Wow, 7K per month? That's quite a bit...
I live in a VERY blue state in New England (one of the teeny tiny ones LOL)
I have been taking care of my dad for the last few years and was able to set up a situation where the state pays me as a full-time caregiver. I understand the
challenges of providing for a loved one who is no longer capable of taking care of themselves without help.
I also know a lot of people are in this situation with no option but to leave for work every day, come home and try to "catch up" with their loved one's needs OR you can use assisted living and GUARANTEE they will be neglected and get even worse care than you can give before work and when you get back in the evening (if you even get to work a normal schedule in the first place, right?)
Its nothing against those employees - a lot of them truly do care. Its like a great teacher with too many kids in their classroom or too much CRT to teach. Besides that, many (like dad) just aren't cut out for that kind of living situation for tons of different reasons.
They say moving is the most stressful event in life, and its coming when they are least able to adapt. Its a lot on both the elderly parent and the child trying to find a way to provide.
Stress and loneliness are killers and conversely, just having good company is what can help the most. Laughing and companionship can literally help you live longer, its well known. Young or old, we all need that reason to get up out of bed.
I don't think we value elder care or child care enough as a society, nor do we pay attention to family and the personal touch that makes all the difference. I made a big change in life to come here. I knew no one else was going to help - not even family near his own age who had talked about doing it. Maybe its me but everyone seems really self-interested and self-centered these days. No one wants to give up what they have going on or make any sacrifices. It could be that everyone too close to the bone themselves, I guess.
Still, I've been told I'm a rare type of person for doing this. I always felt its best to follow what feels right in your heart, otherwise what would personal success and advancement really count for?
I don't know though, i guess I'm still learning about all of it. Just felt like sharing some thoughts.
So of course, I feel very lucky for have our situation. Sadly, my state is one of a very few I know of that have this. I do think its a shame most states don't have a similar program; I could see situations where a new mother could take care of Mom or Dad along with the baby and still contribute partially to household income, for example.
Anyhow, we are nowhere close to your number! I know for a fact this program saves the state a ton of money compared with upkeep in assisted living; that's if you can even find an opening. And of course your parent must be completely destitute to qualify for any REAL assistance; they'll count a crap 5K Colonial Penn policy as "assets" LOL.
They used to just provide the money more directly to the person to spend on caretaking however they chose, but there were problems of course. So now there are a lot of check-ins etc. with both the state agency and an assigned agency which oversees the caregiver.
What you can receive is determined by an in person assessment; they assign you a care level from 1 to 4. Even at max the $ is not enough to live on. You pretty much HAVE to have another job AND be getting other state benefits to have reasonable household income. When you couple this with all the other requirements, and if you actually do things the way they say that you're SUPPOSED to, that's where it becomes tricky.
In that way, the program almost encourages people to at least cut corners, if they don't outright game the whole damn thing. Selfishly I want to say that paying caregivers that 7K amount (which is about 2X vs. here) would go a long way toward helping people who actually strive to do this the right way instead of being FORCED into less than ideal situations where you can't be there for your loved one as much as you want.
The sad thing is that they probably DO give $7K+ per month to the assisted living facilities but for an individual who doing the same job (and doing it better and with documented, provably superior outcomes) you won't even come close to that, despite helping the state save those much larger costs. It should at least be comparable.
Well anyways. This got long but I would still welcome thoughts or replies.
Wow, 7K per month? That's quite a bit... I live in a VERY blue state in New England (one of the teeny tiny ones LOL)
I have been taking care of my dad for the last few years and was able to set up a situation where the state pays me as a full-time caregiver. I understand the challenges of providing for a loved one who is no longer capable of taking care of themselves without help.
I also know a lot of people are in this situation with no option but to leave for work every day, come home and try to "catch up" with their loved one's needs OR you can use assisted living and GUARANTEE they will be neglected and get even worse care than you can give before work and when you get back in the evening (if you even get to work a normal schedule in the first place, right?)
Its nothing against those employees - a lot of them truly do care. Its like a great teacher with too many kids in their classroom or too much CRT to teach. Besides that, many (like dad) just aren't cut out for that kind of living situation for tons of different reasons.
They say moving is the most stressful event in life, and its coming when they are least able to adapt. Its a lot on both the elderly parent and the child trying to find a way to provide.
Stress and loneliness are killers and conversely, just having good company is what can help the most. Laughing and companionship can literally help you live longer, its well known. Young or old, we all need that reason to get up out of bed.
I don't think we value elder care or child care enough as a society, nor do we pay attention to family and the personal touch that makes all the difference. I made a big change in life to come here. I knew no one else was going to help - not even family near his own age who had talked about doing it. Maybe its me but everyone seems really self-interested and self-centered these days. No one wants to give up what they have going on or make any sacrifices. It could be that everyone too close to the bone themselves, I guess.
Still, I've been told I'm a rare type of person for doing this. I always felt its best to follow what feels right in your heart, otherwise what would personal success and advancement really count for?
I don't know though, i guess I'm still learning about all of it. Just felt like sharing some thoughts.
So of course, I feel very lucky for have our situation. Sadly, my state is one of a very few I know of that have this. I do think its a shame most states don't have a similar program; I could see situations where a new mother could take care of Mom or Dad along with the baby and still contribute partially to household income, for example.
Anyhow, we are nowhere close to your number! I know for a fact this program saves the state a ton of money compared with upkeep in assisted living; that's if you can even find an opening. And of course your parent must be completely destitute to qualify for any REAL assistance; they'll count a crap 5K Colonial Penn policy as "assets" LOL.
They used to just provide the money more directly to the person to spend on caretaking however they chose, but there were problems of course. So now there are a lot of check-ins etc. with both the state agency and an assigned agency which oversees the caregiver.
What you can receive is determined by an in person assessment; they assign you a care level from 1 to 4. Even at max the $ is not enough to live on. You pretty much HAVE to have another job AND be getting other state benefits to have reasonable household income. When you couple this with all the other requirements, and if you actually do things the way they say that you're SUPPOSED to, that's where it becomes tricky.
In that way, the program almost encourages people to at least cut corners, if they don't outright game the whole damn thing. Selfishly I want to say that paying caregivers that 7K amount (which is about 2X vs. here) would go a long way toward helping people who actually strive to do this the right way instead of being FORCED into less than ideal situations where you can't be there for your loved one as much as you want.
The sad thing is that they probably DO give $7K+ per month to the assisted living facilities but for an individual who doing the same job (and doing it better and with documented, provably superior outcomes) you won't even come close to that, despite helping the state save those much larger costs. It should at least be comparable.
Well anyways. This got long but I would still welcome thoughts or replies.