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Since 1990, ARCH has provided support to a national effort to make respite and crisis care available to all families caring for children with disabilities and chronic illness, and to all family caregivers caring for children or adults with disabling or chronic conditions or aging family members, and those at risk for abuse and neglect.

Your membership supports the National Respite Locator Service (NRLS) so that family caregivers and those who support them can continue to use the service for free to find respite programs in their communities. Respite providers can also list their services at no charge. Today, there are more than 4,000 respite and crisis care providers listed on our  NRLS, and more are signing up every day.   

Your membership also supports the National Respite Coalition (NRC), established in 1994, which serves as the policy division of ARCH. The NRC educates and activates a national grassroots network to advocate at the national level through Legislative Alerts and Policy Actions. The NRC also participates in national policy coalitions and advocacy initiatives that support respite and caregiving policies and programs. The NRC is completely dependent on membership fees and private donations. 

A Family Caregiver National Respite Conference Scholarship Fund is also supported by membership fees and donations to help family caregivers have a voice in national and state respite service development and expansion.

Become a Member Today!  Check out the benefits of becoming a member of the only national network focused on respite for family caregivers. 

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To renew or update your membership, log in to your profile with your email and password and follow suggested actions on your profile screen.

RENEW OR MODIFY MEMBERSHIP

If you are not able to become a member at this time, please consider making a donation at a level you feel comfortable with.

Because the ARCH parent organization, Families and Communities Rising (formerly the Chapel Hill Training and Outreach Project, Inc.) is a 501(c)(3) organization, your contribution or membership donation in any amount is considered by the IRS to be tax deductible.

The ARCH National Respite Network is the only national support and advocacy organization dedicated solely to promoting the development of quality respite programs.  Services ARCH provides include:

Training and Technical Assistance to Lifespan Respite Grantees and Partners and Members of the ARCH Network.  Through a grant from the US Administration for Community Living, ARCH provides training and technical assistance through the Lifespan Respite TA Center. ARCH's work on the Lifespan Respite Training and TA Center includes Webinars, Fact Sheets, and Issue Briefs designed to assist Lifespan Respite Programs, State Respite Coalitions, and any member of the ARCH network.

Public Policy. The National Respite Coalition helps states and local communities to understand policy, educate policy makers, and build strong advocacy coalitions. It provides information and teaching tools to respite advocates throughout the country. 

Evaluation. Both planned and crisis respite programs must be able to clearly and compellingly demonstrate that their efforts are achieving worthy outcomes related to the improvement of quality of life, and outcomes related to saving tax-payer dollars on more costly interventions such as foster care, nursing homes, or other institutional care. Tools for measuring program outcomes have been developed by Dr. Ray Kirk, formerly of the University of North Carolina and Casandra Firman, ARCH Evaluation Specialist and are published in the ARCH guidebook, Evaluating and Reporting Outcomes: a Guide for Respite and Crisis Care Program Managers.

Performance Measurement: In 2014, ARCH developed the guidebook, Measuring Systems Change and Consumer Outcomes: Recommendations for Developing Performance Metrics for State Lifespan Respite Programs, 2014. This was developed in collaboration with the ARCH Data Workgroup with support from the Administration for Community Living.

Promoting Research to Develop an Evidence-base for Respite: In 2015, ARCH convened the Expert Panel on Respite Research with support from the Administration for Community Living. The prestigious panel released its final report, A  Research Agenda for Respite Care: Deliberations of an Expert Panel of Researchers, Advocates and Funders, that includes recommendations for increasing and improving research focused on family caregiver, care recipient, family and societal outcomes that result from respite. ARCH has continued to advance this research agenda through the Respite Research Initiative and the prestigious Committee for Advancement of Respite Research.

Building the Respite Provider Workforce. ARCH and the National Academy for State Health Policy, in collaboration with the Respite Care Association of Wisconsin, piloted and made available at no charge, the National Respite Care Provider Training. 

 
Follow the link to the Membership Application to join the ARCH network or to renew your membership. If you are not able to become a member at this time, please consider making a donation at a level you feel comfortable with. You can use a credit card securely online through PayPal or you can ask to be billed.  Any questions? Contact ARCH.