How to Get Paid as a Family Caregiver in Connecticut (2026)

Connecticut offers several legitimate ways to get paid as a family caregiver, and the most generous is Adult Family Living. This program pays a relative who lives with an older or disabled adult a tax-free monthly stipend to be their caregiver. It sits alongside the state's Medicaid self-direction programs, where the person you care for hires you directly as their personal care attendant. Almost every route runs through the Department of Social Services (DSS), and each one has its own rule about who can be paid.1

The rule that trips up the most families is who is excluded. Under Connecticut's Medicaid programs, a spouse, a conservator, or a legal guardian generally cannot be paid to provide the care, but an adult child, a grandchild, another relative, or a friend who lives with the person usually can.2

This guide lays out every legitimate way to be paid as a family caregiver in Connecticut for 2026: who can be hired under each program, how the pay works, and how to pick the route that fits your family.

The Short Version

If you are an adult child, grandchild, other relative, or close friend of an older or disabled Connecticut resident, you have two strong paid routes. If you live with them and they need ongoing care, look at Adult Family Living, which pays a tax-free stipend. If you provide hands-on personal care, look at Community First Choice, where your loved one hires you directly as their paid attendant.

If you are a spouse, Connecticut's Medicaid routes are closed to you. The one reliable way to be paid to care for your husband or wife is Veteran-Directed Care, if your spouse is an eligible veteran.

If your loved one is a veteran, check the VA programs first. They often pay as well as or better than Medicaid, and they allow paid spouses. And if your family has enough private assets, a written personal services contract can pay a caregiver now while documenting the arrangement for later Medicaid planning.

The rest of this guide walks through each pathway in detail.

What Makes Connecticut Different: Adult Family Living and CHCPE Self-Direction

Two features set Connecticut apart. The first is Adult Family Living (AFL), sometimes called the foster caregiver program. Instead of paying an hourly wage, AFL pays a live-in caregiver a tax-free monthly stipend to provide ongoing care and supervision in a shared home. The caregiver moves into the care recipient's home, or the recipient moves in with the caregiver, and DSS sets the stipend at one of four levels based on how complex the care is. Few states offer a benefit this clean: it doesn't ask the family to run a payroll, and the stipend isn't treated as taxable income.1

What families miss is who AFL excludes. The live-in caregiver cannot be the care recipient's spouse, conservator, legal guardian, or health care representative. An adult child, grandchild, sibling, other relative, or a friend who lives with the person can be the caregiver. So a daughter who moves in with her mother can be paid through AFL; a husband caring for his wife cannot.1

The second feature is how Connecticut handles self-direction. The Connecticut Home Care Program for Elders (CHCPE) is the state's main home-care program for people 65 and older who are at risk of going into a nursing home. CHCPE used to let participants self-direct their own personal care, but it no longer does that directly. Instead, Medicaid-funded CHCPE participants now self-direct their personal care through Community First Choice. So when you read that CHCPE pays for personal care attendant services, the self-directed, family-caregiver version of that care actually runs through CFC.4,2

For both self-directed routes, one agency does the paperwork. Aris Solutions (866-970-3301) is the fiscal agent DSS's self-directed programs use for CFC, the PCA Waiver, CHCPE, and others; Allied Community Resources, the prior fiscal intermediary, now directs Connecticut self-directed participants to Aris Solutions. The person receiving care is the legal employer of the attendant, and Aris Solutions runs payroll, withholds and reports taxes, and pays the attendant based on timesheets the member or their representative approves. Because the state re-bids this payroll contract periodically, confirm the current fiscal-intermediary vendor with DSS when you enroll.2

The Connecticut Paid Family Caregiver Pathways

1. Adult Family Living (AFL): The Tax-Free Stipend

Who pays: DSS, through the Connecticut Home Care Program for Elders and the Personal Care Assistance Waiver.

