Respite care provides parents and other caregivers with short-term child care services that offer temporary relief, improve family stability, and reduce the risk of abuse or neglect. Respite can be planned or offered during emergencies or times of crisis. Respite may be available to foster, kinship, and adoptive families, as well as birth families in need of support.
Use the following resources to locate community respite services, learn more about respite services for resource families and families at risk of child abuse and neglect or family disruption, and find evaluations of respite programs. Resources include State and local examples.
- For families at risk of child abuse and neglect or family disruption
- For resource families
- Evaluation
Annotated Bibliography of Respite and Crisis Care Studies (PDF - 1,300 KB)
ARCH National Respite Network and Resource Center (3rd ed.) (2014)
Summarizes 46 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2001 and 2014 that provide a baseline understanding of respite research and focus on outcomes attributed to respite. The studies included documented outcomes of respite care for family caregivers, care recipients, families or communities, including cost-benefit studies.
The Church and Child Protection: The Safe Families Story: Volunteers Offer Hospitality to Families in Need
Anderson (2014)
Child Abuse and Neglect, 38(4)
View Abstract
Highlights the Safe Families for Children program, a program designed to address the challenge of socially isolated and overwhelmed caregivers. The program works through churches to give hope and support to families in distress by providing host families that allow parents to place their children while they deal with a broad range of challenges.
Creating and Sustaining Effective Respite Services: Lessons From the Field (PDF - 1,280 KB)
AdoptUSKids (2012)
Provides States, Tribes, and parent support organizations with tools to help them understand the value of respite care in achieving improved outcomes for parents and youth, as well as ideas for how to build their capacity to sustain such programs after time-limited grants have ended. The guide includes sections on model respite programs, insights and advice from state partners, overcoming barriers to sustaining respite services, and more.
Federal Funding and Support Opportunities for Respite: Building Blocks for Lifespan Respite Systems
Dougherty & Kagan (2012)
ARCH National Respite Network and Resource Center
Provides State Lifespan Respite Care Programs and their partners with information about the funding sources and basic information about each of the Federal programs that provide or could potentially provide respite funding or support.
National Respite Guidelines: Guiding Principles for Respite Models and Services (PDF -1,331 KB) Edgar & Uhl (2011)
ARCH National Respite Network and Resource Center
Explains what respite and respite services are and addresses how respite services can strengthen family systems while protecting the health and well-being of both caregivers and recipients. The guide reviews the Federal Lifespan Respite Care Act in 2006 and the development of the national respite guidelines and provides resources on family caregivers, respite systems, administration, respite as prevention of abuse and maltreatment, and more.
State Funding Streams for Respite Across the Lifespan: 2013 Update (PDF - 3,031KB)
ARCH National Respite Network and Resource Center (2013)
Lists State public funding sources to help family caregivers pay for respite care, or to support or develop respite programs and services with information on State or Federal funds, including information for partnership with private organizations.
Substitute Caregiver Community Needs Assessment (PDF - 163 KB)
Powell (2015)
Outlines the findings from a study conducted by Humboldt County Child Welfare Services to determine how the child welfare professionals consider placements for children in care. It discusses the challenges associated with respite care and presents opportunities to maintain placement stability.
State and local examples
ARCH State Respite Coalitions: A Compendium of Fact Sheets: 2014 Update
ARCH National Respite Network and Resource Center (2014)
Provides State-specific factsheets to educate prospective members, family caregivers, and policymakers about the Respite Coalition resources they have in their own States.