How to start a home care agency in California

California requires a Home Care Organization license from California Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing Division, Home Care Services Branch (HCSB) to operate a home care agency. Fee: $5,603.

License required

Yes

License

Home Care Organization license

Issuing agency

California Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing Division, Home Care Services Branch (HCSB)

Fee

$5,603

Fee details

$5,603 non-refundable application fee for a 2-year HCO license. Change of location $100; change in corporation $200. Each affiliated home care aide registration is $35 for 2 years.

Renewal

Every 2 years · License and fee cover a 2-year term; a separate renewal fee is not listed on the fee page.

Insurance and bonds

Employee dishonesty bond with third-party coverage of at least $10,000; general and professional liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 per occurrence and $3,000,000 aggregate.

Regulation

California Health and Safety Code 1796.10 et seq. (Home Care Services Consumer Protection Act), incl. 1796.37 and 1796.42

1. Read the HCS 281 application instructions
2. Complete the Section A forms: HCS 200 application, HCS 215 licensee applicant information, HCS 308 designation of responsibility, HCS 309 partnership/corporation/LLC information, HCS 402 employee dishonesty bond, HCS 9165 board of directors statement
3. Gather the Section B supporting documents (partnership/corporate papers, job descriptions, personnel policies, training plan, program description, insurance)
4. Mail the application and the fee to CDSS Home Care Services Branch, 744 P Street, M.S. 9-14-90, Sacramento, CA 95814
5. Register each caregiver on the Home Care Aide Registry (background check) and link them to the organization

Staffing

• Every affiliated caregiver must be a registered Home Care Aide who has passed the CDSS background check and appears on the public Home Care Aide Registry

Training

• At least 5 hours of entry-level training before an affiliated home care aide is with a client: 2 hours of orientation on the caregiver role and employment terms, plus 3 hours of basic health and safety (including infection control and emergency procedures)
• At least 5 hours of annual training on core competencies and population-specific needs

Program

Medi-Cal

Enrollment portal

Provider Application and Validation for Enrollment (PAVE)

Fiscal agent

California MMIS Fiscal Intermediary (claims/billing); fee-for-service enrollment itself is done by the DHCS Provider Enrollment Division (PED)

Application fee

DHCS charges $750 for applicable applications submitted in calendar year 2026, paid by EFT inside PAVE (or cashier's check for paper applications). DHCS exempts individual practitioners and physician and non-physician practitioner groups. Federal rule (42 CFR 455.460): the state must collect the CMS application fee from institutional providers that are newly enrolling or re-enrolling; individual physicians and non-physician practitioners are exempt, as are providers already enrolled in (or that already paid the fee to) Medicare or another state's Medicaid/CHIP. CMS set the fee at $750 for calendar year 2026.

Fingerprinting

Federal rule (42 CFR 455.434, 455.450(c)): providers the state places in the 'high' categorical risk level, and anyone owning 5% or more of such a provider, must submit fingerprints for a criminal background check.

Site visit

For managed care network providers that a plan screens itself, DHCS requires the plan to repeat post-enrollment site visits at least every five years for moderate-risk and every three years for high-risk providers (APL 22-013). Federal rule (42 CFR 455.432, 455.450(b)-(c)): the state must do site visits before and after enrollment for providers in the 'moderate' or 'high' risk levels, and any enrolled provider must allow unannounced on-site inspections.

Revalidation

Revalidation requests come through PAVE. In June 2026 DHCS told CMS it would run a risk-based two-year campaign to revalidate high-risk providers early, beyond the federal schedule. Federal rule (42 CFR 455.414): every enrolled provider must be revalidated at least once every 5 years.

Full California Medicaid enrollment guide →

CON program

No

California certificate of need details →

Model

hybrid

State vendor

Sandata (CalEVV)

Services in scope

• personal care
• home health

Alternate EVV allowed

Yes

Program

https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/providers-partners/california-electronic-visit-verification/

California EVV requirements →

State minimum wage

$16.90 an hour

Effective

2026-01-01

Scheduled increases

Rises to $17.40 on 2027-01-01 (annual CPI adjustment).

Direct-care wage floor

SB 525 health care worker minimum wage covers licensed home health agencies (and skilled nursing facilities owned or controlled by a hospital or integrated system); independent SNFs, residential care and congregate living health facilities are not covered. Rates are tiered by facility type; for the residual 'all other covered health care facilities' tier the minimum is $23.00/hour from 2026-07-01, rising to $25.00 on 2028-07-01.

HCBS 80/20 rule

Federal baseline: 42 CFR 441.302(k) requires the state to show that each provider spends at least 80% of Medicaid payments for homemaker, home health aide and personal care services under 1915(c) waivers on direct care worker pay and benefits. Compliance starts 2030-07-09 (for managed care, the first rating period starting on or after that date); annual payment-adequacy reporting under 441.311(e) starts 2028-07-09. A state may set a lower share for state-defined small providers and exempt providers facing hardship, each only through a public notice-and-comment process. The eCFR text has not changed since 2024-07-09. No state-published 80/20 implementation step (small-provider criteria, hardship exemption or reporting guidance) was found for this state in the official sources reviewed.

Personal care / in-home supportive care organizations — active organization NPIs (NPPES)

2,718 (as of Sep 13, 2026)

Total Medicaid and CHIP enrollment (latest reported month)

11,659,421 (as of Jun 1, 2026)

All California Home care Medicaid rates, ranked →

• 1915(i) State Plan HCBS for People with Developmental Disabilities (1915(i))
• Assisted Living Waiver (1915(c))
• Community First Choice Option (CFCO) (1915(k))
• HCBS Waiver for Californians with Developmental Disabilities (1915(c))
• Home and Community Based Alternatives Waiver (1915(c))
• Medi-Cal Waiver Program (MCWP) (1915(c))
• Multipurpose Senior Services Program Waiver (1915(c))
• Self-Determination Program for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities (1915(c))

California waivers and waiting lists →