A temporary short break to give relief to family caregivers from the extraordinary intensive demands of providing ongoing care in the home for a loved one with special needs.
A person who provides full-time (40 or more hours per week) of unpaid care to assist with activities of daily living (bathing, dressing, feeding, medication management, errands, chores, etc.) for a parent, spouse/partner, child, sibling, grandparent, or other family member who requires full-time care due to a disability or chronic illness.
A person hired by the Primary Caregiver to give them a short break (respite) from daily caregiving duties. Respite provision at onsite, fee-based respite day/evening programs and camps are also eligible for reimbursement.
Alabama Lifespan Respite does not employ Respite Providers. Therefore, Caregivers are responsible for identifying, hiring, and training Respite Providers (or enrolling their Care Recipient in a day/evening program or camp) to receive respite and will be reimbursed for services rendered based on timesheet guidelines. Reimbursement is not income and should not affect SSI benefits.
Timesheets are simply a paper form that documents when and how long respite took place and who provided the respite (Respite Provider). Need help completing your timesheet?
Once a Caregiver applies and is qualified for the respite reimbursement program, the Caregiver will receive a welcome packet with instructions and a timesheet indicating the amount of reimbursement award they will receive for a specific period of time.
Caregivers may choose anyone they wish to provide respite and may require training (such as CPR or basic First Aid), if they so choose, but the level of training is at the discretion of the Caregiver. The Respite Provider must be at least age 18 and may not live in the same home as the Care Recipient. More than one Respite Provider may provide respite during the dates listed on the timesheet and be recorded as such. Caregivers/Respite Providers mutually determine a rate of pay. Respite can be provided in-home or onsite at a community respite program.
When respite service is completed, the Respite Provider signs the timesheet to confirm the date and time respite was received. The Caregiver will pay the Respite Provider out-of-pocket and submit the completed/signed timesheet to Alabama Lifespan Respite, who will issue a check to reimburse the Caregiver (based on award amount that must be utilized during the specified time frame). Once Alabama Lifespan Respite receives the completed/signed timesheet and verifies information, reimbursement will be issued to the Caregiver within 30 days.
While the instance of a caregiver’s reimbursement check being permanently lost in the mail or damaged is thankfully low, it does unfortunately happen, and a check must be reissued occasionally. Read our agency’s guidelines for check reissue requests pertaining to respite reimbursement here: ALR:UCPHSV Check Reissue Guidelines
Please note that while Alabama Lifespan Respite wishes we could help all qualified individuals who seek assistance, regrettably we only have limited funds to meet the needs of qualified caregivers. Therefore, we can only respond to requests based on our available resources.
Applications are closed at this time.
*If you have applied for and received respite reimbursement after July 2025 there is no need to reapply. Re-enrollment information will be sent to recipients annually.
Alabama Lifespan Respite is not currently accepting applications to the respite reimbursement program. Please check back in July.
