Respite Services

Family caregivers play a vital role in New York’s long-term services and supports system; so much so that the system could not function without them. Most caregivers take on this responsibility willingly, yet caregiving often brings significant financial, physical, and emotional challenges that can affect family life, social connections, and employment.

Respite services provide temporary, substitute care or supervision for individuals who require assistance, allowing caregivers a brief period of relief or rest from their caregiving responsibilities. These services help sustain caregivers in their role and support care recipients in remaining safely in the home for as long as possible, delaying or preventing nursing home placement and the associated higher costs to families.

Types of Respite Services:

• In-home Respite: Services provided in the home of the caregiver or care receiver, allowing the caregiver time away to attend to other activities. In-home respite may also include supports that benefit the caregiver or care receiver during the respite period.
• Out-of-Home Respite: Services provided in settings outside the home, such as adult day care programs, senior centers, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, family type homes, or summer camps. These services allow caregivers time away while ensuring the care receiver’s needs are met in a safe, supervised environment.

Respite services in New York State are supported through a variety of funding streams. Six community-based programs, collectively known as the State Respite Program, are included in the State Budget and administered by the New York State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA).

Additional information about organizations that receive State Respite funding and the counties they serve is available on NYSOFA's Respite Program webpage.

Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) also provide respite services statewide through a variety of federal and state-funded programs, including:

National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP), funded under Title III-E of the Older Americans Act

Expanded In-Home Services for the Elderly Program (EISEP), a state-funded program.

State Respite Program

To be eligible, an individual must be a caregiver, defined as a family member or other non-paid person who provides care or supervision to an adult who is frail and/or has disabilities. The caregiver may or may not reside in the same household as the care receiver.

The care receiver must be an adult who is unable to meet daily needs without assistance or regular supervision due to mental or physical impairment and who is otherwise eligible for services based on that impairment. Priority is given to care receivers who are frail and/or have disabilities and are 60 years of age or older.

National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP)

Respite is one of the supports available through NFCSP. Eligible caregivers include:

• Family caregivers providing care to individuals aged 60 or older; or
• Family caregivers providing care to individuals of any age with Alzheimer's disease or related disorders; or
• Grandparents and other relative caregivers (not parents) age 55 or older providing care to children under age 18; or
• Grandparents, parents, and other relative caregivers aged 55 or older providing care to adults ages 18-59 with disabilities, to whom they are related by blood, marriage, or adoption.

Expanded In-Home Services for the Elderly Program (EISEP)

Respite is one of the services available through EISEP. An EISEP client may be eligible to receive personal care or social adult day services that would give their primary caregiver a break in caregiving. An individual must be eligible for EISEP and have at least one informal caregiver who provides ongoing care.

There is additional respite programs available throughout New York State that are not administered by NYSOFA. For more information, contact NY Connects at 1-800-342-9871 or visit the NY Connects Resource Directory.