Free check-in calls for seniors in Maryland
Maryland is one of the few states with a statewide program: the Department of Aging rings or texts older residents every day, for free. Anne Arundel County also has volunteers who call.
Read on . Programs change their hours, their rules and sometimes stop. Ring the number on the program's own page before you count on it.
Programs we could confirm
Senior Call Check and Social Connections
An automated call or text every day at an hour she chooses, between 8 am and 4 pm, seven days a week except six listed holidays. If she does not respond, two more calls or texts follow, then her alternate contact is told. If the alternate cannot be reached, non-emergency services are asked to do a welfare check. A weekly live call is also offered.
- Run by
- Maryland Department of Aging
- Covers
- All of Maryland
- Who can join
- Maryland residents aged 60 and over with a landline or a mobile phone. TTY is available.
- How to sign up
- Online application, a mailed form, or 1-866-50-CHECK (1-866-502-0560).
- Source
- aging.maryland.gov, read on
Telephone Reassurance
A trained volunteer calls at a set time every day, seven days a week, to check she is safe. If she does not answer, a person she chose is asked to check on her.
- Run by
- Anne Arundel County Department of Aging and Disabilities
- Covers
- Anne Arundel County
- Who can join
- People 55 and over, or adults with a disability, who are homebound and have no family or friends to check on them.
- How to sign up
- (410) 222-4257, or telephone_reassurance_program@aacounty.org.
- Source
- aacounty.org, read on
If none of these covers her town
- Eldercare Locator, a free federal service: 1-800-677-1116, or eldercare.acl.gov. It connects you to the Area Agency on Aging for her county. Ask for "telephone reassurance" by name.
- 211 from a phone in her area. It lists local services, call programs included.
- The sheriff's office or police department for her town, on the non-emergency line. Some run a daily call for older residents and only mention it when asked.
What to ask before you sign her up
- Does it call every day, or only on weekdays? What about holidays?
- What happens on a missed call, and how long until somebody is told?
- Who is told: you, a neighbor, a deputy at the door?
- Is there a waiting list, an age rule or a county rule?
How Care is different from a free program
If one of these programs covers her and fits her day, start there. It costs nothing, and some of them send a volunteer or a deputy to the door, which no phone service can do.
Care is a paid, automated call, not a volunteer and not a public office. It rings at the time you set, in her time zone, on the days you choose, weekends included. Any phone works, a landline too.
When she does not answer, it rings again ten minutes later and sends a text to her phone, then once more at twenty-five minutes. Then the people on your list are told by text and email, one after another, until somebody confirms. Nobody is sent to her house: the people you listed decide what happens next.
It is not an emergency service, it is not a medical device and it cannot detect a fall. Every call says so, and tells her to hang up and dial 911 if she needs help now.
Questions
- Are daily check-in calls for seniors free in Maryland?
- Many are. Most programs on this page say they are free or have no charge. A few do not state a cost, so ask when you call.
- Who runs telephone reassurance programs?
- Usually the Area Agency on Aging for the county, a sheriff's office or police department, a senior center, or a volunteer group.
- What happens if my parent does not answer a free check-in call?
- It depends on the program. Some call a named contact, some send a volunteer or a deputy. Each program's own page, or a call to its number, will tell you.
- Can we use a free program and a paid check-in call together?
- Yes. Some families keep a volunteer who calls for a chat once or twice a week and add a short automated call every morning.