Respite care services are child-care services provided for a brief specified time to families that have adopted children with special needs.

Respite care may be provided for all or part of a 24-hour period, either in or out of the home, for as many as 60 days every 12 months.

Note: DFPS counts any part of a 24-hour period as a day of service.

Respite care must be needed to prevent or help resolve a family crisis or address a problem whose solution is critical to the family's healthy functioning. Care must also be included in the adoptive family's service plan.

Note: The contractor must authorize respite care services in advance.

DFPS contracts for respite care to help adoptive families cope with periods of stress.

Examples:

 •  A member of an adoptive family is suffering from a severe illness.

 •  A child with a disability requires extraordinary care, and the adoptive parents need occasional relief.

 •  An abused child or child with a disability needs continuous care during a period of crisis or recuperation, and the parents cannot stay with the child around the clock.

 •  An adoptive family is either in crisis or experiencing overwhelming stress that will lead to a crisis, and respite care will help to resolve the crisis or relieve the stress.