Grants for Adult Day Care – These days, more and more people need adult day care services, since there are also more and more families that have family members extremely busy with their full-time job to maintain the welfare of the whole family. Meanwhile, other family members are also busy with their school so these people simply don’t have enough time to be with their senior members of the family, especially during daytime.
The number of adult daycares is increasing yearly, with more than 5600 programs identified in 2014. The number has increased by more than 1,000 in just 4 years (according to the National Adult Day Services Association (NADSA). Even with the increase in number, the number of daycares available for seniors is still lacking, as proven by the waiting list found in nearly a third of the total number of programs or facilities. With more and more families has all of its members working full-time, there will be more demand for these services.
Therefore, we can conclude that there’s still a need for adult day care. If you are interested to help out your community, you can always try to start an adult day care service in your area. After all, the demand for daytime care for senior citizen will only increase each year, as we have shown you from the figures above.
How do I Start an Adult Day Care
The first step you want to do is to confirm the need for such service in your area. You can start by exploring the number of senior citizen living in your area by looking at the US Census Data. After that, visit your state’s National Association of Area Agencies on Aging or related agencies that you think have a valid data on the community-based services available for disabled people and senior citizen. Other good places to look for info are the state’s Health and Human Services Agency and also State Association for Adult Day Care.
Now that you’ve determined the need for adult day care, you should proceed to learn the regulations in your state. Note that each state may have different regulation, hence we cannot give you an exact pointer about them. However, you can find out more about these regulations (including zoning regulations and safety regulations) by asking your State’s Department of Health and Human Services for the Adult Day Services Regulation.
Now that you have the knowledge for the technical and regulation needed for the service, you can start preparing a place, write the business plan, and start thinking about how to fund an adult day care.
Grants for Adult Day Care
Grants can be considered as one of the best possible ways to start or maintain an adult day care. However, you can hardly find a grant that will cover the whole operation or construction cost for the service. What you can expect from these grant providers is program funding, which will allow you to provide a better service for these aging people.
Below are some of the examples of these type of grants that we’ve found:
Administration on Aging Grants
If you’re planning to create a needed adult daycare in your area, you may be able to get some help from the Administration on Aging. However, they have preferred criteria on the type of residents and services provided, so it would be better if you can confirm those criteria beforehand. Moreover, the AOA also provides grants for various elderly-related services, including prevention of elder abuse, nutrition support, and also support for caregivers.
Social Services Block Grant
Being a federal program, the Social Services Block Grant is awarded to every state, and after that, the state will distribute the grant to the community via appointed agencies. The main purpose of the grant is to help the state government to provide assistance so that people will be more independent and self-sufficient. The grant program covers many areas, which also include adult daycare. Since every state has different agencies appointed for the task, it is a great idea to visit your state’s Department of Social Services to know about the appointed agencies.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Grants
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Grant provides help for services that are related to general health-care, and fortunately, adult daycare is included. You can utilize the grant from this foundation to train your staff, or perhaps even provide innovative programs for the elderly residents.
Department of Veterans Affairs Grants
The VA is also an excellent source of funding. If your adult daycare center provides services for veterans of the armed forces, you might be eligible for the grant. We highly encourage owners of adult daycare centers to check out their state’s Department of Veteran Affair website or simply visit their office to learn more about the program and also its requirements.
Taking care of adults will definitely require more than financial capability, because the participants are very diverse, with different abilities, ethnicity, age, and medical condition. However, getting a financial assistance will definitely make your noble goal closer to reality.
References:
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation – Grants and Grant Programs: www.rwjf.org/en/how-we-work/grants-and-grant-programs.html
- image: huffingtonpost.com
