Home Care for Mental Health in Michigan: Medicaid Options

Home care for mental health in Michigan means practical, non-medical support at home for an adult living with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, severe depression or another serious mental illness. When the person has Medicaid, this support can be paid for through the Home Help program or your county Community Mental Health agency, and often a family member can be the paid caregiver.

On this page

1. What does in-home support for mental illness look like day to day?
2. Which Michigan programs pay for in-home care for mental illness?
3. Can you get paid to care for a family member with mental illness?
4. What should you do in a mental health crisis?
5. How does Supportive Solutions help families living with mental illness?
6. When does someone need more than home care?
7. Frequently asked questions

If someone is in danger now: call 911, or call or text 988.

What does in-home support for mental illness look like day to day?

Needs can change from month to month. Some weeks a person manages well alone; other weeks, eating a proper meal or showering feels out of reach. Non-medical support fills those gaps while the person keeps working with their psychiatrist, therapist or CMH team.

What a caregiver can help with

• Routines and meals: a steady rhythm for waking, eating and sleep, plus shopping and cooking.
• Personal hygiene: prompting, and hands-on help where needed, with bathing, grooming, dressing and laundry.
• Medication reminders: a reminder at the right time. Caregivers do not administer, dose or adjust medication.
• Appointments: tracking psychiatry, therapy and CMH visits and getting there.
• Companionship: conversation, walks and a familiar face that eases isolation.

What home care does not include

Caregivers are not counselors or nurses. They do not diagnose, provide therapy, give injections or manage a psychiatric emergency. They can notice changes, such as skipped meals, and share them with the family and, with the person’s consent, the treatment team. See our companionship care and personal care assistance pages for more.

Which Michigan programs pay for in-home care for mental illness?

Community Mental Health services

Michigan provides Medicaid services for serious mental illness through county CMH agencies, which work under regional Prepaid Inpatient Health Plans (PIHPs). After an intake assessment, the CMH builds a person-centered plan that may include community living supports (help with daily living skills, household tasks and community activities), respite for family caregivers, supports coordination, and self-determination, where the person directs their own supports and chooses their own workers. Call your county CMH’s access line to request an intake; services and wait times vary by county.

Michigan Home Help

Home Help, run by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, is based on function, not diagnosis. The person needs full Medicaid, must live in a private home rather than an adult foster care home or nursing facility, and needs a doctor, physician assistant or nurse practitioner to sign the medical needs form (DHS-54A). They must need hands-on help with at least one activity of daily living, such as bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, transferring or getting around, at the assessed level.

For mental illness, the details of each task matter. Under the state’s ranking scale, reminders or verbal prompting on their own are ranked below the level Home Help pays for, so describe any hands-on help as well, such as helping her wash, adjust water temperature or get dressed. Make sure the assessor hears exactly what happens on a bad day. See who qualifies for Home Help and the assessment visit.

	Home Help	CMH services
Run by	MDHHS adult services	County CMH, under a regional PIHP
How to start	Apply through the local MDHHS office	Call the county CMH access line
Main help	Personal care with daily activities and related household tasks	Community living supports, respite, supports coordination, self-determination
Based on	Functional need with at least one daily activity	Eligibility for serious mental illness services and a person-centered plan
Can family be paid?	Yes, except a spouse or the parent of a child under 18	Often, through self-determination; ask which relatives can be hired

Adults who also have a physical disability, or are 65 or older, and need a nursing-home level of care may qualify for the MI Choice Waiver. The Habilitation Supports Waiver is for developmental disabilities, not mental illness.

Can you get paid to care for a family member with mental illness?

Yes, in many cases. Under Home Help, the person receiving care chooses their provider: a parent, adult child, sibling, grandchild, friend or neighbor. Two groups cannot be paid Home Help providers: a spouse, and a parent caring for a child under 18.

