Philanthropy Central

For 15.5 years, Partners in Caregiving helped build sustainable community-based adult day services by working with adult day centers across the country. The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., served as the national program office for this Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) program (June 1987–December 2002).
Through a four-year demonstration program, a six-year replication program, and a four-year information dissemination phase, the national program office educated mission-based, nonprofit adult day centers about marketing, financial management and program design so they could achieve financial self-sufficiency (and not rely on grants). Throughout all three phases of the program, the national program office operated as a resource center for the field of adult day services. Although no longer receiving funding from RWJF, the Partners in Caregiving office continues to operate, sustaining the work and accomplishments of the program.
This paper provides information on the three phases of the program and then describes the work of the Partners in Caregiving office in the post-RWJF funding period as it has achieved financial self-sufficiency.