Lifespan Respite Technical Assistance Center

Lifespan Respite is defined in the Lifespan Respite Care Act as "coordinated systems of community-based respite for family caregivers of children or adults regardless of special need."

• Lifespan Respite System Tools
• Introduction to Lifespan Respite: A "101" Toolkit 
• Sustainability Planning Resources
• TA Center Advisory Committee
• Lifespan Respite Grantee Updates 
• Lifespan Respite Program State Contacts
• Webinars, Teleconferences, and Resources
• Upcoming Events
• Lifespan Respite Grantee/Primary Stakeholder Networking Page
• Respite FACTS and Talking Points
• Archived Lifespan Respite Program Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs)
• Contact Us

Overview of the T/TA Network for Lifespan Respite

In September 2009, the ARCH National Respite Network was awarded a three-year cooperative agreement with the US Administration on Aging to provide training and technical assistance to the growing Lifespan Respite Network, its stakeholders and partners, and state respite coalitions. The cooperative agreement was awarded in partnership with the highly regarded Family Caregiver Alliance in San Francisco, which provides training and technical assistance primarily to the Aging Network on broader caregiving issues. Together they formed the Technical Assistance Centers for Caregiver Programs & Lifespan Respite.  This project ended on August 31, 2012.

In September 2012, ARCH was awarded a three-year cooperative agreement from the Administration for Community Living to form the new Lifespan Respite Technical Assistance Center. In August 2015, funding was extended through 2020. Through the TA Center, ARCH provides training and technical assistance to the Lifespan Respite Network with a focus on performance measurement, sustainability, best practices, and research. ACL has funded thirty-three states and the District of Columbia to establish or enhance Statewide Lifespan Respite systems and ARCH provides training and technical assistance to them as well. For more information on the Lifespan Respite Program funded by ACL, click here. 

ARCH training and technical assistance activities include:

• State site visits to assist with State Lifespan Summits to help states build or strengthen coalitions and prepare state agencies to apply for federal Lifespan Respite grants in the future;
• ARCH respite fact sheets on topics across age and disability categories;
• New documents, guidebooks, and webinars;
• Performance measurement guidance;
• Promotion of new respite research;
• Consumer information and the National Respite Locator Service;
• A repository for respite training curricula and links to specific state resources; 
• An  ongoing needs assessment of ARCH and State Lifespan Networks to assess new training and TA needs;
• Phone and email consultation as needed or to help family caregivers find respite.

 2018 Training and Technical Assistance Needs Assessments Results

Lifespan Respite State Grantee Activities and Updates:

Newsletter Grantee Activity Summaries
In 2009, AoA funded the first twelve states to establish Lifespan Respite systems.  ARCH periodically provided updates on the successes and challenges faced by the pioneering grantees that were published in the newsletter of the FCA/ARCH Technical Assistance Ceters on Caregiver Programs and Lifespan Respite.  They are reprinted here for your convenience.

• Part 1- Getting to Know the Lifespan Respite Grantees
• Part 2- Getting to Know the Lifespan Respite Grantees
• Part 3- Getting to Know the Lifespan Respite Grantees
• Part 4- Getting to Know the Lifespan Respite Grantees

From National Respite Conferences:

• • Lifespan Respite Grantees, PPT Presentations, 2016
  • Lifespan Respite Grantees, PPT Presentations, 2014
  • Lifespan Respite Grantees, PPT Presentations, 2013
  • Lifespan Respite Grantees, PPT Presentations, 2011
  • Lifespan Respite Grantees, PPT Presentations, 2010
  • Why Lifespan Respite? Meeting the Needs of the Nation's Family Caregivers (ASA Presentation, 2013 - includes ACL summary of a few 2009 grantees' final reports)

Additional state updates were also published regularly in the FCA-ARCH Newsletter. For archived volumes of the newsletter, click here. For current Lifespan Respite News, see archived ARCH Quick News Updates.

Subscribe to ARCH Quick News.

Lifespan Respite Care Program: State Grantees Project Objectives and Planned Activities Summary Table, click here

This table summarizes the project objectives and planned activities of each of the 2009 - 2012 Lifespan Respite Grantees and partners, including activities implemented with original infrastructure building grants, as well as Expansion Grants and Integration and Sustainability Grants. The table also includes descriptions of the role of the State Respite Coalition and the role of the Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) in the implementation of each state grant. Updated March 2013

Summary of 2009 Grantees' Final Reports

For information culled from select states' final reports, see the presentation of Greg Link, ACL/AoA, and Jill Kagan at the American Society on Aging Meeting in Chicago on March 14, 2013.  The title of the presentation was Why Lifespan Respite? Meeting the Respite Needs of the Nation's Family Caregivers.  Click here.

GAO Lifespan Respite Report, 2010

On October 22, 2010 the Government Accounting Office released a report to Congress on the Lifespan Respite Care Program mandated by the Lifespan Respite Care Act of 2006. Since the program is relatively new, GAO could not carry out the cost benefit analysis required by the legislation, but they did prepare a descriptive summary of current state Lifespan Respite grantee activities. To conduct its required audit, GAO interviewed officials from AOA and reviewed related documentation including grant applications, notice of awards, grantee work plans, and semi-annual progress reports. The ARCH program director was also interviewed to obtain background information on respite care and information about the National Resource Center on Lifespan Respite Care. The report includes a supportive statement from the Administration on Aging. For the full report, Respite Care: Grants and Cooperative Agreements Awarded to Implement the Lifespan Respite Care Act. GAO-11-28R, October 22, 2010, click here.

Jill Kagan, MPH
Program Director
703.256.2084
703.256.0541 FAX
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Casandra Firman
ARCH Evaluation Specialist
360.769.7167
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If you are a State Lifespan Respite Grantee or Stakeholder, Visit Your Own Networking Page

States with  Lifespan Respite Grants

Contact information

2009 Grantees

• Alabama
• Arizona
• Connecticut
• District of Columbia
• Illinois
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• North Carolina
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Texas

2010 Grantees

• Delaware
• Kansas
• Louisiana
• Massachusetts
• Minnesota
• Nebraska
• New York
• Oklahoma
• Pennsylvania
• Utah
• Washington State
• Wisconsin

2011 Grantees

• Colorado
• Hawaii
• Montana
• New Jersey
• Ohio
• Virginia

2012 Grantees

New state Grantee

• Iowa

Integration and Sustainability Grantees

• Alabama
• Arizona
• Nevada
• North Carolina
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• Texas

Expansion Grantees

• Massachusetts
• Virginia

2013 Grantees

New State Grantee

• Idaho

Integration and Sustainability Grantees

• Delaware
• District of Columbia
• Massachusetts
• Oklahoma
• South Carolina
• Texas
• Washington
• Wisconsin

2014 Grantees

New State Grantee

• Arkansas

Integration and Sustainability Grants

• Alabama
• Colorado
• Delaware
• Iowa
• Massachusetts
• Montana
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New York
• North Carolina
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Virginia
• Washington

2015 Grantee

New State Grantee

• Florida

2016 Grantees

New State Grantees

• Maryland
• Mississippi

Program Expansion Supplement Grantees

• Colorado
• Delaware
• Massachusetts
• Montana
• North Carolina
• Washington

2017 Grantees

First Time State Grantees

• North Dakota
• South Dakota

Advancing State Lifespan Respite Systems Grantees

• Alabama
• Arizona
• Colorado
• Idaho
• Nevada
• New York
• North Carolina
• Oklahoma
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Washington