It usually starts with a simple realization. You are already the one doing the shopping, the pill organizer, the Sunday baths, the late-night calls. Your mother wants you there, not a stranger. And somewhere along the way someone mentions that New York will actually pay family members to do this.
They are right. New York is one of the few states where an adult child, a sibling, a niece, or a trusted friend can be paid through Medicaid to care for someone at home. But the program changed completely in 2025, and much of what is written about it online, including older articles on this site, no longer applies. This guide explains how it works in 2026.
The Short Answer
Yes. Through New York’s Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP), a person who qualifies for Medicaid home care can choose their own caregiver, including an adult son or daughter, and that caregiver is paid for the hours Medicaid authorizes. Since April 1, 2025, every CDPAP caregiver in New York is registered and paid through a single statewide company, Public Partnerships LLC (PPL). Spouses cannot be paid under CDPAP, and neither can the person acting as the patient’s designated representative.
How CDPAP Works Now: One Statewide Payer Since 2025
CDPAP lets a Medicaid recipient, called the consumer, hire, train, and direct their own personal assistant instead of receiving an aide assigned by an agency. For years, hundreds of separate organizations across the state acted as “fiscal intermediaries,” handling payroll for these caregivers. On April 1, 2025, New York replaced all of them with one: PPL.
In practice that means three things for your family:
- PPL pays the caregiver. Timesheets are submitted through PPL’s Time4Care app and approved by the consumer each week.
- No agency is a CDPAP fiscal intermediary anymore. If a website still says an agency “is a fiscal intermediary for CDPAP,” the page is out of date.
- Agencies can still help. Good agencies now act as facilitators, helping families through Medicaid, the assessment, and PPL registration, and many families combine CDPAP hours with agency care. Our guide to the best home care agencies in New York City explains what changed in more detail.
Who Qualifies for CDPAP?
The person receiving care must:
- Have New York Medicaid, or apply for it. Our Medicaid home care family guide walks through eligibility and the application.
- Need help with daily activities such as bathing, dressing, toileting, or getting around, confirmed through the New York Independent Assessor (NYIA) assessment.
- Be able to direct their own care, or have a designated representative, usually a family member, who does it for them: choosing the caregiver, setting the schedule, and approving hours.
- Receive an authorization for CDPAP from their Medicaid managed care plan or, for some people, their local Department of Social Services.
Who Can Be the Paid Caregiver?
Almost any adult the consumer trusts, including family members who live in the same home. Under New York Department of Health rules:
- Can be paid: adult children, siblings, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, in-laws, friends, and neighbors. Parents can be paid to care for an adult child aged 21 or older.
- Cannot be paid: the consumer’s spouse; a parent caring for a child under 21; and whoever is acting as the consumer’s designated representative.
That last rule catches many families out. If you are the daughter who manages your mother’s care as her designated representative, you cannot also be her paid caregiver. Another relative would need to take on one of the two roles.
The caregiver, called the personal assistant or PA, does not need a home health aide or PCA certificate. They do need to be legally eligible to work in the United States and complete PPL’s onboarding, including tax forms and a health assessment.
Can I get paid to care for my mother in New York?
Yes, as long as your mother qualifies for Medicaid home care and chooses CDPAP, and you are not her spouse or her designated representative. If she can direct her own care, she simply names you as her personal assistant during PPL registration. If she needs a designated representative, that has to be someone other than you, such as a sibling.
How to Apply, Step by Step
- Medicaid. Make sure your parent has active Medicaid. In New York City this goes through HRA; on Long Island and in Westchester, through the county Department of Social Services.
- Assessment. Call the New York Independent Assessor at 1-855-222-8350 to schedule the assessment that decides eligibility for long-term home care.
- Plan and authorization. Your parent enrolls in, or already belongs to, a Managed Long Term Care plan, which assesses how many hours of care are needed and authorizes CDPAP.
- PPL registration. PPL contacts the consumer to register. You can reach PPL’s New York CDPAP line at 1-833-247-5346 (Spanish: 1-833-281-0927).
- Caregiver onboarding. The consumer adds you as their personal assistant. You create a PPL account, complete your paperwork, and start logging hours in the Time4Care app.
The Medicaid and assessment steps are where most families get stuck. That is where an agency can save you weeks.
How much does a family caregiver get paid in New York?
CDPAP personal assistants are paid by the hour for the hours the plan authorizes, not for every hour you spend with your parent. In 2026, personal assistants in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester earn a base wage in the low twenties per hour, with overtime at time and a half beyond 40 hours a week, paid weekly through PPL. Rates are lower in the rest of the state. Published figures vary by source, so confirm your exact rate with PPL when you enroll.
When CDPAP Isn’t the Right Fit
CDPAP works beautifully for some families and badly for others. The consumer or their representative is the employer in all but name: responsible for recruiting, scheduling, approving timesheets, and finding cover when the caregiver is sick or needs a break. There is no nurse supervising the plan of care and no agency backup if something goes wrong.
Many families choose agency home care instead, or use it alongside CDPAP. With a licensed agency like Caring Professionals, the aide is trained, certified, and supervised by a registered nurse; the agency handles payroll and paperwork; and if an aide is unavailable, the agency sends someone else. Agency care is funded by the same Medicaid and Managed Long Term Care plans, as well as by long-term care insurance or private pay.
If a family member wants to make caregiving a profession, New York’s personal care aide certificate is the usual first step. Caring Professionals runs its own PCA training course and sponsors home health aide training at partner schools. Whether a certified aide can be assigned to care for their own relative depends on the plan and the case, so ask us before you plan around it.
How Caring Professionals Can Help
Caring Professionals has served New York families since 1994. We help families work out whether CDPAP, agency care, or a combination is right for them, guide them through Medicaid, the NYIA assessment, and plan enrollment, and provide multilingual, nurse-supervised home health aides where agency care is the better fit.
We serve Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Manhattan, Staten Island, Westchester, and Long Island. Call us at (718) 333-1400 or send us a message, and we will talk it through with you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get paid to take care of my parents in New York?
Yes. If your parent qualifies for Medicaid home care and chooses the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP), they can name you as their paid personal assistant. Since April 2025 all CDPAP caregivers are paid through PPL, the state’s single fiscal intermediary.
Can a spouse get paid as a caregiver in New York?
Not under CDPAP. New York rules exclude a consumer’s spouse, a parent caring for a child under 21, and the consumer’s designated representative from serving as the paid personal assistant.
How much does CDPAP pay in New York City?
In 2026, personal assistants in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester earn a base wage in the low twenties per hour, with overtime at time and a half beyond 40 hours a week, paid weekly through PPL. Confirm your exact rate with PPL at enrollment.
Do I need a certificate to be a CDPAP caregiver?
No. CDPAP personal assistants do not need a home health aide or personal care aide certificate. They complete PPL’s onboarding, including tax forms and a health assessment.
Who pays CDPAP caregivers now?
Public Partnerships LLC (PPL), the statewide fiscal intermediary since April 1, 2025. PPL’s New York CDPAP line is 1-833-247-5346.
What if my parent doesn’t want to manage a caregiver?
Agency home care may suit them better. A licensed agency employs, trains, and supervises the aide under a nurse’s plan of care and arranges cover when the aide is unavailable. Many families combine the two.
Sources
- New York State Department of Health, Clarification to the New Law in Relation to CDPAP
- Public Partnerships LLC, NY Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program
