In Colorado, a Medicaid member who needs an institutional level of care can hire and pay a relative, including an adult child or spouse, through Consumer-Directed Attendant Support Services (CDASS). Colorado's 2026 base wage for CDASS attendants starts at $17.00 an hour, and the first step is a call to the Health First Colorado Member Contact Center.,

What CDASS Does and Who Qualifies

Under CDASS, the member (or their Authorized Representative) is the legal employer of record, hiring, training and supervising attendants who give personal care, homemaker and health maintenance services. CDASS is a service delivery option under the Colorado Community First Choice Option, a Health First Colorado benefit that took effect July 1, 2025.

To use CDASS in Colorado, the person who needs care must:

  • be enrolled in Health First Colorado, the state's Medicaid program;
  • have an assessed need for Personal Care, Homemaker or Health Maintenance Activities and meet an institutional level of care (automatic for anyone on a home- and community-based services waiver);
  • plan services with a Case Management Agency and want to self-direct their in-home care;
  • complete the Attendant Support Management Plan (ASMP) and orientation, and be able to direct their care or have an Authorized Representative do it.

Who a CDASS Member Can Hire and Pay

Colorado's CDASS rule lets Family Members (anyone related to the member by blood, marriage, adoption or common law) and legal guardians work as attendants, subject to conditions.

Family member Can CDASS pay them?
Adult child who lives elsewhere Yes
Adult child or other relative who lives with the member Only if the Case Manager determines Extraordinary Care
Spouse Yes; if you live together, Extraordinary Care only
Legal guardian Yes, unless also the Authorized Representative
Authorized Representative No, not for the member they represent

For a relative in a CDASS member's household, the Case Manager determines Extraordinary Care and documents it on the service plan. Colorado defines Extraordinary Care as care beyond what a Family Member would ordinarily do for someone the same age without a disability or chronic illness, needed to protect the member's health and welfare and avoid institutionalization.

A CDASS Authorized Representative isn't paid for representative duties and can't be the paid attendant for the member they represent, so if you want the attendant wage, someone else has to be the Authorized Representative., Our guides to getting paid to care for your spouse in Colorado and being paid as a guardian go further.

CDASS can't hire anyone whose background check shows a conviction for a crime the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) lists as high-risk, and attendants aged 16 or 17 can't operate floor-based or ceiling-mounted vertical powered lifts or powered sit-to-stand lifts.

Colorado's other self-directed Community First Choice option, In-Home Support Services, also lets a Family Member, including a spouse, be the attendant, but an agency employs that attendant.

What CDASS Pays a Family Caregiver in Colorado

Colorado's base wage floor for CDASS attendants is $17.00 an hour statewide from January 1, 2026, and $19.29 in Denver and $18.17 in Edgewater, where local minimum wages are higher. The floor isn't a set rate: each attendant's wage can't exceed the amount HCPF sets, must follow Colorado labor standards including minimum wage and overtime, and has to fit the member's monthly and Certification Period Allocation. You and the member, or their Authorized Representative, negotiate your wage, and every hour paid to you comes out of the allocation that pays for all their attendant care. A CDASS Family Member's wage should match the skill the task requires and equal a non-family attendant's unless the Family Member is more skilled.

CDASS pay comes through the member's chosen Financial Management Services (FMS) vendor, Palco, Inc. or Public Partnerships, LLC (PPL), which runs payroll as the member's agent. Our guide to who sends your W-2 or 1099 as a Medicaid-paid caregiver explains the paperwork.

How Many Hours a CDASS Attendant Can Work

No caregiver, family or not, can be paid for more than 16 hours of care in a calendar day across CDASS, In-Home Support Services and other listed home care services, all members combined, except in a documented Emergency Situation. Colorado is also phasing in a weekly limit on the hours one caregiver can give one member, counted Sunday through Saturday:

Dates Weekly limit per caregiver
July 1 to December 31, 2026 84 hours
January 1 to June 30, 2027 70 hours
From July 1, 2027 56 hours

If you care for a parent most of the week, plan now: from July 1, 2027, Colorado pays for at most 56 hours weekly with them, and you can't exceed any weekly limit unless a Weekly Caregiver Limit Exception Request is pending or approved, or in a documented Emergency Situation; our Colorado caregiver programs guide covers the four exception criteria, the Emergency Situation rule and CDASS's annual soft caps.

Colorado caps a spouse's paid Homemaker services at 364 total hours a year per member; more Homemaker hours can come from someone who isn't the spouse.

How to Start Getting Paid Through CDASS in Colorado

  1. Call the Health First Colorado Member Contact Center at 1-800-221-3943 (State Relay 711) and ask about CDASS.
  2. If your parent or spouse isn't enrolled yet, apply for Health First Colorado first.
  3. Build the service plan with the Case Management Agency; if you live with the member, ask the Case Manager to document Extraordinary Care.
  4. Finish orientation and the ASMP, which records any Family Member hired; choose Palco or PPL as the FMS vendor; and decide who, if anyone, will be the Authorized Representative.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a 40-hour limit for family caregivers in CDASS?

Colorado's CDASS family-reimbursement section, 10 CCR 2505-10 Section 8.7515.S, lists no 40-hour weekly cap for Family Members; the 16-hour daily limit and the weekly caregiver limit apply instead.

Is CDASS pay taxable?

The FMS vendor withholds federal, state and local tax from CDASS attendant pay. Whether any of that pay can be left out of income is covered in whether Medicaid waiver payments are taxable.

Learn More

CaregiverColorado Paid Family Caregiver Programs: How to Get Paid to Care for a Loved OneHow to get paid to care for a family member in Colorado in 2026: CDASS self-direction, IHSS, the spouse-pay angle, Community First Choice, and the VA options. CaregiverHow to Get Paid to Care for Your Spouse in ColoradoIn Colorado you can be paid to care for your spouse. Medicaid's CDASS and IHSS options allow it, and the VA pays spouses too. Here is how it works. CaregiverCaregiver Programs in ColoradoEvery caregiver program in Colorado: CDASS and IHSS paid pathways (spouses can be paid), respite, NFCSP grants, VA benefits, and taxes explained for 2026. MedicaidHow to Apply for Colorado Medicaid (Health First Colorado)Colorado Medicaid needs an income trust if income tops $2,982/month and stays under the private-pay rate. Apply via PEAK online, by mail, or at a county office.

Find personalized help setting up CDASS pay for a family caregiver in Colorado at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.

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