Sustainability Tools

The following tools, resources, webinars and funding guides are provided to assist Lifespan Respite grantees and their partners in sustaining their Lifespan Respite grant and State Respite Coalition activities. The resources should be useful to others in the respite network as well.
Sustaining Lifespan Respite Systems: Lessons Learned and Practical Applications with a Checklist for Success
Author: Susan Janko Summers, PhD, ARCH
With technical assistance from ARCH and The Finance Project, eight Exemplar States chosen from among the Lifespan Respite grantees and partners, worked to develop comprehensive state sustainability plans for lifespan respite care. Through in-depth interviews conducted as part of an evaluation of The Finance Project ’s technical assistance efforts, the Exemplar States shared the wisdom they gained from their actual experience in developing Sustainability Plans. Their challenges and successes, along with experiences shared by other states undertaking sustainability planning activities, informed this document on Lessons Learned in sustainability.
Read MoreInfographic: What’s the Key Ingredient for a Successful, Sustainable Coalition?
Author: Casandra Firman, ARCH
As Lifespan Respite grantees and their State Respite Coalition partners work to build diverse and meaningful partnerships for sustainability, ARCH developed this infographic to reflect lessons learned.
Read MoreTools for Sustainability: Financing Strategies for Lifespan Respite Programs and State Respite Coalitions
The matrix, Financing Strategies for Lifespan Respite Programs and State Respite Coalitions, provides a summary of approaches that can be used by Lifespan Respite grantees or programs and state respite coalitions to assist with financial sustainability. Includes concrete state and local examples.
Read MoreTools for Collaboration: Building and Sustaining Partnerships for Lifespan Respite Care Programs
This fact sheet provides definitions of different levels of collaboration and answers the questions: Why is collaboration a priority area for the Lifespan Respite Care Program? and What does collaboration in Lifespan Respite Care Programs mean? Also provided are state examples of effective collaborations and partnerships to advance Lifespan Respite systems, and links to valuable tools and resources to support Lifespan Respite Care Program Lead Agencies, State Respite Coalitions, ADRCs and their stakeholders in developing or maintaining collaborations.
Read MoreThe Lifespan Respite Sustainability Toolkit, developed by The Finance Project in collaboration with ARCH, includes:
The Finance Project's Sustainability Planning Workbook, a comprehensive tool composed of five modules and a CD-ROM that helps users clarify their vision, identify key issues in sustaining their work, and develop strategies to achieve long-term goals. While the materials in the Workbook are focused on services for children and families, the strategies and training modules for sustainability planning are relevant across the age and disability spectrum.*
- Sustainability Planning Workbook Implementation Guide for Lifespan Respite Grantees and Partners designed to guide you through the Sustainability Planning Workbook. The guide highlights sustainability strategies specific to sustaining Lifespan Respite grant activities and State Respite Coalitions.
- A Matrix of Modules, Tasks, Tools, and Resources for Sustaining Lifespan Respite Systems serves as an interactive table of contents for the Workbook and its five modules.
- Worksheet 1: Workplan for Sustainability Planning to help you get started.
- A sample Sustainability Plan Outline to guide you through development and writing of your final plan.
- Finance Project Logic Model (posted with permission from The Finance Project)
- Financing Strategies Matrix
If you want to start more slowly with self assessment and figuring out what to sustain, see Getting Started with Sustainability Planning on this page.
Getting Started: A Sustainability Self-Assessment Tool
Sustaining initiatives such as Lifespan Respite programs, coalitions or networks depends on developing a clear, sensible, and convincing plan for marshalling the key resources that are necessary to continue (and often to expand) your work. However, in order to develop a sustainability plan detailing where you want to go, a necessary first step is to take stock of where you currently are.
The Uses of the Self-Assessment Process
This tool is intended to help leaders who are working to sustain respite services to assess their progress and identify areas that need extra attention, resources, or technical assistance. This diagnostic process can provide valuable information to guide the development of your sustainability plan, for example, to capitalize on the assets in your community, as well as to plan for the development of additional capacity in areas that need strengthening. This tool can also help you make decisions about how to target scarce resources to move toward sustainability. This tool is part of The Finance Project’s Sustainability Planning Workbook, a comprehensive toolkit for developing a sustainability plan.
Access the Sustainability Self-Assessment Tool
Getting Started: What to Sustain and the Needed Resources
Adapted from the Finance Project Sustainability Project
Acess the Getting Started Worksheets
If you don’t want to tackle the full Finance Sustainability Project Workbook and its five modules, it’s too overwhelming currently, or you aren’t sure you have the time, committed stakeholders, or resources to do so, a productive and much simpler way to begin is to figure out what you want to sustain and to brainstorm needed resources. Using these four worksheets is a pragmatic first step to sustainability planning.
See also the webinar on Introduction to a Framework for Sustainability Planning
Part One of the Webinar Series on Sustaining Respite – The Foundation for Sustainability: Empowering Leaders, Cultivating Partnerships, and Nurturing Mentorships
Part One of the Webinar Series on Sustaining Respite The Foundation for Sustainability: Empowering Leaders, Cultivating Partnerships, and Nurturing Mentorships This session offers guidance in forming and nurturing strong partnerships, the importance of shared leadership within and across organizations, and ways to mentor and support strong…
View MoreNew York State Lifespan Respite Final Sustainability Plan Report
The June 24, 2022, Sustainability Learning Collaborative featured Deana Prest and Abbey Derepentigny from the NY State Office for the Aging. They presented the New York State Caregiving and Respite Coalition’s Lifespan Respite Final Sustainability Plan Report.
