Innovative and Exemplary Respite Services

While there is shared agreement that offering respite to caregivers to temporarily relieve them of constant caregiving responsibilities is a worthwhile endeavor, there is scant research to support the best ways to offer respite so that benefits from receiving respite accrue to caregivers, care recipients and their families.

Myriad important questions about respite await answers. How should providers go about establishing trusting and lasting relationships with caregivers and care recipients? What is dosage and frequency of respite are necessary for caregivers to realize decreases in stress? What personal qualities are important to identify and nurture in paid providers and volunteers?  Can respite programs reduce the need for out-of-home placements for care recipients?

To answer these questions and more, to demonstrate the merit of respite services, and to ensure accountability to caregivers and families, each year ARCH recognizes Innovative and Exemplary Respite Services from a pool of applicants in North America. It is also expected that all recognized services will have the potential to contribute to the knowledge base that will guide expansion and replication of much needed quality respite services.

The overriding purpose of ARCH’s Innovative and Exemplary Services initiative is to establish a registry of programs and services to help advance our collective understanding of what respite best practices mean. We accomplish this by documenting the ways and the extent to which applicant services meet criteria, each carefully defined and observable, in seven key areas:

1. using an evidence-based or evidence-informed approach;

2. having written goals and objectives;

3. having a program/service manual or guide to facilitate replication with fidelity;

4. offering person and family-centered services;

5. having a professional development plan;

6. having an evaluation plan and collecting data according to that plan;

7. and being sustainable as an organization.

Services meeting all criteria in full are Innovative and Exemplary, and are especially valuable in furthering our collective understanding of respite. These services clearly define how respite occurs in their organization, document that respite is occurring as intended, and they show beneficial changes occurring in the lives of caregivers and/or care recipients related to the respite services they used.

Services identified as Innovative use a delivery approach that is novel and/or unique to a specific community or population for whom it is intended, and meet most criteria as defined in the ARCH framework, but have not yet implemented a rigorous evaluation of their service that allows replication of their approach.

ARCH also recognizes Rising Star services that offer person and family-centered services, but have not yet met all criteria for Innovative or Exemplary practice. Rising Stars offer respite services in ways that are readily recognizable as worthwhile, and that we hope will be documented and evaluated in the future to demonstrate their merit and allow replication by others.

For Selection Criteria, see Definition of Innovative and Exemplary.

The ARCH National Respite Network and Resource Center seeks exemplary and innovative respite services from across the U.S. and Canada.

ARCH's definition of respite is planned or emergency care provided to a child or adult with special needs in order to provide temporary relief to family caregivers who are caring for that child or adult.

We wish to learn more about respite services that are evidence-based or evidence informed, that appear promising, or that are trying new service models. Further, they need to have some preliminary data or plan to collect data that demonstrate benefits to caregivers, care recipients, and/or family systems.

We are looking for respite services that address some challenging aspect of respite care delivery, such as reaching rural or military family caregivers, individuals with mental health and/or behavioral issues, grandparent or relative caregivers, or adults with disabilities and chronic conditions, for example.

Given the effect of the pandemic, we also welcome applications from programs that may have creatively redefined their respite services to meet family caregivers' current and evolving needs for support and social connections, or modified their respite services, eligibility, or location to enhance respite service flexibility and access.

ARCH is also seeking respite services that use exemplary or innovative approaches to enhancing access to respite or improving quality of services and address questions, such as:

• Does the respite service provide inclusive activities in the community that are enjoyable and meaningful for the care recipient and others?
• Does the respite service collect caregiver/care recipient/family outcome data that describe improved well-being and ability to remain at home (beyond just service satisfaction)?
• Does the respite service help family caregivers plan to make the most of their respite time by engaging in activities most meaningful to them?
• Does the respite service attract and retain highly qualified respite providers or volunteers?
• Was the respite service provider able to adapt to challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that the respite provided remained meaningful to the family caregiver, the care recipient and the family?  Were the changes successful enough to make them permanent?

These questions are meant only to suggest examples of what might be considered Exemplary or Innovative and are not meant to be limiting descriptors. We welcome creativity, especially in these challenging times!

The services selected by ARCH for recognition may demonstrate practices that are Exemplary, Innovative or both Innovative and Exemplary. To be recognized as both Innovative and Exemplary, services must meet all criteria included in the definition.  Innovative services meet all criteria, except for those related to evaluation and data collection. Services may also be recognized as Rising Stars. Rising Stars have demonstrated a person and family-centered approach, but have not yet met all criteria for Innovative or Exemplary practice.

Please read additional definitions of respite and special needs. 