That makes Home Help a common route for parents supporting an adult son or daughter living with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. The adult child is the client; the parent is the paid provider. The caregiver enrolls in CHAMPS, Michigan’s Medicaid provider system, and records visits through electronic visit verification. See our guides to CHAMPS enrollment and EVV, or read how paid family caregiving works.

CMH self-determination can also hire family members; ask the supports coordinator which relatives qualify.

What should you do in a mental health crisis?

Supportive Solutions is not a crisis service and does not provide psychiatric care. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911 and say it is a mental health emergency.

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988 any time for thoughts of suicide, a mental health or substance use crisis, or emotional distress. In Michigan, 988 calls are answered through the Michigan Crisis and Access Line (MiCAL), which can connect callers with local help.
• Your county CMH crisis line: CMH agencies run around-the-clock crisis lines and can arrange urgent assessment. The number is on your CMH’s website.

Keep these numbers and a written crisis plan made with the treatment team where a caregiver can find them.

How does Supportive Solutions help families living with mental illness?

We take on the paperwork so you can focus on the person. We:

• Check eligibility and help you apply for Medicaid if needed.
• Prepare you for the Home Help assessment, including how to describe hands-on help and prompting accurately.
• Handle CHAMPS enrollment and EVV setup, then pay the caregiver. The first paycheck typically arrives about 30 days after approval.
• Place a background-verified, MDHHS/CHAMPS-enrolled caregiver when no family member is available, choosing only trained caregivers whose certifications match the person’s needs.
• Support reassessments, and appeals if hours are reduced or denied.

New inquiries get a response within 24 hours, and our dedicated team of associates is available every day from 8 AM to 8 PM. We speak English, Arabic and Spanish and serve families across Michigan. We work alongside the CMH, not in place of it. See disability home care, respite care and how it works.

When does someone need more than home care?

• Symptoms put the person or others at risk. That is a crisis: use 911, 988 or the CMH crisis line.
• Skilled care is needed, such as injections or wound care. A doctor can order nurse visits through Medicare home health or Medicaid. See home care vs home health care.
• Needs go beyond what home can safely meet. The CMH can discuss supported housing or residential options.

Medicare does not pay for ongoing personal care at home. Browse other conditions in our care by condition hub.

Frequently asked questions

Does Medicaid pay for home care for mental health in Michigan?

Yes, for many adults. Michigan Home Help can pay for in-home support when a mental illness leaves someone needing hands-on help with daily tasks like bathing, dressing or eating. Adults with serious mental illness can also get community living supports, respite and self-determination through their county Community Mental Health agency.

Can a caregiver for someone with schizophrenia give them their medication?

A non-medical home caregiver gives medication reminders but does not administer, dose or adjust medication. Injections come from a nurse or the prescriber’s clinic. If doses are being missed or side effects appear, the caregiver tells the family and, with the person’s consent, the treatment team.

Can I get paid to care for my adult son or daughter with bipolar disorder?

Often, yes. Under Michigan Home Help, a parent can be the paid provider for an adult child who has full Medicaid and needs help with at least one daily activity at the assessed level. Spouses and parents of children under 18 cannot be paid Home Help providers. CMH self-determination may also allow family to be hired.

Does severe depression qualify for the Home Help program?

A diagnosis alone does not qualify anyone. What counts is functional need. If severe depression means a person cannot bathe, dress or eat without someone physically helping, and a doctor, PA or NP signs the medical needs form, they may qualify.

What is the difference between Home Help and CMH community living supports?

Home Help is run by MDHHS and pays a chosen caregiver for personal care with daily activities. Community living supports come from your county CMH as part of a person-centered plan and focus more on daily living skills and independence. Some people use both, coordinated so the same task is not paid twice.

Is Supportive Solutions a crisis or psychiatric service?

No. We help families arrange and get paid for non-medical home care, and we place trained caregivers. We do not provide therapy, psychiatric treatment or crisis response. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911. For a mental health crisis or thoughts of suicide, call or text 988, or call your county CMH crisis line.