House OKs Ferguson Request of $10 Million for Respite Care

Press Release

House OKs Ferguson Request of $10 Million for Respite Care

The House on Wednesday unanimously approved an amendment by Rep. Mike Ferguson, R-N.J., to target $10 million for respite care services to finance a law Ferguson authored last year.

That bipartisan measure, which last December won unanimous support in Congress and President Bush signed into law, authorized $289 million over five years to finance respite care services. Under the law, states will train volunteers to provide respite services to the estimated 50 million families, including 900,000 New Jersey residents, caring at home for adults and children with special needs.

Ferguson and his chief Democrat sponsor, Rep. James Langeivin, D-R.I., sent a letter in February to the House Appropriations Committee calling for the maximum first-year funding authorized by Ferguson's law - $40 million.

But earlier this month, the House Appropriations Committee - now controlled by Democrats - did not include any funding for the respite care program in the annual spending bill for the Department of Health and Human Services.

When debate began on that underlying bill this week in the House, Ferguson planned to offer an amendment appropriating the full first-year funding of $40 million. But the Appropriations Committee chairman, Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., said he would object to that level of funding.

Ferguson decided to offer his $10 million amendment after Obey said he would not object to that funding level. Ferguson's amendment won House approval on a voice vote Wednesday.

"While the respite care law won unanimous support in Congress last year, I'm deeply disappointed that Democratic leaders in the House failed to include any funding for it this year," Ferguson said after debate on his amendment ended. "I'm pleased that the House at least approved my amendment today for $10 million, which will launch a new nationally coordinated respite care program. It's not everything we wanted, but it's an important start, and we can build on that funding level next year."

Nearly 100 national, state and local advocacy groups endorsed Ferguson's law last year, including the AARP, Alzheimer's Association, Epilepsy Foundation, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Paralyzed Veterans of America, The Arc of the United States and United Cerebral Palsy. That same coalition endorsed his amendment this week to give the respite care program its initial funding.

Respite care provides primary caregivers with the ability to find temporary relief from care-giving - time to prepare meals, run errands or simply to take a break.

Under Ferguson's "Lifespan Respite Care Act," states can apply to the Department of Health and Human Services for grants to establish respite care programs that directly benefit family caregivers.

During debate on his legislation last year, Ferguson said he gained firsthand experience with respite care when his father, Tom, cared for his mother, Roberta, during her six-year battle with multiple myeloma. Roberta Ferguson died in 2003.

Ferguson said he and his siblings and other relatives were able to give his father a respite from care-giving but that others do not enjoy a similar family support structure to enable the primary family caregiver to take a break.

Ferguson said the law may save taxpayers' money because studies have demonstrated that respite care can delay or in some cases avoid more expensive long-term care solutions such as those provided by nursing homes.

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