Definitions of Innovative and Exemplary, Innovative, and Rising Star Respite Services

Best-practice, and evidence-based practice, are considered to be the gold standard for health, education, therapeutic and social services. These practices and standards help assure excellence and accountability to those we serve.

While we all strive to implement best- and evidence-based practices, these practices rely in part on funding sufficient to support high standards of care, and research and evaluation that establish effectiveness and worth. Although caregivers often site respite services as their highest priority, sufficient and sustained funding remain challenging to individual respite services and systems.

Despite this challenge, individual respite services across the country create, refine and sustain exemplary and innovative practices. Documenting the successes of these services increases the likelihood that others will recognize the meaning of respite in human terms, and the importance and worth of respite. As we grow in our understanding of what exactly makes respite services exemplary, we can replicate them, in whole or in part, increasing the likelihood that respite services come closer to our aspirations for excellence. Any one program’s success is increased manifold when we all learn from that success and understand how to repeat it for the benefit of caregivers and care recipients.

What do the terms Exemplary and Innovative mean? ARCH defines these terms, and recognizes respite services, based upon seven characteristics.

1. Use of Evidence-based or Evidence-informed Approaches. Exemplary respite services are supported by research or evaluation evidence, have shown benefit(s) to family caregivers, and may also have shown benefits to care recipients, families and society. Innovative respite services document or plan to document at least one family caregiver outcome and create a novel approach to respite, or approaches adapted for a specific community or population.

2. A Written Plan with Goals and Objectives. Exemplary and innovative services specify goals and objectives that are observable and measurable. Exemplary services set performance targets based upon established evidence. Innovative services set performance targets that may be modified based upon data collected during day-to-day practice.

3. A Program or Service Manual or Guide. Exemplary and innovative programs or services follow written policies and procedures in their day-to-day activities that allow them to monitor fidelity and minimize drift from their stated goals and objectives. Exemplary services guides are sufficiently detailed to allow replication. Innovative services may not yet have developed a formal manual, but have written protocols or checklist sufficient to guide essential activities.

4. Person- and Family-Centered Services. Exemplary and innovative programs or services document culturally sensitive and responsive procedures and assure that caregivers guide their own choices regarding respite services, and that the respite services are meaningful for the care recipient. Exemplary and innovative services assure that family caregivers and/or care recipients have purposeful roles on the program’s advisory board or in some other advisory capacity.

5. A Professional Development Plan. Exemplary and innovative services ensure that volunteers and paid personnel are trained, coached and supported so that they can competently and confidently follow policies, protocols, and procedures required for the respite services they offer. Exemplary and innovative services carefully screen volunteers and paid staff to ensure the highest safety standards for families.

6. A Plan for Collecting and Evaluating Data. Exemplary services have a performance measurement plan for measuring consumer satisfaction, service implementation/model fidelity, and at least one participant-focused outcome, and they regularly collect data for each of these. Innovative services, at a minimum, have plans to collect at least one participant-focused outcome and regularly monitor their program to make sure services are implemented according to guidelines and
protocols. In addition, Exemplary services also regularly review data, use data to make informed decisions about programs and services, and share data with staff, consumers and stakeholders. Exemplary services also conduct a formal internal or external evaluation documenting outcomes and effects.

7. Demonstrate sustainability. All respite services under consideration have been in existence for at least three years. To be considered innovative or exemplary, services have intentionally planned to ensure sustainability.

The services selected by ARCH for recognition may demonstrate practices that are both Innovative and Exemplary if they meet all of the criteria above.

Services identified as Innovative use a delivery approach that is novel and/or unique to a specific community or population for whom it is intended, and meet most criteria as defined in the ARCH framework, but have not yet implemented a rigorous evaluation of their service that allows replication of their approach.

Services may also be recognized as Rising Stars. Rising Stars have demonstrated a person and family-centered approach, but have not yet met all criteria for Innovative or Exemplary practice. They offer respite services in ways that are readily recognizable as worthwhile, and that we hope will be documented and evaluated in the future to demonstrate their merit and allow replication by others.

It is expected that all recognized services will have the potential to contribute to the knowledge base that will guide expansion and replication of much needed quality respite services.

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We invite you to nominate your service if you believe it is strong overall, or if it has areas of strength that you wish to share with others. If selected, your services will be recognized as a potential model for replication and become part of a national network of respite services committed to providing person and family-centered respite services.  Recognized services will receive: 

• National recognition for outstanding work, including publicity through ARCH’s website, publications, social media outlets, and possible national webinar or podcast presentations;

• A letter of support from ARCH, upon request;

• An official Innovative and/or Exemplary Respite Services logo for use on your website and other promotional materials; and

• A certificate recognizing this accomplishment.

