Respite Handbook
Guiding Principles

Department of Public Health staff have defined a set of guiding principles for the design and implementation of the Family Support and Respite Program. These principles provide a useful framework for considering the program description outlined in this document.

• Provide resources to families for purchase of respite as promptly and efficiently as possible;
• Only pay for respite, defined as "substitute custodial care" (which may include nursing care in cases where the family itself provides nursing care on a regular basis);
• Be flexible so that families whose children have different levels of medical involvement can be accommodated;
• Be flexible so that families can use funds to pay for services that are available on the market;
• Focus on children at the high end of medical need;
• Focus on families at the low end of the income distribution;
• Integrate with other service systems and promote family enrollment in other programs and services for which they may be eligible;
• Implement at regional or local level;
• Retain the capacity to shift resources between regions should one area of the state show a higher level of need than another;
• Be not only a resource to draw on, but also serve to build capacity to care for children with special health care needs across the state;
• Be readily available to families of children who are undergoing medical treatment, including treatment for acute or potentially terminal conditions (although the system itself will not pay for medical care);
• Ensure that receipt of respite funds does not place any family at risk of loss of benefits.