Parents, friends and family of children and adults with disabilities are often called upon to do the essential but difficult work providing unpaid care for a loved one. In King County, currently 70 percent of people living with a disability reside with a family caregiver, and 23 percent of those family caregivers are themselves older adults, ages sixty or older.
A new funding opportunity is available from the Veterans, Seniors and Human Services Levy (VSHSL) to provide programming to support respite for caregivers of persons with disabilities to decrease isolation, promote inclusion and accessibility, and afford opportunities for respite for caregivers of persons with disabilities so they can sustain their vital role and relationship.
Acknowledging the unique and long-term needs of persons with disabilities and their caregivers, the goal of this strategy is to reduce the stress of unpaid caregivers, which will in turn bolster the strength of these supportive relationships and improve quality of life for the whole family, supporting them to remain stable and comfortable long-term.
Funding for Caregiver Respite for Caregivers of Persons with Disabilities
The Caregiver Respite for Caregivers of Persons with Disabilities strategy seeks to promote the inclusion, equitable access, advocacy and self-determination of persons with disabilities and their caregivers. This funding opportunity is designed to allow applicants to identify what opportunities for respite are needed and encourages creative and broad solutions.
Funded programming will also address the root causes of inequitable access to resources and information and will center and amplify the experiences of marginalized communities. The funding is open to, and encourages supports for, persons with disabilities of all kinds.
Successful applicants will:
- Provide or subsidize traditional respite supports
For example, many types of respite provide through traditional government benefits such as the Children’s Administration, DDA, Medicaid and others have strict eligibility requirements and parameters to indicate who can utilize this service. Despite these restrictions, families may still benefit from these vital services. Therefore, an applicant may apply for funds to subsidize traditional respite supports or may itself be a respite provider. - Non-traditional respite programming
Persons with disabilities and their caregivers are a diverse community, and so the needs and types of services vary not only in accessibility supports but person to person and family to family. Non-traditional or informal program proposals are not limited to the following: respite programing, mental health programming, programming for persons with disabilities, programming for both caregivers and persons with disabilities, technology supports an innovative programming. See full funding opportunity for more details.
Application details
Available funding: Up to $610,000 in VSHSL funds
Investment period: January 1, 2021 – December 31, 2023 (subject to change)
Questions: Contact Allison Jurkovich, at ajurkovich@kingcounty.gov
Applications due: November 23, 2020 by 11:59 pm
Bidders Conference:
October 23, 2020 | 10:30 – 11:30 am
Join by Zoom
Conference ID: 999 5467 8786, Passcode: 180318
Join by phone: 253-215-8782
Communication access real-time translation (CART) will be available at this meeting. If you need additional accommodations to participate, please contact the procurement lead by October 14, 2020.
The Bidders Conference session will be recorded and posted at kingcounty.gov/VSHSL-Funding.
For more information and to apply visit: https://www.zoomgrants.com/zgf/DCHS_VSHSL_Caregiver_Respite_RFP
