To be eligible, one must be either the person with dementia or the family caregiver. Respite is delivered in a variety of ways. New York's Caregivers Resource Centers New York's resource centers, begun in 1989, are administered at the state level by the New York State Office for the Aging, and are located at the state's seventeen Area Agencies on Aging. The Minnesota projects were begun in 1992 and are administered by the state Department of Human Services, Aging and Adult Services Division. The primary support services include respite care using trained volunteers, caregiver support groups, and community education.
Some sites provide limited paid respite assistance.
No comprehensive list of state-funded caregiver programs exists due to the fragmentation of services, and variations in eligibility, mode of delivery, and scope of services. Funding is very limited, with most states using state general revenue funds to support family and informal caregivers. Respite care is the service most typically funded by state governments. California's Caregiver Resource Centers and Pennsylvania's Family Caregiver Support Program.