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Q&A
Mental health and wellness resources for older kinship caregivers
0:34:10
·
103 sec
Both the Deputy Commissioner and Commissioner Cortés-Vázquez discuss the mental health and wellness resources available to older kinship caregivers.
- Foster care agencies work with families to ensure they have necessary services, regardless of caregiver age.
- All children in foster care are eligible for Medicaid, which covers mental health services.
- NYC Aging offers geriatric mental health programs and hub programs in older adult centers.
- Caregiver service providers can identify mental health needs and make referrals to appropriate services.
Crystal Hudson
0:34:10
Caring for children can be emotionally and physically exhausting for older adults.
0:34:14
What mental health and wellness resources are available to older kinship caregivers?
Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez
0:34:22
Would yeah.
Crystal Hudson
0:34:23
Either or both can answer.
UNKNOWN
0:34:25
I mean, so on our side, foster care agencies on the foster care side, foster care agencies are working with the families to make sure they have the services they need.
0:34:39
All children in
Crystal Hudson
0:34:40
That's for all families regardless of the age of
UNKNOWN
0:34:42
the Correct.
0:34:43
Right.
0:34:44
And all of the children in foster care are eligible for Medicaid, so they usually get their mental health services that way.
0:34:51
On the prevention side, we offer in every community sort of a continuum of services based that could be referrals for concrete goods up to evidence based therapy like MST and FFT, and that would be available to any caretaker regardless of whether they're a parent or grandparent, and they could come to us for services, and we offer for free regardless of immigration status, in every community in the city those types of supports, which include mental health supports.
0:35:27
Great.
0:35:27
Anything to add?
Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez
0:35:29
On our side, because it's part of a network of services, right, and we have the geriatric mental health programs, and we have hub programs in each one of the older adult centers.
0:35:42
Should they need services and should that be something that the caregiver program provide, caregiver service provider identifies, then that's where they would be referred.
Crystal Hudson
0:35:52
Okay.
0:35:52
Great.