Does your mom, dad, grandparent, or other relative need help with things like meal preparation, eating, bathing, dressing, getting in the car, and transportation. We call those “activities of daily living.” If you have a relative that needs assistance with those activities of daily living, you could receive payment as a family caregiver for them.
Recent statistics show that almost 20% of Georgia’s population is over the age of 60, and about 10% of those are considered seniors. Of those seniors, there are only 7 caregivers for every 100,000 seniors. That’s not nearly enough caregivers to take care of our seniors.
The US Census Bureau says that by the year 2032, there are going to be about 82 million seniors that are going to need assistance with the activities of daily living. Given these alarming statistics, there are now programs available that will pay family caregivers in an attempt to alleviate the pressure on nursing home and assisted living facilities.
So why aren’t there enough caretakers for our seniors? Well, this has a lot to do with the fact that most families now have two wage earners. Because families are depending on two incomes instead of one, one spouse is not able to quit their job to take care of their parents or grandparents. If you’re reliant on both incomes to support your household, you can’t sacrifice one of those incomes to take care of your loved ones.
Earlier this week we had a lady that called with this exact problem. Her mom needs assistance with the activities of daily living, so she quit her job to be a family caretaker. But now she’s struggling financially because she and her husband were dependent on two incomes. Thankfully, we had good news for her. Georgia now allows a family caretaker to get paid for taking care of their parents, grandparents, or other relative.
Family Caregiver Payment Requirements
To qualify for payment as a family caregiver, there are eight criteria which must be met:
#1 You have to be an unpaid caregiver. This means that you can’t already be a CNA or other type of professional caregiver. You have be a family caregiver already providing care for your loved one(s).
#2 You have to be a “live-in” caregiver. This program requires you to live with the person for whom you are helping. You can’t live somewhere else and be a family caretaker. You have to live with them or they have to be living with you.
#3 You have to be related to them through blood or marriage. This can be tricky because you can’t be a family caregiver for your spouse or your partner. It has to be a child, parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or other relative.
#4 You can’t have any W2 wages. This means you can’t have another job on the side. Being a family caretaker must be your full-time job in this case. You can’t be an independent contractor either. I know with COVID, many people were working from home and also taking care of their parents or grandparents. But you can’t do that with this program. Being a family caretaker has to be your sole job.
#5 You must be able to receive training and submit daily care logs. Care logs can be easily found online and they basically provide a way for you to document things like feeding, toileting, physical activity, transportation, etc. You have to document these activities of daily living on the care logs and submit them to the program in order to get paid.
#6 The individual for whom you’re caring must be assessed and deemed to need care. This means you have to get a professional assessment that declares that mom, dad, grandparent, etc., need at least 5 hours per day of caregiving service. This goes back to those activities of daily living again — things like eating, bathing, meal preparation, getting into the bed, getting out the bed, mobility, and transportation. Simply spending the night at your parents or grandparents house is not enough to qualify. You have to provide some type of family caregiver service on a daily basis, not just babysitting on occasion.
#7 You have to be eligible for Medicaid. Depending on the specific program, there are different Medical eligibility rules. If you have a question about those eligibility requirements, please give us a call at (229-226-8183) or email us at [email protected]. We’ll be glad to give you the income and asset limits for qualification.
#8 You have to be a participant in the CCSP or SOURCE programs. The CCSP program, which stands for Community Care Services Program, is basically a nursing home diversion program. It allows a senior to choose their own caretaker and stay at home as opposed to being admitted to a nursing home. It’s a great program that allows our seniors to be in a more comfortable environment as they age.
The other program is the SOURCE program which stands for Service Options Using Resources in a Community Environment. Much like the CCSP program, this is a Medicaid wavier program that helps seniors avoid the nursing home and receive care from a family caregiver at their home. This program will sometimes pay for assisted living or personal care homes, but it’s mainly designed to keep seniors from entering a nursing home.
Contact Us So We Can Help
So if you are a family caregiver and your situation meets all the requirements listed above, then we have good news. You can be paid for your family caregiver services. You are just one step away from getting paid as a family caregiver in Georgia.
If you need assistance with any of the above qualification criteria, please don’t hesitate to contact us at (229-226-8183) or send an email to [email protected]. You can also COMPLETE THIS FORM and we’ll contact you to schedule an appointment. If you’d like to see this blog in video format, you can watch it below. Please be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel and click the bell notification button so that you’re notified each time we publish a new video.