Can I Get Paid to Take Care of My Elderly Parent in Michigan?
Yes. In Michigan, you can get paid to take care of your elderly parent through the Home Help program, a Medicaid benefit run by MDHHS. If your mother or father has Michigan Medicaid and needs hands-on help with daily activities, they can choose you as their caregiver, and the state pays you by the hour for the care MDHHS authorizes.
On this page
Key takeaways
- Home Help pays adult children, grandchildren, and other relatives. Only spouses are excluded.
- Your parent must have active Michigan Medicaid and need help with at least one activity of daily living.
- You need to be 18 or older, pass a background check, and enroll as an individual provider through CHAMPS. No CNA license is required.
- You can live with your parent or separately, and you can keep another job.
- Pay is hourly at the MDHHS individual provider rate, for the monthly hours set at the assessment.
Yes, through Michigan’s Home Help program
Home Help is the Michigan Medicaid program that pays for personal care at home, and the person receiving care picks the provider. Most Michigan families pick a son or daughter. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) assesses your parent’s needs, sets a monthly number of hours, and pays you as an individual provider for the hours you deliver.
This is ongoing hourly pay, not a stipend or one-time grant. Two other programs come up in searches, and neither is the answer: Social Security pays benefits to your parent, not wages to you, and Medicare does not cover long-term personal care at all.
If your parent needs more support than Home Help offers, the MI Choice Waiver is the next step up, and it can also pay family caregivers. Our overview of getting paid to care for a family member compares both.
Does your parent qualify?
Eligibility is about your parent, not you. MDHHS looks at three things.
Michigan Medicaid
Your parent must be enrolled in Michigan Medicaid. Adults 65 and older are usually reviewed under a category that counts income and assets. As of 2026, the asset limit for a single applicant in that category is about $2,000, not counting the home, one vehicle, and personal belongings. If your parent’s income is a little too high, MDHHS may assign a monthly deductible instead of denying coverage. Our free eligibility check tells you where your parent stands before you apply.
A need for help with daily activities
Your parent must need hands-on help with at least one activity of daily living: bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, grooming, transferring, or moving around the home. Help with meals, laundry, housework, shopping, and medication reminders can add hours once an ADL need is established. A doctor or other medical professional must sign a medical needs form confirming the need.
Living in a private home
Home Help covers care in a house, apartment, or condo, including your home. It does not cover care in a nursing facility, hospital, licensed adult foster care home, or home for the aged.
For more on senior eligibility and services, see our senior home care page.
What you need as the adult child
The requirements for the caregiver are simpler than most people expect:
- Be at least 18 years old
- Pass the MDHHS criminal background check and not appear on the federal or state lists of excluded Medicaid providers
- Have a Social Security number and be legally able to work in the United States
- Be physically able to perform the tasks in your parent’s care plan
- Complete the CHAMPS individual provider enrollment and use electronic visit verification (EVV) to log visits
No CNA license, nursing degree, or caregiver certificate is needed. Having power of attorney neither helps nor hurts. If you are thinking about becoming a caregiver but are not sure you qualify, read what disqualifies you from being a paid caregiver in Michigan.
Living together or apart: does it matter?
Not for eligibility. Home Help pays for authorized hours whether you share a home or drive over each day. What changes is the practical side and the tax side.
| Living together | Living apart | |
|---|---|---|
| Eligibility | Same rules | Same rules |
| Household for Medicaid | Your income is not counted toward your parent’s Medicaid | Same |
| EVV | Clock in and out for each care session at home | Clock in on arrival, out on departure |
| Federal income tax | Pay may be excludable under IRS Notice 2014-7 | Pay is generally taxable |
| Overnight needs | Easier to cover, but only authorized hours are paid | May need a second provider or agency hours |
IRS Notice 2014-7 lets caregivers who live in the same home as the Medicaid recipient exclude “difficulty of care” payments from federal gross income. Details are on the IRS website; a tax professional can confirm whether it applies to you.
How much will you be paid, and for how many hours?
Home Help pay has two parts: the hourly rate and the number of hours.
