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What Help Can I Get as a Caregiver?

Start with four buckets:

  1. Local navigation: someone who knows what exists in your county.
  2. Respite, counseling, training, and support groups: help for you as the caregiver.
  3. Help at home: personal care, homemaker help, adult day programs, meals, transportation, safety changes, or respite.
  4. Benefits and work protection: Medicaid home-care pathways, leave from work, veterans programs, tax credits, food, utility, disability, or housing assistance.

This page is a map, not an eligibility decision. Official agencies and program administrators decide eligibility.

The first call

For older-adult or disability-related caregiving in the United States, start with Eldercare Locator: 1-800-677-1116 or eldercare.acl.gov. It can route you to the local Area Agency on Aging or Aging and Disability Resource Center.1

Ask about:

  • Respite care
  • Caregiver counseling or support groups
  • Benefits counseling
  • Adult day programs
  • Transportation
  • Meals
  • Home safety support
  • Legal or long-term-care navigation

What local caregiver support may include

The National Family Caregiver Support Program can fund information, help accessing services, counseling, support groups, caregiver training, respite care, and limited supplemental services through the aging network. Local availability varies.3

Family Caregiver Alliance uses a useful shorthand for early caregiver needs: information, respite, and support. If you are overwhelmed, name which of those three is missing first.2

What home help may include

Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services waivers let states provide long-term services and supports at home or in the community for people who would otherwise need institutional care. Covered service categories can include case management, homemaker services, home health aide, personal care, adult day health, and respite care.4

Some Medicaid programs also support self-direction, where the person receiving services or their representative can direct some services and workers. State rules decide who can be paid, what tasks are covered, whether family members are allowed, and whether there is a waitlist.5

What to gather before asking

You do not need every document before you call. Have the basics:

  • State and county
  • Age of the person you care for
  • Main diagnosis, disability, or functional need
  • Whether they need help with bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, walking, medications, or supervision
  • Insurance: Medicaid, Medicare, VA, private insurance, or none
  • What is breaking first: time, money, safety, transportation, paperwork, or your own health

  1. ACL / Eldercare Locator. "Eldercare Locator home." Source -> ↩

  2. Family Caregiver Alliance. "Caregiving 101: On Being a Caregiver." Source -> ↩

  3. Administration for Community Living. "National Family Caregiver Support Program." Program -> ↩

  4. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. "Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services 1915(c) waivers." Source -> ↩

  5. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. "Medicaid self-directed services." Source -> ↩