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). 		 
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  FAMILY

Two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socialization, income support, long-term care, and other caregiving are among the functions of family life. The definition of "family" will rest with an individual's indication of who plays a family member role, including current or former foster family, adoptive family, extended family members, fictive kin, or significant others. Organizations that believe family is the central constellation in a child's life, and that family attachments are of primary importance for human development, will strive to work with professional staff to develop a common understanding of "family."		  
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  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.		  
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  APPROPRIATENESS

The degree to which a particular service, placement, treatment, intervention, or activity is: best suited to an individual's needs; not excessive, unduly intrusive, or restrictive; anticipated to be effective in achieving the desired and specified outcomes; and adequate or sufficient in quantity to address the problem.		  
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  SPECIAL NEEDS

A designation used in reference to conditions or characteristics of a person that reflect a need for special care, services, or treatment. When the term is used in the context of adoption services, special needs refers to conditions that make a child harder to place for adoption. This includes children who are members of sibling groups, older children, children with disabilities, children of certain racial /ethnic backgrounds, etc. When the term is used in the context of foster care it refers to the need for a higher degree of specialized case services and attention due to mental and physical disabilities. When the term is used in the context of out-of-school time services, a child or youth may have special physical, behavioral, medical, emotional, or cognitive needs that should be addressed or accommodated. The term is also used in other contexts. See also DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES.		  
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  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.		  
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  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.		  
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  CASE RECORD

A written compilation that describes the client and the services delivered. Records can be in hard copy and/or electronic format. The case record can be used as a source of information for quality improvement or other evaluation activities, for research purposes, or to demonstrate accountability to funding bodies. 		 
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  INFANT

A child aged one year and under.		  
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  POLICY

A written statement of principles, values, or intent that provides a basis for consistent decision making and guides the actions of staff, management, and board of trustees. A policy is intentionally broad in its language and application. The following is an example of an anti-discrimination policy:

"[Organization Name] shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. These activities include, but are not limited to, hiring and firing of staff, selection of volunteers, selection of vendors, and provision of services."

In contrast, a procedure is a detailed, step-by-step description of a process. It tells the reader how to do something. Generally, policies are implemented through procedures. For example, the above anti-discrimination policy would require a detailed grievance procedure in order to operationalize it within an organization.

The governing body has the fiduciary responsibility for setting organizational policy. Therefore, policies must be approved and periodically reviewed by the organization's governing body. However, the governing body typically delegates (via policy) the responsibility for policy development to management. In owner-operated for-profit companies, the owner can act as the company's governing body, depending on the company's corporate structure.

In a public agency the responsibility for setting and reviewing policies may belong to the agency's management team, elected officials, another governmental agency, or as is often the case, a combination of the above.

  
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  PUNITIVE WORK ASSIGNMENT

Work assigned exclusively for punishment rather than as a shared responsibility for maintenance or duties; for example, stacking and restacking a wood pile repetitively as a punishment for breaking a rule.		  
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Respite Care
  
Private Org Public Agency  

PA-RC 8: Service Environment

 
Respite care is provided in an environment that ensures the individual’s health and safety.

PA-RC 8.01

 
The family receives respite care in a location appropriate to their needs and preferences.
Interpretation: Respite care can be provided in the family’s home, the provider’s home, the community, or a facility. When the agency does not offer the type of respite care needed or preferred by the family, a referral is made to another provider.

PA-RC 8.02

 

Prior to use, all facilities and provider homes are licensed or approved as required by law or regulation, and regularly inspected to evaluate:

  1. fire, health, and safety hazards;
  2. cleanliness;
  3. adequacy and appropriateness of space and furnishings; and
  4. the safety and appropriateness of toys, materials, or equipment.

PA-RC 8.03

 

When overnight care is provided, accommodations include:

  1. sleeping arrangements appropriate to the number, age, special needs, and gender of the individuals in the home or facility;
  2. rooms that are adequately and attractively furnished including a separate bed or crib for each individual with clean linens; and
  3. a safe, lockable place that locks to store personal belongings.
NA The agency does not provide overnight respite care.

PA-RC 8.04

 

When respite care is provided in a facility, space and amenities are adequate for the scope of the service provided, and include:

  1. indoor and outdoor recreation areas;
  2. dining, bathing, toileting, and personal hygiene facilities;
  3. private areas for meetings with individuals and caregivers;
  4. space for resting; and
  5. rooms for providing on-site services, when available.
NA The agency does not provide respite care in a facility.

PA-RC 8.05

 
When respite care is provided in the caregiver’s home, the provider is familiar with the safety plan for the home.
Interpretation: The provider should be familiar with the location of first aid, medical, emergency, and other supplies needed to provide care, and the ways to safely evacuate the individual receiving care
NA The agency does not provide respite care in the caregiver’s home.

PA-RC 8.06

 

Care recipients can have private telephone conversations and any restrictions are:

  1. requested by the caregiver;
  2. approved in advance by the program director or an appropriate designee; and
  3. documented in the case record.
NA The agency only provides care for infants and young children.

PA-RC 8.07

 
Care recipients receiving short-term residential respite or crisis nursery services have sufficient uninterrupted sleep and, when practical, follow their usual and familiar routines for bedtime, bathing, and meals.
NA The agency does not provide overnight respite care.

PA-RC 8.08

 

Agency policy prohibits:

  1. corporal punishment;
  2. the use of aversive stimuli;
  3. interventions that involve withholding nutrition or hydration, or that inflict physical or psychological pain;
  4. the use of demeaning, shaming or degrading language or activities;
  5. unnecessarily punitive restrictions including cancellation of visits as a disciplinary action;
  6. forced physical exercise to eliminate behaviors;
  7. punitive work assignments;
  8. punishment by peers; and
  9. group punishment or discipline for individual behavior.
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PURPOSE: Respite Care reduces caregiver stress, promotes the well-being and safety of care recipients, and contributes to stable families.
 
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