The rate is set by MDHHS for individual providers and updated periodically. It is the same across Michigan, so a caregiver in Flint earns the same hourly rate as one in Ann Arbor. Agencies that employ caregivers may pay a different rate and typically add training, backup coverage, and payroll handling. Current figures are in how much family caregivers get paid in Michigan.
The hours come from the assessment. An MDHHS adult services worker visits your parent, scores each activity of daily living, and assigns time for each task. The result is a monthly authorization, and MDHHS caps the number of hours an individual provider can be paid. Hours can be increased later if your parent’s needs change; ask for a reassessment rather than waiting for the annual review.
Pay is issued for EVV-verified hours once the provider is enrolled and linked to the case, so expect a gap between the first day of care and the first payment.
Steps to get paid to take care of your elderly parent in Michigan
- Check Medicaid. If your parent is already enrolled, move to step two. If not, apply through MI Bridges. Our MI Bridges walkthrough shows every screen.
- Request Home Help. Call your parent’s local MDHHS office, ask for adult services, and say your parent needs help with daily activities and that you are ready to provide care.
- Get the medical needs form signed. Bring it to your parent’s next doctor visit. A signed form speeds up the case.
- Complete the assessment. Be present for the home visit. Describe a typical day honestly, including the tasks your parent cannot finish safely alone.
- Enroll in CHAMPS. Create a MiLogin account, complete the individual provider application, and pass the background check. Our CHAMPS enrollment guide covers common errors.
- Set up EVV and start logging hours. Once you are linked to your parent’s case, clock in and out with the state’s EVV system for every care session.
Supportive Solutions Homecare handles this process for families in Detroit, Dearborn, Warren, Sterling Heights, Ann Arbor, Flint, Lansing, and Grand Rapids, with support in English, Arabic and Spanish. Start at how to become a paid caregiver.
About these figures: Pay rates, income and asset limits, costs, office details and timelines on this page are averages or estimates based on publicly available program information. They change over time and depend on your situation, and they are not a guarantee of pay, eligibility or approval. Call us at (313) 977-6888 for current rates and to check your specific case.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get paid to take care of my elderly mother or father in Michigan?
Yes. If your parent has Michigan Medicaid and needs hands-on help with daily activities such as bathing, dressing, or moving around, the Home Help program run by MDHHS can pay you as their individual provider. You enroll through CHAMPS, pass a background check, and are paid for the hours MDHHS authorizes after an in-home assessment.
Will Social Security or Medicare pay me to care for my parents?
No. Social Security pays retirement and disability benefits to your parent, not wages to you, and Medicare does not cover ongoing personal care at home or pay family caregivers. Medicaid is the program that pays family caregivers in Michigan, through Home Help and the MI Choice Waiver. Your parent must be enrolled in Michigan Medicaid to use either one.
Do I need a certification or CNA license to be paid?
No. Home Help individual providers do not need a CNA license, nursing degree, or formal caregiver certification. You need to be 18 or older, pass the MDHHS background check, have a Social Security number and legal work authorization, and be physically able to do the tasks in your parent’s care plan. Agencies may offer optional training that helps with transfers and dementia care.
How much does a live-in caregiver get paid in Michigan?
Home Help pays by the hour for authorized care tasks, not by the day for living in the home. A live-in adult child is paid the same MDHHS individual provider rate as anyone else, multiplied by the approved monthly hours. Because you share a home with the person you care for, you may qualify to exclude that pay from federal income tax under IRS Notice 2014-7.
Can I keep another job while being a paid caregiver?
Yes. Many adult children work another job and provide care in the mornings, evenings, or on weekends. Home Help pays for specific authorized hours, verified through electronic visit verification, so you simply clock in and out when you provide care. The hours you bill must be hours you actually worked, and you cannot bill while your parent is in a hospital or nursing facility.
Already caring for Mom or Dad? Get paid for it
Supportive Solutions Homecare enrolls adult children across Michigan as paid Home Help providers and handles the Medicaid, CHAMPS, and EVV paperwork with you.
Check your eligibility or call (313) 977-6888.