Respite Care in Arkansas: A 2026 Guide for Family Caregivers

If you are caring for an aging parent or spouse in Arkansas and running on empty, funded respite care can give you a real break without draining your savings.

Caregiving takes a quiet toll on your own health. Federal data show that nearly 1 in 5 family caregivers reports fair or poor health, and depressive symptoms are roughly twice as common among caregivers as in the general population. Respite is not stepping away from the person you love. It is often what makes it possible to keep caring for them at home.1

In Arkansas, funded respite for family caregivers comes from four main places: the ARChoices Medicaid waiver, grants through the National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for veterans, and short-term facility or emergency respite through your Area Agency on Aging. To reach your local agency today, call the Eldercare Locator at 1-800-677-1116.2

In This Guide

• Key Takeaways
• Can Arkansas Medicaid Pay a Family Member for Respite?
• Funded Respite Care Options in Arkansas
• What Respite Care Costs in Arkansas
• How to Start in Arkansas
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Learn More

Can Arkansas Medicaid Pay a Family Member for Respite?

For many Arkansas families, the most pressing question is not whether respite exists, but whether the person already giving the care can finally be paid for it. That relief is real, and Arkansas has one of the country's longer histories of letting families do exactly that, through its Independent Choices self-direction program, first offered in 1988.3

Here is how self-direction works. Under a self-directed Medicaid plan, you or your loved one's representative control a service budget and can hire, supervise, and, if needed, dismiss the worker who provides care, including personal assistance and respite. A financial management service handles payroll, tax withholding, and paperwork on your behalf. Under the federal Section 1915(j) self-directed personal assistance authority that runs alongside ARChoices, a state may allow legally liable relatives, including a spouse or parent, to be that paid worker.7

Arkansas's Independent Choices option can pay a family caregiver, and the ARChoices waiver covers both in-home and facility-based respite. Whether a spouse specifically can be hired, and under what conditions, depends on current state rules, so confirm your situation with the Arkansas Choices in Living Resource Center.8

If you need emergency respite now, call the Eldercare Locator at 1-800-677-1116 or dial 211.2

Funded Respite Care Options in Arkansas

1. ARChoices Waiver Respite

If your loved one is on Arkansas Medicaid, this is usually the deepest source of funded respite you have. The ARChoices in Homecare Waiver is Arkansas's primary home and community-based waiver for adults 65 and older, and for adults ages 21 to 64 with physical disabilities, who are at a nursing-facility level of care. Respite is a named covered service within it, delivered in your home or in a facility.3

How much you get: ARChoices respite is authorized through your loved one's care plan rather than set as a flat statewide amount, so the number of hours or days depends on assessed need. Ask the Choices in Living Resource Center what your care plan can include and whether there is a current waitlist.

How to access: Contact the Arkansas Choices in Living Resource Center, and ask specifically about respite coverage and whether a family member can be paid through Independent Choices self-direction.

Best for: Medicaid-eligible Arkansas families who want in-home respite, and who want to explore whether a relative can be the paid worker.

2. NFCSP Grants Through Arkansas's Area Agencies on Aging

You do not have to be on Medicaid, or wait for a waiver slot, to get help here. The National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP), funded under Title III-E of the Older Americans Act, flows through Arkansas's aging network to regional Area Agencies on Aging, which provide in-home respite, adult day help, caregiver training, counseling, and other support.4

Who qualifies: Family caregivers of adults age 60 and older; caregivers of any age caring for someone with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia; and older relatives age 55 and older caring for children under 18. Eligibility turns on your caregiving relationship, not on being enrolled in Medicaid.4

How much you get: Respite hours and any dollar caps are set by each Area Agency on Aging, not by the federal program, so the amount varies by region. Ask your local AAA for its current limit.

How to access: Use the Eldercare Locator at 1-800-677-1116 to find and reach your local AAA.2

Best for: Any Arkansas family caregiver who is not on Medicaid, or who needs help while a waiver decision is pending.

3. VA Respite for Veterans

If you are caring for a veteran, start here, because the VA benefit can be both generous and fast. Veterans enrolled in VA health care can access respite through their local VA medical center, including in-home aide services, adult day health, and short stays in a VA Community Living Center or a contracted facility.

PCAFC respite: An approved Primary Family Caregiver in the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC) receives at least 30 days of respite care per year as part of the benefit, along with caregiver training and counseling. A spouse can serve as the caregiver.5

How to access: Call the VA Caregiver Support Line at 1-855-260-3274, or contact the Caregiver Support Coordinator at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System in Little Rock or the Fayetteville VA Medical Center.9

Best for: Families of veterans enrolled in VA health care.

4. Short-Term Facility and Emergency Respite

Short-term facility respite places your loved one in an assisted living community or skilled nursing facility for a few days to several weeks, which is a good option when you need to travel, recover from surgery, or simply rest. Many Arkansas senior living communities offer short-stay arrangements, so call facilities in your area for current availability.

Emergency respite is available through Arkansas's Area Agencies on Aging for sudden caregiver crises. Call the Eldercare Locator at 1-800-677-1116 or dial 211 as a first step.2

What Respite Care Costs in Arkansas

When no program covers the break, you can still hire help and pay privately, and it helps to know the going rate before you call around. In the CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey, the national median for non-medical in-home caregiver services was about $35 an hour, which in Arkansas works out to roughly $57,200 a year for 44 hours a week of care. A short stay in an assisted living community, a common form of facility respite, runs a median of about $4,562 a month in Arkansas. These are industry-survey medians, not fixed rates, and they climb as care needs grow.10

Knowing these numbers is exactly why the funded options above matter so much. A few hours of paid respite each week adds up quickly, and the Medicaid, NFCSP, and VA paths exist so that the cost does not fall entirely on your family.

How to Start in Arkansas

Learn More

Find personalized help navigating respite care options in Arkansas at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.