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Home care programs · Illinois

Illinois home care programs

Illinois pays for care at home through 6 programs. Consumer-directed care is available through Home Services Program (HSP) — Individual Provider / Personal Assistant (IP) and Home-Based Support Services (HBS) — Adults with DD Waiver and Children's Support Waiver (PSW). Family members can be paid caregivers in 3 of them.

Verified Oct 9, 2026Sources: official state and federal agencies

Every state
Programs
6
Consumer-directed
Yes
Family can be paid
Yes
Structured family caregiving
No
On this page
Programs

Every way Illinois pays for care at home

Illinois pays for care at home through 6 programs. Consumer-directed care is available through Home Services Program (HSP) — Individual Provider / Personal Assistant (IP) and Home-Based Support Services (HBS) — Adults with DD Waiver and Children's Support Waiver (PSW). Family members can be paid caregivers in 3 of them.

ProgramTypeCan family be paidHow it differs
Home Health Care Services (HFS Medical Assistance Program)State Plan home health (42 CFR 440.70)Home healthNot statedSkilled home health: nursing, therapy and aide visits under a plan of care from a licensed home health agency; run as a Medicaid State Plan benefit, available through fee-for-service and managed care.
Community Care Program (CCP) — In-Home Service1915(c) waiver IL.0143 (Persons who are Elderly); CCP created by Public Act 81-202 (1979)Agency personal careYesAgency personal care: non-medical daily help from aides a licensed agency employs; run as a 1915(c) home and community-based services waiver, available through fee-for-service and managed care.
Home Services Program (HSP) — Individual Provider / Personal Assistant (IP)1915(c) waivers IL.0142 (Persons with Disabilities), IL.0329 (Brain Injury), IL.0202 (HIV/AIDS)Consumer-directedYesConsumer-directed care: the participant hires and directs their own aide, with payroll handled for them; run as a 1915(c) home and community-based services waiver, available through fee-for-service and managed care.
Home-Based Support Services (HBS) — Adults with DD Waiver and Children's Support Waiver (PSW)1915(c) waivers IL.0350 (Adults with Developmental Disabilities) and IL.0464 (Support Waiver for Children and Young Adults with DD)Consumer-directedYesConsumer-directed care: the participant hires and directs their own aide, with payroll handled for them; run as a 1915(c) home and community-based services waiver, paid fee-for-service.
HCBS Waiver for Medically Fragile, Technology Dependent Children (MFTD)1915(c) waiver IL.0278Waiver in-homeNot statedWaiver in-home services: supports at home for people who meet a nursing-home or similar level of care; run as a 1915(c) home and community-based services waiver, paid fee-for-service.
Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE)State Plan PACE (added 2003) with Medicare/Medicaid capitationPACENot statedPACE: one organization covers medical care, a day center and home care for people 55 and over; run as the PACE benefit, delivered through managed-care plans.
Guide

Home health vs home care vs consumer-directed care in Illinois

What each kind of program is, who employs the caregiver and when a family member can be paid.

Home health: the medical benefit

In Illinois, skilled home health is Home Health Care Services (HFS Medical Assistance Program). It is a medical benefit: a doctor or other practitioner orders nursing, therapy or home health aide visits under a written plan of care, and the visits stop when the skilled need ends.

Only a licensed home health agency enrolled with Illinois Medicaid can bill it, and the agency's own nurses, therapists and aides make the visits.

Home care: non-medical personal care through an agency

Help with bathing, dressing, eating, toileting and household tasks is "home care" or personal care. In Illinois the agency route is Community Care Program (CCP) — In-Home Service. No skilled need is required; the person qualifies on functional need, usually measured by an assessment of daily activities.

The agency recruits, trains, schedules and pays the aides, and it is the employer. Community Care Program (CCP) — In-Home Service lets the agency hire a family member as the aide, with the agency still the employer.

Consumer-directed care: the person hires their own aide

Illinois's consumer-directed option is Home Services Program (HSP) — Individual Provider / Personal Assistant (IP) and Home-Based Support Services (HBS) — Adults with DD Waiver and Children's Support Waiver (PSW). The person receiving care, or a representative, recruits, hires, trains, schedules and supervises the aide, and can let go of one. A fiscal intermediary runs payroll, taxes and background checks, so the person never handles wages directly.

