as an employee.


	FOSTER PARENTS State- or county-licensed adults who provide a temporary home for children whose birth parents are unable to care for them. Foster parents are not considered employees or personnel and are specifically referenced in all relevant standards.