Colorado's In-Home Support Services can pay a family member to care for a parent, spouse or other relative at home. A Colorado IHSS family caregiver is chosen by the member and employed by a licensed home care agency, but no care is paid until the Care Plan and Prior Authorization Request reach the agency.

Who Can Be a Paid IHSS Attendant in Colorado?

Colorado IHSS, a service delivery option under Colorado's Community First Choice (CFC), is run by the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF), and Colorado's IHSS rule says "A Family Member, including a spouse, may be an Attendant."

Your relationship Can you be paid?
Adult child Yes
Spouse Yes; if you live together, pre-approved Extraordinary Care only
Relative who lives with the member Only if the Case Manager pre-approves Extraordinary Care
Friend or current caregiver Yes
Legal guardian or power of attorney Yes, but not while also the Authorized Representative
The member's Authorized Representative No

See our guide to being a guardian and a paid caregiver.

The Rules for a Spouse

In Colorado IHSS, Extraordinary Care is care beyond what a family member would ordinarily do for someone the same age without a disability or chronic illness, and needed to keep the member healthy and out of an institution.

Colorado treats a spouse as a Legally Responsible Person (LRP), paid for Homemaker only for Extraordinary Care, whether or not you live together. Colorado's IHSS rule caps LRP Homemaker pay at 364 total hours a year per member; more hours may be authorized from a caregiver who isn't an LRP. Colorado's LRP Homemaker limit has changed repeatedly: an emergency rule held each LRP to 5 Homemaker hours a week through June 12, 2026, and HCPF has said it intends to revise the policy again, so ask the Case Manager which applies today.,

Does Your Family Member Qualify for Colorado IHSS?

HCPF says a Colorado IHSS member must:

  • Be enrolled in Health First Colorado, Colorado Medicaid.
  • Meet CFC eligibility: an assessed need for Personal Care, Homemaker or Health Maintenance Activities, and an institutional level of care (automatic for members already in a Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waiver).
  • Take part in service planning with their Case Management Agency.

Colorado's IHSS rule adds a signed Physician Attestation of Consumer Capacity at enrollment and after any change in condition. A member who can't direct their own care must name an Authorized Representative, or Colorado IHSS eligibility ends. If your parent's memory is slipping, settle this early.

How IHSS differs from CDASS is in our Colorado caregiver programs guide; financial rules are in our Colorado Medicaid income limits guide.

How Many Hours Can a Colorado IHSS Family Caregiver Be Paid For?

Paid Colorado IHSS hours come from the Case Manager's assessment and the approved Care Plan, within annual soft caps of 4,750 hours of Health Maintenance Activities, 2,500 of Personal Care and 1,125 of Homemaker per Person-Centered Support Plan; the Case Manager can request more by exception.

Every Colorado IHSS caregiver has two limits:

  • Per day: at most 16 paid hours a day across IHSS, Consumer Directed Attendant Support Services (CDASS) and other listed home care services, all members combined.
  • Per week: 84 hours for one member from July 1 to December 31, 2026; 70 hours from January 1 to June 30, 2027; 56 hours from July 1, 2027.

HCPF says the new caregiver limits won't cut a member's authorized hours or budget. If you cover most of the week, line up a second caregiver before January 1, 2027: hours past your weekly limit go to another caregiver without an approved exception.

A documented Emergency Situation lets another Colorado IHSS caregiver exceed the daily or weekly limit for up to 7 calendar days. Beyond 7 days, a Colorado IHSS weekly-limit exception is required, approved only for one of four reasons HCPF lists. The IHSS agency files the request after telling the Case Manager, only HCPF decides it, and the weekly limit doesn't apply until 7 calendar days after the decision.

What Colorado IHSS Pays a Family Caregiver

Typical pay: about $18.53 an hour (estimate based on home care aide wages in Colorado, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), May 2025). It's an occupation-wide wage estimate, not a rate any program pays.

Colorado's Direct Care Workforce base wage for IHSS attendants is $17.00 an hour statewide ($19.29 in Denver, $18.17 in Edgewater), effective January 1, 2026, and an IHSS agency must pay any higher local minimum wage.

If you cut back work, budget carefully: Colorado IHSS pays only for approved Care Plan hours, at the agency's hourly rate.

How to Start Getting Paid Through IHSS

1
Step 1

Apply for Health First Colorado

if your family member isn't enrolled.

2
Step 2

Call the Member Contact Center at 1-800-221-3943 (State Relay 711)

Ask about Community First Choice and IHSS.

3
Step 3

Work with the Case Management Agency

on the assessment and service plan. Ask for IHSS, and if you live together, an Extraordinary Care determination.

4
Step 4

Get the physician attestation signed

and, if needed, name an Authorized Representative who isn't you.

5
Step 5

Pick an IHSS agency with a Class A or B Home Care Agency license

in good standing with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). The member presents you as their chosen attendant.

6
Step 6

Wait for the Case Manager's approved Care Plan and Prior Authorization Request to reach the agency

before your first paid shift; Colorado's rule says earlier care is "not reimbursable."

Frequently Asked Questions

Can my parent use IHSS and CDASS at the same time?

No. Colorado's rule says a member "cannot receive In-Home Support Services (IHSS) and Consumer Directed Attendant Support Services (CDASS) at the same time."

Is IHSS pay taxable?

It may be. IRS Notice 2014-7 covers 1915(c) waiver payments for care in a home shared with the person receiving it. Colorado IHSS runs under CFC, an optional Medicaid program also known as 1915(k). For payments under a program other than an HCBS waiver, the IRS says excludability "will depend on the nature of the payments and the purpose and design of the program," so check with a tax professional.

Learn More

CaregiverHow to Get Paid as a Family Caregiver in ColoradoHow 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. CaregiverGet 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. CaregiverCDASS Family Caregiver Pay in ColoradoCDASS lets an eligible Health First Colorado member hire and pay family, including a spouse, from $17.00 an hour in 2026. Who qualifies, pay and hour limits. 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. MedicaidColorado Medicaid HCBS WaiversColorado Medicaid HCBS waivers pay for home and community care through the EBD waiver. See who qualifies, what it covers, and how to apply in 2026. CaregiverAre Medicaid Caregiver Payments Taxable?Are Medicaid waiver payments taxable? Usually not, if you live with the person you care for. What IRS Notice 2014-7 excludes, what it misses, how to report it.

Find personalized help getting set up as a paid IHSS attendant 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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