§ 49-6-71 — Purpose

The purpose of this article shall be to establish a comprehensive caregiver program which will marshal and integrate available resources and services to provide support and services to caregivers of chronically dependent adults. This article exists to coordinate assistance and maximize available services while maintaining and supporting existing services for caregivers. Such assistance may include: (1) Coordination and integration of information and services to caregivers in Georgia, including, but not limited to, insurance and benefits counseling, respite services available under the community care services program, the state respite or adult day-care program, or the Older Americans Act of 1965, as amended, and coordination with educational and other services offered by the caregiver resource center; (2) Assistance to the caregiver to assure that supports to the functionally dependent older adult or adult suffering from dementia are adequate and appropriate to maintain these individuals in the home; (3) Intermittent, planned, or emergency relief to the caregiver, either directly or through use of other available resources and services; (4) Restoration or maintenance of the caregiver's well-being; (5) Preservation of the caregiver's informal supports such as family and friends; (6) Supportive social services to the caregiver; and (7) Affordable services through a cost-sharing mechanism developed by the Division of Aging Services of the department for those families whose household incomes do not exceed 400 percent of the federal poverty level.