Important Information: Contact your local congressman

this is pretty important- not everyone can afford the care that is needed and the government needs to help out:

ACTION NEEDED: Call Congress Today to Ensure Funding for Lifespan Respite and Family Caregivers
Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Funding levels proposed by Congress for fiscal year 2011 may be cut if we don't act NOW!

Currently, the federal government is being funded through December 18 with a stopgap funding measure, known as a continuing resolution (CR). Congress is considering two primary options for funding the federal government for the remainder of Fiscal Year (FY) 2011: a single, large appropriations bill based on work already done by the House and Senate (called an omnibus), or another CR, which would fund the government through the rest of FY 2011, mostly at FY 2010 levels.

It is still unclear what method Congress will use. The omnibus bill is preferred because it would guarantee increases for both the Lifespan Respite Care Act and the National Family Caregiver Support Program. In any case, we support funding at the higher levels for FY 2011.

Maintaining FY 2010 funding levels for the Lifespan Respite Act and the National Family Caregiver Support Program would mean 200,000 fewer family caregivers will receive support services and 3 million hours of respite will be lost.

Please CALL CONGRESS TODAY to ensure that ANY final FY 2011 funding bill for Health and Human Services includes:

• $7 million for Lifespan Respite, the amount included in the Senate FY 2011 Labor, HHS, Education Appropriations bill.
• $200 million for the National Family Caregiver Support Program, the amount the President recommended as part of his Middle Class Task Force Initiative, and included in the Senate bill.

These funding levels proposed by Congress for FY 2011 may be cut if we don't act NOW!  Congress is expected to decide by next week how to proceed in regard to FY 2011 funding.  

Call your Representative(s) and Senators TODAY.

1. Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Representative’s or Senator’s office. When connected, ask to speak to the person who works on health or disability issues.
2. If you don’t know who your Representative and Senators are, visit www.congress.org and enter your zip code.
3. Explain the importance of providing these funding levels in the final FY 2011 funding bill. Use the talking points below to make your case.
4. Ask the staff member if his/her boss will contact the Appropriations Committee in support of including these funding levels in the final FY 2011 spending bill, no matter what format it takes.

Message/Talking Points:

-  Over 65 million family caregivers provide at least 80% of long-term care and support to family members of all ages with disabilities or chronic conditions. According to AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving, 88% of these family caregivers do not receive any respite services. Also, 85% of family caregivers of veterans receive no respite services, even through the Veterans Administration.
-  If we continue to deny supports such as respite, to these family caregivers, much more costly foster care, nursing home placements or other institutional placements become the only alternative.
-  Please include the additional funding for Lifespan Respite and National Family Caregiver Support that the Administration proposed and Congressional Committees already voted to support. The extra funding will allow nearly 200,000 additional caregivers to be served and 3 million more hours of respite care to be provided.

From the National Respite Coalition Lifespan Respite Task Force