Who can be paid: An adult child, grandchild, other relative, or friend who lives with the care recipient. Cannot be paid: a spouse, conservator, legal guardian, or health care representative.1

What it is: AFL pays a live-in caregiver a non-taxable monthly stipend to provide daily care, supervision, and support in a shared home. It's a different model from hourly attendant pay: the caregiver and care recipient live together, and the stipend compensates the round-the-clock presence rather than counting hours.1

What you get: DSS assesses the care recipient and sets the stipend at one of four levels based on the complexity of care needed. Because the level-based stipend amounts are set administratively and adjust over time, confirm the current figure with DSS or the sponsoring agency rather than relying on a number you read secondhand. The stipend is tax-free, which is one of the program's biggest advantages.1

Eligibility, recipient: Generally age 65 or older, or an adult with a disability, who needs help with at least one activity of daily living and meets the financial rules of the underlying program (CHCPE or the PCA Waiver).1

Eligibility, caregiver: Must live in the same home as the care recipient and not be an excluded relationship (spouse, conservator, guardian, health care representative).

Best for: A relative or close friend who already lives with, or is willing to move in with, an older or disabled loved one who needs daily care.

2. Community First Choice (CFC): Self-Directed Personal Care

Who pays: Connecticut Medicaid (HUSKY), administered by DSS.

Who can be paid: A friend or relative, including an adult child, hired as the care recipient's personal care attendant. Cannot be paid: a spouse or legal guardian.2

What it is: Community First Choice is a Medicaid state plan option under Section 1915(k) of the Social Security Act, created by the Affordable Care Act. Because it's a state plan benefit rather than a capped waiver, there's no waitlist: everyone who qualifies gets services. The member self-directs their care, meaning they hire, train, schedule, and supervise their own attendant.2

What it covers: Personal care assistance, the hands-on help with activities of daily living (bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring, eating) and related tasks, delivered by an attendant the member chooses.

Eligibility, recipient: Must be a Connecticut Medicaid member who needs an institutional level of care but can safely live in the community with help. A DSS-contracted assessment agency evaluates the need and authorizes services.

Eligibility, caregiver: Be hired by the member, not be a spouse or legal guardian, and enroll through the fiscal intermediary that handles payroll and taxes.

How you get paid: Aris Solutions pays you on a regular payroll schedule from timesheets the member approves, with taxes withheld.2

Best for: A non-spouse relative or friend providing hands-on personal care to a Medicaid-eligible loved one.

3. The Personal Care Assistance (PCA) Waiver

Who pays: Connecticut Medicaid, administered by the DSS Community Options Unit.

Who can be paid: A relative or friend, including an adult child, as the attendant. The same spouse and legal-guardian exclusions apply, and AFL under the waiver excludes spouses too.5

What it is: The PCA Waiver is a Medicaid 1915(c) home and community-based services waiver for adults ages 18 through 64 with a chronic, severe, and permanent disability who would otherwise need institutional care. It covers personal care assistance plus services like mental health counseling, adult day health, and adult family living.5

Eligibility, recipient: Ages 18 to 64, need hands-on help with at least two activities of daily living, lack the community supports to live independently, and meet the financial test (countable income generally at or below 300% of the maximum SSI benefit, with asset limits). People who qualify under Medicaid for the Employed Disabled are not subject to those income and asset restrictions.5

One thing to plan around: Unlike CFC, the PCA Waiver has a limited number of slots, and referrals are filled in the order received as openings come up. To start, call the DSS Community Options Unit. Participants who self-direct their personal care receive it through the same Community First Choice mechanism.5

Best for: A working-age adult with a significant disability who needs ongoing personal care and wants to direct their own attendant.

4. Money Follows the Person (MFP): The Bridge Home

Who pays: Connecticut Medicaid, administered by DSS.

What it is: Money Follows the Person (MFP) helps a Medicaid-eligible person who has spent at least 90 days in a nursing home, hospital, or other institution move back into the community. It isn't a caregiver paycheck on its own; it's the on-ramp that connects someone to the ongoing programs, CHCPE, the PCA Waiver, and Community First Choice, where the paid-caregiver pathways live.6

Best for: A family bringing a loved one home from a facility who then wants to set up paid family caregiving through one of the programs above.