View MoreStrategic and Sustainability Planning
Strategic and Sustainability Planning Presentation by LC members, Sarah Toevs, PhD, Director, Center for Study of Aging, Boise State University and Marilyn Sword, Coordinator, Idaho Caregiver Alliance. Discussion followed on the differences between strategic, sustainability and business plans, the impact of coalition structure on sustainability,…
View MoreState Respite Legislation – Advancing Respite for Family Caregivers
State Lifespan Respite grantees and their state coalition partners are exploring strategies to help sustain activities to expand and enhance respite resources and options for family caregivers, to increase capacity for providing respite services through respite provider training and recruitment and to improve access to…
View MorePutting a dollar sign to it.
The FRIENDS Cost Analysis Template Adapted for Respite This webinar explores why and how we conduct cost analysis. It will provide attendees with a simple, electronic tool designed to calculate the exact cost of providing respite. The presenters will demonstrate how to use the Respite…
View MoreBuilding Pathways to Sustainability – Resources from the Aging and Disability Business Institute
As health care providers and payers increasingly recognize the importance of social and behavioral determinants of health for their members/patients and their caregivers, they are increasingly partnering with community-based organizations (CBOs) to provide services to address these issues. This webinar will talk about opportunities for…
View MoreNo Wrong Door and Lifespan Respite
The Shared Vision of Connecting Individuals and Families to Services and Supporting Family Caregivers Accessing long-term services and supports (LTSS) at the community level for people with disabilities and older adults can be daunting. In response, states continue to refine their access system for all…
View MoreUsing the Finance Project Sustainability Tools
Learning Collaborative leaders from the Exemplar States* who participated in the ARCH Sustainability TA Project shared their experiences in using the Finance Project Toolkit and provided an introduction to Logic Modeling and Sustainability Planning. State Case Study Presentations NEBRASKA, Sharon Johnson, Nebraska Lifespan Respite Network…
View MoreSustaining Lifespan Respite and Strengthening Stakeholder Engagement
How can we best sustain respite programs and services over time? Lifespan Respite Grantees and their partners consistently rank “providing funding sustainability training and assistance” as a top priority. Without exception, ARCH grantees identified “Funding Sustainability” as the area of highest need for training and…
View MoreCreating a Strategic Financing Plan
Presenter: Cheri Hayes, President & CEO, The Finance Project The Finance Project conducted a webinar on Module III of The Finance Project’s Sustainability Planning Workbook: Creating a Strategic Financing Plan. Presenter Cheri Hayes, CEO, The Finance Project, provided an overview of the module, which will…
View MoreFederal Funding and Support Opportunities for Respite
Building Blocks for Lifespan Respite Systems This guide provides information about each of the federal programs that provides or could potentially provide respite funding or support. It is meant to be used by state Lifespan Respite Care Programs and their partners as a sustainability tool…
View MoreMedicaid Waivers for Respite Support
This information is currently being updated. For the most recent information, please visit State Waivers List on Medicaid.gov. State-by-State Summaries of Medicaid Waiver Information Author: Kathy Mayfield-Smith, Research Associate Professor, Division of Medicaid Policy Research, Institute for Families in Society at the University of South Carolina…
View MorePlease find state sustainability plans, logic models for sustainability planning and other written sustainability materials that states have chosen to share with their peers across states.
Massachusetts
Massachusetts Lifespan Respite Coalition Sustainability Logic Model
Nebraska
Respite Sustainability Plans
- Respite Across the Lifespan
- Nebraska Lifespan Respite SFY 2017 Sustainability Plan
- Northern Region Respite Network
- Central Region Respite Network
- Southeast Region Respite Network
- Southwest Region Respite Network
- Western Region Respite Network
- University of Nebraska Medical Center - Munroe Meyer Institute
Work Plans
Logic Models
Nevada
Listen to the recorded presentation of Cory Lutz from the NV Lifespan Respite Coalition on this tool.
New York
Lifespan Respite Final Sustainability Report 2022
New York Lifespan Respite Sustainability Retreat Agenda
New York State Lifespan Logic Model for Sustainability
Lifespan Respite Financing Strategies Logic Model
Pennsylvania
PA Lifespan Respite Summary Report
PA Logic Model with Recommendations for
Sustainability Planning
States Share Sustainability Planning Process and Progress at the 2014 Lifespan Respite Grantee and Partner Learning Symposium, Nashville, TN
- Joan Rafferty and Amy Nazaire, MA Lifespan Respite Coalition, PPT Presentation
- Ellen Nau, VA Lifespan Respite grantee and VA Caregiver Coalition, PPT Presentation
The group meets on the fourth Friday of every month at 12:00 PM Eastern for one hour to share progress made in sustainability planning using the Finance Project Toolkit or other useful planning tools.
Discussions focus on challenges encountered by group members and strategies used to overcome barriers, successful collaboration building techniques, financing strategies, data collection and more. Participants actively seek guidance and suggestions from each other about the sustainability planning process, and share their own progress in real time. The group is facilitated by ARCH consultant, Susan Janko Summers, PhD.
Visit the Sustainability Planning Learning Collaborative for meeting recordings and shared resources.
To complement and enhance discussions of the Sustainability Planning Learning Collaborative (LC), the following documents and presentations were developed and shared by the LC facilitator, but may be of interest and use to others:
The Easy-Peasy Sustainability Planner for ACL-LR Applicants
Writing a Comprehensive Sustainability Plan and Finance Project Work Group Written Plan Case Study
Case Study for Writing a Sustainability Plan
Checking-in to Sustain Our Work
Defining Collaborative Communities
Contributions of time, talent and treasure in sustaining Lifespan Respite
Coalitions as a Tool for Advocacy
Sustainability Planning and Business Planning Compared
Forming, Building and Maintaining Coalitions
Respite Systems, Shared Leadership and Collaboration
What do you wish to sustain? Implications of Covid-19 on Lifespan Respite Sustainability Planning