Caregiver Services Corps

The Maryland Department of Aging has implemented a new Caregiver Services Corps (CSC) for older adults aged 65 and above. The service is designed to quickly deploy volunteers to the homes of older adults who need urgent assistance with everyday tasks. CSC is not intended to provide ongoing service solutions to older adults but rather to address pressing needs that are temporary such as: an older adult can’t access their prescription medication, or a family member who cares for their elderly loved one can’t check in on them the next day.

CSC objectives include:

• Providing back-up support to informal caregivers of older adults (family or friends) who are unable to provide care due to their own illness, exposure to COVID19, or other temporary constraint.
• Providing access to volunteers who can assist older adults who, due to the impacts of COVID19, have suddenly found they need help with everyday tasks.
• Preventing hospitalizations of older adults that may be a result of lack of needed care in their homes.

The CSC volunteers can perform tasks such as:

• Assist with the individual’s self-administration of medications
• Help with ambulation or transferring
• Assist with bathing and completing personal hygiene routines
• Deliver prescription medications or essential groceries
• Aid with tele-health appointments

What is your role?

You can support this effort in two ways. First, if you are working with a client who, in addition to needing ongoing services (such as respite care or Meals on Wheels), has a pressing temporary need, please contact the CSC call center at 800-337-8958. The call center representative will be able to deploy a volunteer caregiver to the client’s home. Secondly, after the caregivers visit the older adults in their homes they may determine the clients should be connect with AAA-related services. Then the CSC call center will navigate the client to the appropriate AAA and you will assist them with arranging
ongoing services. This program is not meant to replace the programming provided by the AAAs in the state.