Respite services recognized as both Innovative AND Exemplary, may receive a small honorarium and may be recognized at the National Lifespan Respite Conference, pending availability of funds.

Once a service has been recognized as Innovative, Exemplary or both, or as a Rising Star, the designation is valid for three years. At the end of this time period, ARCH will request updated information from recognized services on the status of the services(s), including any new developments or major changes, and to assess the program's capacity to continue to ensure program quality, innovation, and sustainability. There is no need for a service recognized in a prior year to complete another application. 

The application was designed to help us identify real life “best practice” respite care services. We plan to use the information we gather:

• to encourage innovation and quality in respite services nationwide;

• to promote person and family-centered services that are desired by family caregivers and the persons in their care;

• in a national on-line data base of exemplary respite services to share with the media, funders, government agencies, individuals, organizations and others searching for model services to replicate;

• to inform national training and technical assistance;

• in publications about respite care; and

• to help advocate for new respite services, enhance existing services, and move toward evidence-based practices.

The 2025 Application for recognition of Innovative and Exemplary Respite Services is now closed.

Before you consider applying, follow these steps!

1. Review the Pre-Application Checklist. Programs that cannot answer yes to all three Pre-Application Screening questions cannot be considered for a full review.
2. Read the Instructions for Completing the Application and Preview the Questions. It is best to complete your responses in a WORD document, and then cut and paste the responses into the online application.
3. Learn about services previously recognized by ARCH as Innovative and Exemplary. 
4. Review the information on this page to familiarize yourself with the purpose of the initiative, the definition of Innovative and Exemplary and the selection criteria, the benefits of recognition, and ARCH's use of the information you provide if selected.
5. Watch the information session. 

Questions? Please contact Susan Janko Summers with ARCH at sjsummers@archrespite.org.

The deadline for submission has passed. Consider applying next year for recognition in 2026. 

The Conversations on Caregiving podcast series highlights the work of several Innovative and Exemplary respite programs and services.

Listen to the Podcasts. 

Information Session for 2025 Innovative and Exemplary Respite Service Applicants

Presentation Slides    Session Recording

Webinars and Conference Presentations

Introducing the ARCH 2024 Innovative and Exemplary Respite Services, 2024 National Lifespan Respite Conference, May 23, 2024, Albany, NY

Introducing ARCH's 2022 Innovative and Exemplary Respite Services: Successful Models for Replication, 2022 National Lifespan Respite Conference, September 2022, Madison, WI

Models of Exemplary & Innovative Practices in Respite Care/Short Break Programs in the U.S. Presentation at the International Short Break Conference, June 2021.

ARCH Innovative and Exemplary Respite Services, Presentations at the International Short Break Association Conference, 2021.

Webinar: Innovative and Exemplary Respite Services, January 27, 2021. Learn about recognized programs in 2019 and 2020.

For New Program Recognition

2025 Press Release

2024 Press Release

2022 Press Release

2021 Press Release

2020 Press Release

2019 Press Release

Renewal of I&E Status

2023 (Jan) Press Release on Renewal of I&E Status for 11 Respite Programs first recognized in 2019

2023 (Nov) Press Release on Renewal of I&E Status for 7 Respite Programs first recognized in 2020

2024 Press Release on Renewal of I&E Status for 3 Respite Programs first recognized in 2021

Evaluation Mini-grant Awards

2023 Press Release

Innovative and Exemplary Respite Services Evaluation Mini-Grantees

Each year since 2019, ARCH has been seeking and selecting respite services that meet a stringent set of criteria for innovation and excellence. The purpose of the ARCH Innovative and Exemplary Services Initiative is to establish a registry of programs and services to help advance our collective understanding of what respite best practices mean.

In 2023, four respite programs were selected from among a pool of recognized Innovative and Exemplary services that applied for an evaluation mini-grant to design and carryout a 12-month evaluation and to participate in a learning community with technical assistance from ARCH. Each program was awarded a mini-grant to assist them in conducting the evaluation of their respite care services. 

The four programs selected to receive mini-grants were:

• Agape Respite Care, Inc., Berne, IN
• The Center for Volunteer Caregiving, Cary, NC
• Claude Moore Precious Time, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
• Vanessa Behan, Spokane, WA

To help advance the evidence-base for respite and encourage the replication of model programs, the grantees shared their findings with the ARCH Committee for Advancement of Respite Research at the 2024 Respite Research Summit. and in these evaluation data briefs. 

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