Grants for Caregivers

The best strategy to obtain a grant for giving care to a child, or to a disabled or elderly person, is to approach local social services and health departments or charities. Many federal government agencies and private foundations provide grants designed to support caregivers. However, most of these grants are not issued to individuals but to government agencies or nonprofit organizations operating on the local level.

Kinship Child Care

• Similar to other states, the state of Washington provides assistance to those who give care to a child through local social service departments: "The state offers kinship caregivers several legal custody options; however, informal caregivers have little legal authority unless they pursue one of these options in court. Formal kinship caregivers, because they care for children in state custody, have access to more state-provided services than do informal caregivers." Kinship care is often provided by a relative or by one who is close to the afflicted.

Hospice Care

• The Community Hospices of America Foundation (CHA) provides small grants to individuals for professional as well as kinship caregivers. The foundation's website contains an application form as well as the CHA Policies and Procedures Manual, which states the amounts of funds provided, conditions to be met and grant objectives. CHA normally responds to applications within two weeks.

Alzheimer's Care

• The Alzheimer's Foundation of America (AFA) points out that their Family Respite Care Grant "...helps alleviate the cost of respite care for families caring for loved ones with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia." The grant is distributed through nonprofit member organizations. Individual grant seekers should go to the member page on the AFA's website and click their state on the map to find a listing of local nonprofit AFA members with contact information.

Veteran's Care

• According to Caregiverlist, Veteran's Aid and Attendance Benefit for Senior Care is a "special pension benefit which pays for a private Caregiver to assist in the daily activities of living, including eating, bathing, dressing and mobility." This benefit is awarded to individuals below a certain income level and requires a doctor's recommendation. Caregiverlist provides links to all three required filing forms.

Community Resources

• Catholic Community Services, the American Red Cross and other charities operate on the community level. Their local chapters can be found in telephone directories or on their websites. The Department of Health and Human Services has launched a website titled Eldercare Locater, which allows individuals to search for a number of community resources at once, by zip code, city and county. In most cases, associations supporting a specific disease will also direct grant seekers to local chapters.