5. VA Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC)

Who can be paid: A designated Primary Family Caregiver of an eligible veteran, which can be a spouse, adult child, parent, or other family member.7

2026 stipend: The PCAFC stipend is calculated from the federal General Schedule GS-4, Step 1 annual rate for the locality where the veteran lives, divided by 12, then multiplied by a level factor (Level 1 is 0.625; the higher Level 2 applies when the veteran cannot self-sustain in the community). Connecticut falls in the Hartford locality pay area, so confirm your exact stipend with your VA Caregiver Support Coordinator.7

Veteran eligibility: A service-connected disability rating of 70 percent or higher, a need for in-person personal care for at least six continuous months, and enrollment in VA health care.

Why it stands out: The stipend is federal tax-free, it allows paid spouses, and it can be combined with VA Aid and Attendance and with Medicaid pathways.

Best for: Families of an eligible veteran where one person provides substantial daily care.

6. VA Veteran-Directed Care (VDC)

Who can be paid: Almost any caregiver the veteran chooses, including a spouse. VDC has the most permissive family-hire rules of any program in this guide, which makes it the main way to be paid to care for a spouse in Connecticut.8

How it works: The veteran receives a flexible monthly budget set by their VA care team based on assessed need and uses it to hire and pay caregivers at a rate they set within that budget. A financial management agency handles the payroll.8

Availability: Veteran-Directed Care is offered through participating VA medical centers in partnership with aging and disability network agencies. Ask your social worker at VA Connecticut Healthcare System (West Haven and Newington) whether VDC is available for you.8

Best for: A Connecticut veteran with daily-living needs who wants to pay a spouse or to set their caregiver's schedule and rate directly.

7. VA Aid and Attendance Pension

Who is paid: The veteran or surviving spouse receives the pension directly, and a family caregiver is typically paid out of it under a private arrangement.9

2026 maximums (effective December 1, 2025 through November 30, 2026): a single veteran with Aid and Attendance receives up to $2,424 per month ($29,093 per year); a veteran with one dependent up to $2,874 per month ($34,488 per year); a surviving spouse with Aid and Attendance up to $1,558 per month ($18,697 per year). Confirm current figures on the VA pension rate page before applying.9

Eligibility: A wartime veteran (90 days of active duty including at least one day during a recognized wartime period) or a surviving spouse, who also meets the Aid and Attendance functional criteria (needs help with daily activities, is housebound, is in a nursing facility, or is legally blind), and whose countable income and assets fall under the limit ($163,699 net worth for 2026).9

How caregivers get paid: The pension goes to the veteran, who then pays the family caregiver, ideally under a written caregiver agreement. Connecticut's town and regional Veterans Service Officers, coordinated by the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs (CT DVA), help file at no cost; avoid for-profit pension consultants who charge a fee.

Best for: A wartime veteran or surviving spouse with income and assets under the limit who needs help with daily activities.

8. Private Personal Services Contract

Who can be paid: Any family member, including an adult child, sibling, or other relative, under a written contract. Spouses are generally not paid this way for Medicaid-planning purposes, because transfers between spouses are treated differently.

What it is: A written, arm's-length contract between the care recipient (or their legal representative) and the caregiver, signed before care begins. It should spell out the services, the schedule, a reasonable and customary hourly rate documented against local agency quotes, how and when the caregiver is paid, and a requirement that the caregiver keep daily logs and report the income on their taxes.

Why the format matters: Connecticut enforces a 60-month Medicaid look-back. Without a written contract, money that flows from an aging parent to an adult child for care is presumed to be a gift and can create a penalty period when the parent later applies for Medicaid long-term care. A properly drafted contract converts the payment into a documented exchange of value. The transfer-penalty divisor Connecticut uses (its average monthly private-pay nursing-facility cost) changes periodically, so confirm the current figure with DSS or a Connecticut elder-law attorney before relying on it.10

Best for: Families with enough assets to private-pay a caregiver who also want to preserve eligibility for future Medicaid planning. Work with a Connecticut elder-law attorney to draft the contract.

