This bill mandates the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services to seek approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to include family caregiver support services as an allowable service under the Acquired Brain Disorder (ABD) and Choices for Independence (CFI) Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) waiver programs. The bill outlines that these services should be designed to help caregivers maintain their ability to provide care at home and may include counseling, education, training, and peer support. Additionally, the bill requires the commissioner to adopt rules regarding the definition, scope, eligibility criteria, provider qualifications, and service limitations for these support services.

Furthermore, the bill eliminates the child care scholarship cost share for children in kinship care, ensuring that households where all enrolled children are cared for by a relative do not incur any cost share for child care scholarships. It also modifies the work requirement for child care scholarship eligibility to include participation in approved mental health or substance use treatment programs and allows for retirement as a qualifying condition. The bill emphasizes the importance of trauma-informed care training for child care providers and aims to enhance support for both family caregivers and kinship caregivers in New Hampshire.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 161:2, 167:83
SB608 text: 161:2, 167:83