North Dakota program
A break from caring, paid for
Funding for someone else to care for your child so you can have a break.
What it is
Funding for someone else to care for your child so you can have a break.
Caring for a child with special needs can leave little time to rest. Lifespan Respite can pay for a break when other public respite help is unavailable. An agency working with you starts the referral.
Eligibility rules
- The program covers caregivers of a child with special needs who lack other public respite funding.
What you get
- Paid respite care for an eligible caregiver.
What the help includes
- An agency can refer you using SFN 548 when your usual caregiver needs a break and other public respite funding is unavailable. Funding and approval of a respite arrangement at a usual and customary rate determine the grant. The program confirms its current maximum, income limit, family share and whether a relative or household member can be paid. Approval normally comes before care, but retrospective requests may be considered case by case.
If you decide to apply
- Ask your social worker or case manager whether their agency can refer you for Lifespan Respite.
- If you decide to pursue it, discuss the care needed and other respite funding so the agency can complete SFN 548.
Aging Services, North Dakota Health and Human Services · Official page ↗
After you ask
- The referring agency submits SFN 548 to carechoice@nd.gov. Aging Services at North Dakota HHS decides the request.
Good to know
The usual route is an agency referral and approval before care. The program may consider a retrospective request case by case; payment is not guaranteed.
Other details
- This is a respite referral, separate from skilled nursing or payment to a parent for daily care.
“Could respite give us a break, and who could safely care for our child? Could you help us compare the arrangements and make a referral if it fits?”
Why I’m asking: I want a safe way to rest while our child’s care continues.
More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules
Who does what
The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.
You
Ask an agency that works with you to refer you.
Your social worker
The agency completes SFN 548 and gets the approval first.
The care team
Records and letters when the application asks for them.
- Who decides
- Aging Services, North Dakota Health and Human Services.
- Ask your social worker
- “Can your agency put in a Lifespan Respite referral for us, and what would it cover?”
How to apply
First step: Ask your oncology social worker whether their agency can submit form SFN 548 for you.
- Ask your oncology social worker or case manager whether they can submit the referral.
- Ask what the grant will cover before the respite is arranged; it has to be approved first.
Official application / program page ↗
Where it starts: Ask a social worker or case manager to submit form SFN 548 to carechoice@nd.gov.
What to gather
- A description of the care you give
- Details of any other respite funding you have
How long: Not published. Ask the referring agency.
What a yes looks like
An approval naming the respite hours and who provides them.
What a no looks like, and the next move
Often because other public respite funding exists. Ask which programme they think is paying.
Watch out
- You cannot refer yourself; an agency has to.
- Advance approval is usual, but retrospective requests can be reviewed case by case. The agency confirms available funds, allowable workers, amount and any family share.
The numbers and the rules
The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.
What it is worth
Paid respite care for a carer with no other public respite funding, arranged through an agency.
Covers: Respite care hours paid for by the grant
What it costs the family: Unknown; the dollar cap was not published.
The eligibility facts, as published
- Who
- carers of a child with special needs who lack other public respite funding
- Route
- an agency working with the carer submits SFN 548; direct family referrals are not accepted
The trap: An agency working with the caregiver submits SFN 548. Advance approval is the usual route; retrospective requests can be considered case by case, without a promise of reimbursement.
Where I read this
- Lifespan Respite Care Grant Service — North Dakota Health and Human Services, read September 10, 2026