This is the route most families use to be paid: Home Services Program (HSP) — Individual Provider / Personal Assistant (IP) and Home-Based Support Services (HBS) — Adults with DD Waiver and Children's Support Waiver (PSW) allow a relative to be hired as the paid aide. Which relatives qualify (adult children, parents of adults, spouses, legal guardians) and how a live-in caregiver is treated are set program by program.

Structured family caregiving: a paid live-in family caregiver

Illinois has no structured family caregiving program. A family caregiver is paid instead through consumer-directed care (Home Services Program (HSP) — Individual Provider / Personal Assistant (IP) and Home-Based Support Services (HBS) — Adults with DD Waiver and Children's Support Waiver (PSW)), by the hour, as the participant's chosen aide.

Other ways Illinois pays for care at home

Waiver in-home services: HCBS Waiver for Medically Fragile, Technology Dependent Children (MFTD). These pay for in-home supports for people who meet a nursing-home or similar level of care, often with more services than state plan personal care and, in some programs, a waiting list or enrollment cap.

PACE: Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). One PACE organization covers medical care, a day center and home care for people 55 and over who need nursing-home level care.

Which one fits

  • Needs nursing, wound care, injections or therapy at home: home health (Home Health Care Services (HFS Medical Assistance Program)).
  • Needs daily help and wants an agency to supply and manage the aide: Community Care Program (CCP) — In-Home Service.
  • Wants to choose the aide, including a relative where allowed: Home Services Program (HSP) — Individual Provider / Personal Assistant (IP) and Home-Based Support Services (HBS) — Adults with DD Waiver and Children's Support Waiver (PSW).
  • Meets nursing-home level of care and needs more than personal care: HCBS Waiver for Medically Fragile, Technology Dependent Children (MFTD).
In the workspace

Illinois program rules, side by side

Eligibility, the family caregiver rules (spouses, parents, live-in caregivers), employer of record, fiscal intermediary, caregiver training, provider requirements, how to enroll, published pay, EVV and waiting lists: 77 details across 6 programs.

ProgramFamily rulesEmployerEligibilityPay
See Illinois's program rules — start free

Who can be paid, who employs the caregiver, what each program requires of agencies and caregivers, how to become a provider and what it pays, for all 6 programs.

  • Family caregiver rules
  • Provider requirements
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Program by program

Illinois's programs

What each program is and how it differs from the others. Locked details open in the workspace.

Home Health Care Services (HFS Medical Assistance Program)

Home health

State Plan home health (42 CFR 440.70) · Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS)

Skilled home health: nursing, therapy and aide visits under a plan of care from a licensed home health agency; run as a Medicaid State Plan benefit, available through fee-for-service and managed care.

Can family be paid?Not stated
How to get set up
Provider track · 11 steps
  1. Register the business
  2. 10 more steps: forms, fees, timelines and links
Family / participant track · 5 steps
  1. Have Illinois Medicaid
  2. 4 more steps: forms, fees, timelines and links
Open the full checklist →
EligibilityServices coveredHours or budgetEmployer of recordCaregiver requirementsProvider requirementsHow to become a providerPay rateEVVWaiting list or capManaged-care plansRecent changesHow it differs, in detailSetup checklistUnlock the details →

Community Care Program (CCP) — In-Home Service

Agency personal care

1915(c) waiver IL.0143 (Persons who are Elderly); CCP created by Public Act 81-202 (1979) · Illinois Department on Aging (operating agency); HFS (Medicaid agency)

Agency personal care: non-medical daily help from aides a licensed agency employs; run as a 1915(c) home and community-based services waiver, available through fee-for-service and managed care.

Can family be paid?Yes
How to get set up
Provider track · 13 steps
  1. Register the business
  2. 12 more steps: forms, fees, timelines and links
Family / participant track · 7 steps
  1. Contact the local Care Coordination Unit
  2. 6 more steps: forms, fees, timelines and links
Open the full checklist →
EligibilityServices coveredHours or budgetFamily caregiver rulesEmployer of recordCaregiver requirementsProvider requirementsHow to become a providerPay rateEVVWaiting list or capManaged-care plansRecent changesHow it differs, in detailSetup checklistUnlock the details →

Home Services Program (HSP) — Individual Provider / Personal Assistant (IP)

Consumer-directed

1915(c) waivers IL.0142 (Persons with Disabilities), IL.0329 (Brain Injury), IL.0202 (HIV/AIDS) · Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of Rehabilitation Services (DHS-DRS); HFS is the Medicaid agency

Consumer-directed care: the participant hires and directs their own aide, with payroll handled for them; run as a 1915(c) home and community-based services waiver, available through fee-for-service and managed care.

