Some caretakers ineligible for reimbursement because of age
Even as the temperature drops and winter approaches, Linda Mitchell’s 5-year-old grandson still constantly asks her to take him and his 2-year-old brother to swim at Alameda Waterpark — a place they visited many times during the summer.
Mitchell, of Butler, said the pool passes she bought this summer were reimbursed by the Caregiver Support Program administered by the Butler County Area Agency on Aging. As the legal caretaker of her two grandsons, any financial help she can get in raising them is appreciated.
“The big one was the reimbursement for my family membership to take my kids to the pool at Alameda,” Mitchell said. “You keep your receipts with your items on it, you list it on your form, sign receipts. At the end of the month you mail it in, and shortly after that, you get a reimbursement check in the mail.”
Beth Herold, director of the Butler County Area Agency of Aging, said although the county gets plenty of funding to distribute through the Caregiver Support Program, many people who could be helped by it don’t qualify for the funding.
“It has these parameters that a lot of grandparents don’t qualify for because they’re not old enough,” Herold said. “There are some requirements for grandparents that are very difficult to meet.”
Sarah Pierwsza, clinical supervisor at the county Area Agency on Aging, said eight people in Butler County are enrolled in the program. The local Agency on Aging distributes money from the Pennsylvania Department of Aging, which reimburses certain caretaker costs for people with legal guardianship over children under 18 years old or people above 60 years old with “functional deficits.”
According to Pierwsza, people enrolled in the program can be reimbursed up to $600 a month for certain supplies and services. The Agency on Aging has two care workers who also help people enrolled in the program budget under its guidelines.
“There is a care manager who comes and meets with them and they come up with a plan,” Pierwsza said. “Maximum they can get each month is $600. Not every grandparent may be eligible for that, it just depends on when they meet their care managers.”
There is no financial eligibility requirement for the Caregiver Support Program, and the amount of reimbursement is based on the total gross income and household size of the care receiver. The percentage of reimbursement is determined using a sliding scale based on the Federal Poverty Level, according to the state Department of Aging.
This year, the Butler County Area Agency on Aging got a little more than $282,000 in state and federal funding for the program, plus about $33,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act to distribute. Pierwsza said the agency will help people apply for the caregiver program, although some may have to jump through a few hoops to be eligible for the funding.
“The caregiver has to be age 55 and older, and some people are under that age,” Pierwsza said. “They have to be the primary caregiver of the child; not the biological parent, then related as a grandparent, stepgrandparent or other relative by blood, marriage or adoption.”
Pierwsza said people can be reimbursed for up to $600 a month, but no one enrolled in Butler County has exceeded that amount in eligible receipts. Additionally, people enrolled in the Caregiver Support Program can have only certain expenses reimbursed, according to Pierwsza, many of which are for specific needs.
“For people with infants, we reimburse for formula or diapers,” Pierwsza said. “It's normally seasonal clothing like coats and boots or swimsuits … It can be school supplies, anything they need to get ready for school, babysitting, sports like dance or gymnastics tuition, summer camps.”
Mitchell said she regularly is reimbursed for items such as diapers and even a baby skin cream for her 2-year-old grandson, who has eczema.
Mitchell is 66 and her husband is 70, and they have had custody of their grandchildren for about two years. She said the Caregiver Support Program has helped the two afford raising their grandchildren, but she wonders if the reimbursement available will be enough if it remains steady years down the road.
“When they get a little older and things get a little expensive, we'll probably have to raise it up,” Mitchell said.
Pierwsza said the program went from having only two or three enrollees in the county to the eight families enrolled this year. Economic strain has led more people to need help from the program, Pierwsza said.
“I think with the drug epidemics, it has really increased the need for the program,” she said. “We have a few (where the) parents just died unexpectedly.”
Mitchell said raising her grandchildren is difficult, and the reimbursements available through the Caregiver Support Program have allowed her to give her grandchildren somewhat of a normal life.
“It's an emotional struggle, it's a physical struggle and it is definitely a financial struggle,” Mitchell said. “Every little bit really makes a big difference.”
