Recognizing the work of non-profit organizations that support family caregivers
Request for Applications
Deadline for Submissions: May 11, 2009
BACKGROUND
Now in its fourth year, the National Family Caregiving Awards is intended to improve the quality of life of family caregivers by recognizing and supporting the efforts of non-profit community groups that work with them. The seven awards will recognize the current work of community agencies and other organizations that support family caregivers as a significant part of their mission.
To read about previous National Family Caregiving Award winners and descriptions of their programs, log on to www.caregiving.org/awards/.
| Please note that the National Family Caregiving Awards is NOT a grants program and organizations will NOT receive funding to develop new family caregiving programs with the cash award. Only established family caregiving programs will be considered for a National Family Caregiving Award. Applications that are written as grant proposals will not considered for an award.
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AWARD CATEGORIES
A total of seven awards will be given to organizations with established caregiving programs in the following three categories:
- Caregiver Education (3 awards)
- Caregiver Support (3 awards)
- Older Caregivers Caring for Adult Children with Disabilities (1 award)
Each award will carry a cash value of $25,000 that will be designated for use in the awardee's caregiver program. The application does not need to specify how the cash award will be used.
Three awards will be given in each of the following two categories to established caregiving programs that address the needs of older adult caregivers (examples are provided only for clarity):
Caregiver Education Awards will go to organizations that have developed innovative training programs to educate caregivers of older adults on topics such as: assisting with activities of daily living needs, financial planning, caring for a person with cancer, time management, and others. Example: a book and/or video that shows the caregiver how to respond positively to negative behaviors of the care recipient.
Caregiver Support Awards will go to organizations that provide family caregiver support programs for caregivers of older adults, such as respite, counseling, or eldercare in truly innovative ways. Example: a mobile respite unit that serves caregivers in a small, rural community.
One award in each category above will go to an organization working in a rural community with a census population of 100,000 or less. Two awards in each category will go to an organization working in an urban community with a census population of 100,000 or greater.
Award For Older Caregivers Caring For Adult Children With Disabilities will be given to one organization that has an established program intended to meet the needs of older persons caring for their adult children with disabilities. This program must address the growing number of older adults who are responsible for the care of their physically, mentally, or developmentally disabled adult child. Potential programs could include counseling to plan for the future after the parent dies or innovative support programs to address the immediate needs of the older caregiver.
RECOGNITION AWARDS
The Alzheimer's Recognition Award will be given to one of the above award recipients that innovatively supports family caregivers of those with Alzheimer's disease and meets the other criteria in the category in which they apply.
The Cultural Diversity Recognition Award will be given to one of the above award recipients that innovatively supports family caregivers of ethnically and racially diverse older adults and meets the other criteria in the category in which the applicant applies.
ELIGIBILITY
All non-profit organizations that support family caregivers as a significant part of their mission are encouraged to apply. All applicants must be designated as 501(c)(3) organizations and have established caregiving programs. All organizations will be required to send a copy of their 501(c)(3) designation letter by fax, regular mail, or e-mail at the time of application submission.
An educational institution, such as university or college, is eligible to apply if it is designated as a 501(c)(3) organization.
Units of government are NOT eligible to apply, but governmental agencies working in collaboration with non-profit agencies to support caregivers in their communities are strongly encouraged to have the non-profit agency complete and submit an application.
Any organization that receives an award must agree to disclose fully how their program was developed and provide sufficient details to enable replication. This includes sharing data and research and allowing key staff to be available for interviews. Upon notification of the award, the winners must also agree to work with National Alliance for Caregiving staff to develop a full description of their caregiver program for a final report.
CRITERIA
Applications will be judged on the following criteria. Please note the weights or points that are given to each criterion. As described further under Submission Requirements, your narrative document must address each criterion.
- Innovation (30 points) How is this program new and different from other caregiving programs?
- Demonstration of effectiveness or impact (25 points) How much impact has the program had on the knowledge or behavior of family caregivers or the general public, shown through surveys, published results, articles, or other means?
- Basis in research (15 points) How has the program applied research to practice?
- Diversity (10 points) How has the program addressed cultural, racial, ethnic, gender, age, and other differences among caregivers or care recipients?
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Potential for replication or adaptability (20 points) How easily could others begin a similar program or have others already done so?