Comparing the Connecticut Paid Family Caregiver Pathways

How to Choose a Connecticut Pathway

Start with the care recipient's situation:

Where to Get Help in Connecticut

Tax Considerations

Most Connecticut caregiver pay is reportable income, with two valuable exceptions.

• Adult Family Living pays a tax-free stipend, so the AFL payment is not counted as taxable income.1
• CFC and the PCA Waiver pay W-2 wages through the fiscal intermediary, which are generally taxable.
• VA PCAFC is a federal tax-free stipend, not reported on a W-2.
• VA Aid and Attendance is tax-free to the veteran; when the veteran uses it to pay a caregiver, the caregiver receives ordinary taxable income.
• Personal services contracts pay W-2 or 1099 income depending on how the caregiver is classified.

IRS Notice 2014-7: The notice lets a caregiver exclude Medicaid waiver pay from federal gross income as difficulty-of-care payments, and it turns on two conditions. The payment has to come under a Section 1915(c) home and community-based services waiver, and you have to provide the care in your own home, the place where you actually reside rather than just where you work. A caregiver who keeps a separate home where they regularly reside doesn't qualify.

Connecticut's fit here is narrower than it looks. DSS runs the PCA Waiver and the Connecticut Home Care Program for Elders as 1915(c) waivers, so those sit inside the notice's frame. But Community First Choice, the route this guide sends most families to, is not a waiver: DSS describes it as an optional Medicaid state plan service created by the Affordable Care Act. For a state program that isn't a 1915(c) waiver, the IRS commits to nothing more than that the treatment "will depend on the nature of the payments and the purpose and design of the program." That's a maybe, not a yes. So don't assume your CFC wages are excludable. Take your program's paperwork to a tax preparer familiar with the rule before you file.3

Connecticut state income tax: Connecticut has a progressive personal income tax with rates from 2% up to 6.99%, administered by the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services. Because Connecticut starts from your federal adjusted gross income, pay that's federally excluded under Notice 2014-7, and the tax-free AFL stipend, are generally not taxed by the state either. Confirm the current brackets with DRS, since the thresholds change periodically.11

Common Misconceptions

"My spouse and I are both retired, so I can finally be paid to care for him." Not through Connecticut Medicaid. Adult Family Living, Community First Choice, and the PCA Waiver all exclude spouses. Your main route is Veteran-Directed Care, if he's an eligible veteran.

"Adult Family Living is just a small reimbursement." It's a tax-free monthly stipend set at one of four DSS care levels, and because it's not taxed and doesn't require running a payroll, it can be worth more than it first looks.

"If Mom has Medicare, I can get paid through Medicare." Medicare doesn't pay family caregivers. It only covers short-term skilled home health through certified agencies. Paid family caregiving in Connecticut comes through DSS programs, the VA, or a private contract.

"I can just start getting paid out of Dad's bank account." Not without a written personal services contract. An informal transfer of a parent's money to a child for care is treated as a gift under Connecticut's 60-month look-back and can delay the parent's Medicaid eligibility later.

Related Terms

• Consumer Directed Services (CDS): The national term for self-directed programs like Connecticut's Community First Choice, where the care recipient directs their own attendant.
• HCBS waiver: The federal authority behind the PCA Waiver; Community First Choice, by contrast, is a state plan benefit, not a waiver.
• Activities of Daily Living (ADLs): The functional basis for authorizing personal care across Connecticut's programs.
• Nursing Facility Level of Care: The clinical threshold for the Medicaid-funded CHCPE waiver and the PCA Waiver.

Learn More

Find personalized help getting paid as a family caregiver in Connecticut 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.