Home Care in Dearborn

Home care in Dearborn, MI can be covered by Michigan Medicaid through the Home Help program, and the caregiver can be a relative who already lives with you. Supportive Solutions Homecare serves Dearborn and western Wayne County with Arabic-speaking staff who handle the MDHHS application, the home assessment and CHAMPS enrollment in your family’s first language.

On this page

1. Home care in Dearborn for Arabic-speaking and multilingual families
2. Which programs cover home care in Dearborn?
3. Steps to start Home Help in Dearborn
4. Get paid to care for a family member in Dearborn
5. Home care services available in Dearborn
6. Frequently asked questions

Home care in Dearborn for Arabic-speaking and multilingual families

Dearborn is home to the largest Arab American community in the country, and many of the families who call us are Lebanese, Yemeni, Iraqi, Syrian or Palestinian households caring for an aging parent or grandparent. State paperwork is only issued in English, and a single missed form can stall a case for weeks. Our team explains each MDHHS letter in Arabic, attends the assessment visit with you, and translates the medical needs form conversation with the doctor.

We cover East Dearborn along the Warren Avenue and Schaefer corridors, West Dearborn near the downtown and Ford world headquarters, and the South End by the Rouge complex. Outside the city limits we serve Dearborn Heights, Melvindale, Allen Park, Garden City, Inkster, Redford Township and Livonia. Spanish speakers are welcome as well. Read more in our post on home care for Dearborn’s multilingual families.

Which programs cover home care in Dearborn?

Program	Who runs it locally	Best for
Home Help	MDHHS adult services, Wayne County district office serving Dearborn	Help with bathing, dressing, meals and housework, with a family member as the paid provider
MI Choice Waiver	The Senior Alliance, Area Agency on Aging Region 1-C (western and southern Wayne County)	People who would otherwise need a nursing home and want extra services at home
Private pay	Supportive Solutions Homecare directly	Families above the Medicaid limits or waiting on approval

Dearborn sits outside the city of Detroit, so its Area Agency on Aging is The Senior Alliance rather than the Detroit agency. That matters for MI Choice: the Senior Alliance is the waiver agent that screens Dearborn residents for nursing-facility level of care. Home Help applications go instead to the MDHHS office that covers Dearborn addresses, currently the Taylor district office at 25637 Ecorse Road, (313) 375-2500. Assignments can change, so confirm hours and the right office for your address with the office locator at michigan.gov/mdhhs, or call us at (313) 977-6888 and we will look it up for you. If your parent does not yet have Medicaid, the application starts on MI Bridges.

Steps to start Home Help in Dearborn

1. Verify coverage. Medicaid must be active before Home Help hours can be approved. Our eligibility check takes two minutes and is available in Arabic on request.
2. Call for the assessment. We contact the Wayne County adult services unit for Dearborn and request an in-home visit on your behalf.
3. Prepare for the visit. The worker asks about bathing, toileting, dressing, eating, mobility and household tasks. We prepare you so that nothing is understated out of pride or politeness.
4. Have the doctor sign the medical needs form. Beaumont Dearborn, Henry Ford Fairlane and the neighborhood clinics on Warren Avenue see this form often.
5. Enroll the caregiver in CHAMPS. The family member becomes an individual provider, completes the background check, and sets up EVV on a phone to log visits.

Get paid to care for a family member in Dearborn

In many Dearborn homes three generations live under one roof, and a daughter-in-law or grandson is already doing the caregiving. Home Help pays that person for the hours MDHHS approves. There is no requirement to be a nurse or a CNA, and being related to the care recipient is not a barrier. The main exception involves spouses and parents of minor children, which we review case by case.

Through Supportive Solutions, caregivers earn a minimum of $18 per hour. The minimum applies statewide, so a Dearborn caregiver is not paid less than one in Ann Arbor or Grand Rapids. Wages arrive through CHAMPS after each visit is confirmed by EVV.

If the caregiver lives with the care recipient, IRS Notice 2014-7 may allow the payments to be treated as tax-free difficulty-of-care income. Ask us about it, then visit become a paid caregiver to start your enrollment. We also help caregivers who want to work for families outside their own; see family caregiver pay in Michigan for how hours and rates work.

Home care services available in Dearborn

• Personal care assistance with washing, dressing, toileting and getting in and out of bed
• Culturally familiar meal preparation, including halal cooking when the family requests it
• Companionship in Arabic or English, prayer-time awareness, and rides to the mosque or medical appointments where permitted
• Dementia care with a caregiver who speaks the person’s mother tongue, which often reduces agitation
• Respite care so the primary family caregiver can rest or travel
• Housekeeping, laundry, grocery shopping and medication reminders

Frequently asked questions

Do you have Arabic-speaking caregivers in Dearborn?

Yes. Many of our Dearborn caregivers are native Arabic speakers, including Lebanese and Yemeni dialects, and our office staff can take your call in Arabic. We also translate MDHHS correspondence and join the assessment visit so your parent can answer the worker’s questions in Arabic without anything being lost.

Which Area Agency on Aging covers Dearborn for the MI Choice Waiver?

The Senior Alliance, which is Area Agency on Aging Region 1-C for western and southern Wayne County. It is the MI Choice waiver agent for Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Livonia, Taylor and neighboring communities. Detroit itself is served by a different agency, so make sure you contact the right one.

Can my mother-in-law choose me as her Home Help caregiver?

Yes. Home Help lets the care recipient pick almost any adult, including in-laws, grandchildren and friends. You enroll in CHAMPS as her individual provider, pass a background check, and are paid for the hours MDHHS approves. Only a few relationships, such as spouses in most cases, are restricted.

Does Home Help pay for a caregiver who does not speak English?

Language is not an eligibility factor for the caregiver. What matters is the background check and the ability to complete EVV check-ins, which can be done on a smartphone. We walk non-English-speaking caregivers through the CHAMPS enrollment and EVV setup step by step.

What if my father is over the Medicaid income limit?

Some Dearborn families qualify after a spend-down or by using a Medicaid-compliant approach to excess income, and others use private pay while the application is reviewed. We look at the household numbers with you and explain the options before you apply, so there are no surprises later.