在家照顾老人和孩子有联邦计划兜底：全国家庭照护者支持计划五类服务，喘息照护近600万小时
在美国，照顾家中老人和孩子的人，自己也有一个联邦计划可以靠。美国社区生活管理局（ACL）主管的全国家庭照护者支持计划（NFCSP）2000年设立，依据《美国老年人法案》第三卷E篇运行，联邦按各州70岁以上人口的占比把经费拨给各州和领地，再由地方机构把服务送到照护者手里。
计划提供五类服务：向照护者提供可用服务的信息、协助对接服务、个人咨询与支持小组和照护培训、喘息照护，以及有限的补充服务。其中喘息照护是让照护者能暂时歇一歇，有人上门、送日托中心或短期住进机构代为照看。按 ACL 公布的最近完整服务数据（2014财年），70多万名照护者接受过该计划服务，其中60.4万人用过喘息照护，累计近600万小时；10万多人接受过咨询、支持小组和培训。
谁能用，范围写得很清楚：照顾60岁以上老人的成年家人或其他非正式照护者；照顾任何年龄阿尔茨海默病及相关疾病患者的照护者；55岁以上、照顾18岁以下孩子的年长亲属（祖辈亲属照护正是其中一类，与配图中的情形对应）；以及55岁以上、照顾18到59岁残障成年人的亲属，包括父母。
效果也有调查支撑：74%的照护者说这些服务让他们能把照护坚持得更久，88%说自己成了更好的照护者，近62%说没有这些服务，被照顾的人可能已经住进养老院了。找服务的入口是 ACL 的 Eldercare Locator，可按邮编查本地的老龄机构。（来源：美国社区生活管理局）
A Federal Program Backs Family Caregivers: Five Services Under the National Family Caregiver Support Program, and Nearly 6 Million Hours of Respite
In the United States, the people who care for older adults and children at home have a federal program of their own. The National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP), run by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), was established in 2000 under Title III-E of the Older Americans Act. It provides grants to states and territories, based on their share of the population age 70 and over, so local agencies can deliver support to family and informal caregivers.
The program funds five types of services: information about available services, assistance in gaining access to them, individual counseling, support groups and caregiver training, respite care, and supplemental services on a limited basis. Respite care gives the caregiver a temporary break, at home, in an adult day care or in an institutional setting. In fiscal year 2014, the most recent year for which ACL publishes service data, more than 700,000 caregivers received services through the program; more than 604,000 of them received respite care totaling nearly 6 million hours, and more than 100,000 received counseling, support groups and training.
Eligibility is spelled out in the law. It covers adult family members or other informal caregivers of individuals 60 and older, caregivers of individuals of any age with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders, older relatives aged 55 and older providing care to children under 18, the group shown in the photo, and older relatives, including parents, aged 55 and older providing care to adults ages 18 to 59 with disabilities.
Survey results in ACL's program data show what the services do: 74 percent of caregivers said the services enabled them to provide care longer than would otherwise have been possible, 88 percent said the services helped them be a better caregiver, and nearly 62 percent said that without the services, the care recipient would be living in a nursing home. Caregivers can find local help through ACL's Eldercare Locator, which connects them to Area Agencies on Aging and community organizations. (Source: Administration for Community Living)
来源：美国社区生活管理局
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：一位年长的女性亲属与一个孩子依偎在一起。全国家庭照护者支持计划的服务对象之一，正是55岁以上照顾未成年孩子的年长亲属。Wikimedia Commons 图片。 / Photo: An older relative caregiver with a young child. Older relatives aged 55 and older who care for children are among those eligible under the National Family Caregiver Support Program. Image via Wikimedia Commons.
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