Can family be paid?Yes
How to get set up
Provider track · 8 steps
  1. Worker is chosen by the customer
  2. 7 more steps: forms, fees, timelines and links
Family / participant track · 9 steps
  1. Refer
  2. 8 more steps: forms, fees, timelines and links
Open the full checklist →
EligibilityServices coveredHours or budgetFamily caregiver rulesEmployer of recordFiscal intermediaryCaregiver requirementsProvider requirementsHow to become a providerPay rateEVVWaiting list or capManaged-care plansRecent changesHow it differs, in detailSetup checklistUnlock the details →

Home-Based Support Services (HBS) — Adults with DD Waiver and Children's Support Waiver (PSW)

Consumer-directed

1915(c) waivers IL.0350 (Adults with Developmental Disabilities) and IL.0464 (Support Waiver for Children and Young Adults with DD) · Illinois DHS Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD)

Consumer-directed care: the participant hires and directs their own aide, with payroll handled for them; run as a 1915(c) home and community-based services waiver, paid fee-for-service.

Can family be paid?Yes
How to get set up
Provider track · 8 steps
  1. Individually hired PSW: hired by the family
  2. 7 more steps: forms, fees, timelines and links
Family / participant track · 9 steps
  1. Register on PUNS
  2. 8 more steps: forms, fees, timelines and links
Open the full checklist →
EligibilityServices coveredHours or budgetFamily caregiver rulesEmployer of recordFiscal intermediaryCaregiver requirementsProvider requirementsHow to become a providerPay rateEVVWaiting list or capRecent changesHow it differs, in detailSetup checklistUnlock the details →

HCBS Waiver for Medically Fragile, Technology Dependent Children (MFTD)

Waiver in-home

1915(c) waiver IL.0278 · University of Illinois at Chicago, Division of Specialized Care for Children (DSCC); HFS oversight

Waiver in-home services: supports at home for people who meet a nursing-home or similar level of care; run as a 1915(c) home and community-based services waiver, paid fee-for-service.

Can family be paid?Not stated
How to get set up
Provider track · 8 steps
  1. Register the business
  2. 7 more steps: forms, fees, timelines and links
Family / participant track · 7 steps
  1. Contact DSCC
  2. 6 more steps: forms, fees, timelines and links
Open the full checklist →
EligibilityServices coveredFamily caregiver rulesEmployer of recordCaregiver requirementsProvider requirementsHow it differs, in detailSetup checklistUnlock the details →

Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE)

PACE

State Plan PACE (added 2003) with Medicare/Medicaid capitation · Illinois HFS with CMS

PACE: one organization covers medical care, a day center and home care for people 55 and over; run as the PACE benefit, delivered through managed-care plans.

Can family be paid?Not stated
How to get set up
Provider track · 5 steps
  1. Be designated by HFS
  2. 4 more steps: forms, fees, timelines and links
Family / participant track · 6 steps
  1. Check the service area
  2. 5 more steps: forms, fees, timelines and links
Open the full checklist →
EligibilityServices coveredEmployer of recordProvider requirementsPay rateWaiting list or capManaged-care plansHow it differs, in detailSetup checklistUnlock the details →
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Can family members get paid to be caregivers in Illinois?

Yes. Community Care Program (CCP) — In-Home Service, Home Services Program (HSP) — Individual Provider / Personal Assistant (IP), and Home-Based Support Services (HBS) — Adults with DD Waiver and Children's Support Waiver (PSW) let a family member be the paid caregiver. Which relatives qualify, including spouses and parents of minor children, is set program by program.

Does Illinois have consumer-directed care?

Yes: Home Services Program (HSP) — Individual Provider / Personal Assistant (IP) and Home-Based Support Services (HBS) — Adults with DD Waiver and Children's Support Waiver (PSW). The person receiving care hires and directs their own aide, and a fiscal intermediary handles payroll.

Does Illinois have structured family caregiving?

No. Illinois does not run a structured family caregiving program. Family caregivers are paid through consumer-directed care instead.

What is the difference between home health and home care in Illinois?

Home health (Home Health Care Services (HFS Medical Assistance Program)) is medical: nursing, therapy and aide visits ordered by a practitioner and delivered by a licensed home health agency. Home care (Community Care Program (CCP) — In-Home Service) is non-medical help with daily activities, based on functional need.

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