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
All applications must be submitted via the online application at: web.raffa.com/nac/caregiver_awards/applicationform.cfm.
In addition to contact information (including an e-mail address and telephone number for the primary individual with whom we can follow-up), please answer the questions on the application form:
- Award Category: Indicate the category in which the application is being submitted (Caregiver Education, Caregiver Support, or Older Caregivers Caring for Adult Children with Disabilities). If you are uncertain about which category your program fits best (e.g., the program has elements of both education and support), select the award category that best describes the primary goal of the program.
- Program Name: Type in the name of the caregiving program that you are submitting for consideration for a National Family Caregiving Award.
- Size of the community: Indicate whether your program is located in a community with a census population of 100,000 or less or a census population of more than 100,000
- Recognition Awards: If you would like your program to be considered for either the Alzheimer's Recognition Award or the Cultural Diversity Recognition Award, please check the appropriate Recognition Award.
- Summary Description: In the box provided on the application form, please type in a brief description of your program (maximum 300 words).
- Narrative Document: You must upload a three-page MS Word document to the online application form. Although the narrative is limited to three pages, single spaced, please provide succinct but detailed responses. For an application to be reviewed, all questions must be answered using the following format.
I. Description and brief history of applicant organization (including non-profit status)
II. Description of the program
- Clearly describe the program and the specific components related to caregiver education or caregiver support or how the program addresses the needs of older caregivers of adult children with disabilities.
- Describe how long the program has been in existence.
- Describe how many and what types of people have been served by the program
- What is the total overall budget?
- How many staff is required? What are the staff's credentials?
- If appropriate, describe with whom you collaborated or formed a partnership and how the collaboration functions.
- If appropriate, please describe how technology is used to enhance the caregiver program. If the program includes a website, please include the URL in the application summary and narrative document.
III. Description of how criteria are met
- Innovation: Explain how the program is innovative, i.e., clearly describe how the program is new or different from traditional caregiving programs. Also explain how the program enhances quality of life for the caregiver.
- Demonstration of effectiveness or impact: Describe the impact of the program and how it was measured. Be as specific as possible. For example, what percentage of the target group has been reached successfully? How did you measure the results? Describe any evaluation undertaken to prove the effectiveness of the program. Quotes from satisfied consumers are not the best use of space in this section.
- Basis in research: Describe the research base used to develop your program (e.g., community needs assessment, literature review, or survey). Describe how it builds upon similar programs or models or extends a proven model to a new population or user. The research should be specific to your program (either generated by your organization or following a published model), not general statistics about caregiving in the U.S.
- Diversity: Describe how the program identified and addresses cultural, racial, ethnic, gender, age, and other differences among caregivers or care recipients. If there are specific reasons that diversity is not relevant to your program (e.g., your program serves a rural population where the population is not diverse), please explain.
- Potential for replication or adaptability: Describe whether the program has been replicated or how easy it would be to do so. What was the budget for program start-up (iwas it prohibitively expensive?)? Describe what would be required for someone else to replicate what you have done and the resources to do so (costs, staff, other resources). Clearly indicate your agreement to full disclosure of all necessary details to enable replication and to provide contact information for an individual to respond to inquiries.
ADDITIONAL MATERIALS
Please fax, mail or e-mail a copy of your organization's 501(c )(3) designation letter at the time of application submission. The fax number is 301-951-9067. The e-mail address is kathleen56@caregiving.org. The address is:
National Alliance for Caregiving
4720 Montgomery Lane
Bethesda, MD 20814
Please do NOT send any other additional materials at the time of application. If the application is accepted for further evaluation, you will be contacted and five copies of sample materials will be requested at that time.
AWARDS PRESENTATION
The awards will be presented at a gala awards luncheon in Minneapolis, Minnesota on July 21, 2009 in conjunction with the n4a Annual Conference and Trade Show. Award winners must agree to attend and present at this event. The National Alliance for Caregiving will cover the travel and hotel costs for an awardee representative to attend this event.
CONTACT INFORMATION
For additional information or questions, contact Kathleen Cameron at the National Alliance for Caregiving, kathleen56@caregiving.org or 703-585-6607.
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sponsored by
National Alliance for Caregiving and
MetLife Foundation
