CalCARES - California Caregiver Awareness, Resources, Education & Support Program

A daughter puts her arms around a smiling mother wrapped up in a blanket, sitting in a wheelchair.

Funded through the Administration for Community Living’s Advancing State Implementation of the National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers grant, CalCARES seeks to improve awareness, navigation and educational opportunities for California’s caregivers serving older adults and people with disabilities from underserved and under-resourced communities. In alignment with the National Strategy for Family Caregivers and California’s Master Plan for Aging, CalCARES supports the diverse community of caregivers who are the backbone supporting older adults and people with disabilities in their homes and communities.

Program Components

Administration Details

Objectives

  • Awareness: Increase awareness about the role and value of caregivers, the unique needs of caregivers and key resources available by leveraging trusted community voices and ethnic media as messengers (aligns with National Strategy Goal 1: Increasing awareness of, and outreach to, family caregivers).
  • Navigation: Maximize caregiver engagement with and referrals to services in the community by developing connections across health care and home and community-based services (aligns with National Strategy Goal 2: Advancing partnerships and engagement with family caregivers).
  • Increase access to high quality trainings for caregivers (aligns with Strategy Goal 3: Strengthening services and supports for family caregivers).

Target Population

Family caregivers as well as providers in Healthcare and Home and Community Based Services. This includes caregivers serving older adults and people with disabilities from underserved and under-resourced communities including Black, Latino, AIAN, API; rural/frontier; limited English proficiency; individuals with I/DD; members of religious minorities; those with the greatest economic need; and LGBTQI+ populations.

Outcomes

  • Awareness of the critical role of caregiving;
  • Increased awareness of referral pathways and resources;
  • Usability of and satisfaction with a curated and indexed inventory of existing caregiver trainings.

Dissemination

The CalCARES project work and related findings will be disseminated through the MPA Stakeholder Advisory Committees and newsletters, the CalCARES partners, the CalCARES Steering Committee members, Bridging I/DD and Aging Networks SAT (NACDD-funded), NWD State Leadership Council (ACL), ADPI CAlz Connect initiative (ACL), Cross State Caregiving Collaborative (John A. Hartford Foundation), California Area Agencies on Aging, California Foundation for Independent Living, Caregiver Resource Centers, Aging and Disability Resource Connection programs. In additional information and encouragement of the National Strategy will be shared through stakeholder newsletters, quarterly briefings, regular webinars, social media, and MPA outreach activities.

Steering Committee

Steering Committee Member List

As a core value, CDA prioritizes engaging constituents to guide initiatives and provide input. For this effort, CDA will integrate with and leverage the activities of several existing groups that are working on efforts impacting family caregivers. Across these committees, members represent a broad spectrum of organizations supporting older adults, people with disabilities and caregivers, providing liaison back to the community. This approach will also facilitate dissemination and improve sustainability, since the work of these established committees will have a greater reach and continue beyond this two-year grant.

Partners

  • Department of Developmental Services (CDDS)
  • University of California Davis Family Caregiving Institute (UCD FCI)
  • Collaborative Consulting (CC)
  • US International Media (USIM)
  • Marin Center for Independent Living (MCIL)
  • Imperial County Area Agency on Aging
  • California Association of Area Agencies on Aging (C4A)
  • Association of California Caregiver Resources Centers
  • California Department of Public Health (CDPH)
  • University of Southern California Family Caregiver Support Center
  • Third County Partner (TBD)

Question?

For project questions, please contact CalCARES@aging.ca.gov.

For future opportunities to partner with CDA, please visit Grant Opportunities.

This project is supported by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $653,546 with $490,000 (75%) funded by ACL/HHS and $163,546 (25%) financed from state, local, or non-federal source(s). The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by ACL/HHS, or the U.S. Government.