Caregiver Programs in Connecticut: Paid, Respite, Support (2026)

If you're caring for an aging parent or a spouse in Connecticut, two state programs can pay you directly for the care you already give. Adult Family Living sends a live-in family caregiver a tax-free monthly stipend, and Community First Choice lets a Medicaid member hire and direct their own paid caregiver.1

The hard part is rarely whether help exists. It is knowing what is there and where to start. This guide maps every one of Connecticut's caregiver programs for 2026: the ones that pay family members, the free respite grants, the VA benefits, how to apply, and how the payments are taxed.

You don't have to figure this out alone, and you don't have to fund all of it from your savings.

In This Guide

• Connecticut Caregiver Programs at a Glance
• Programs That Pay Family Caregivers
• How to Apply for Connecticut Caregiver Programs
• Respite Care Programs
• VA Caregiver Benefits in Connecticut
• Taxes for Connecticut Caregivers
• Where to Get Help in Connecticut
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Learn More

Connecticut Caregiver Programs at a Glance

Programs That Pay Family Caregivers

Many families assume that getting paid to care for a parent takes professional credentials or a special certification. In Connecticut, it doesn't. The state's two main paid-caregiver programs were built for family members and friends. Both run through the Connecticut Department of Social Services (DSS), primarily under the Connecticut Home Care Program for Elders (CHCPE) and the Personal Care Assistance (PCA) Waiver.3,4

Adult Family Living (AFL)

Adult Family Living pays a live-in caregiver a non-taxable monthly stipend to provide ongoing personal care to an older or disabled adult in a shared home. The caregiver and care recipient must live together. The caregiver cannot be the recipient's spouse, conservator, legal guardian, or health care representative, but can be an adult child, grandchild, other relative, or friend who lives with the person. Eligibility generally requires the recipient to be age 65 or older (or have a disability) and need help with at least one activity of daily living. AFL is offered under both CHCPE and the PCA Waiver.1

DSS sets the stipend at one of four care levels based on the assessed complexity of care. Families commonly see figures around $500 a week, but DSS does not publish official per-level rates, so confirm the current stipend for your loved one's level with your care coordinator or the sponsor agency before you count on a number.1

Community First Choice (CFC)

Community First Choice (CFC) is a Medicaid state plan option under Section 1915(k), administered by DSS. It lets eligible HUSKY members who need an institutional level of care self-direct their own Personal Care Attendant services while living in the community: the member (or their representative) is the employer who hires, trains, schedules, and supervises the attendant. As a state plan benefit, CFC has no enrollment waitlist. A spouse or legal guardian cannot be hired; a friend or relative, including an adult child, can. A fiscal intermediary handles payroll and employer paperwork.2

In practice, "an institutional level of care" means your loved one meets a nursing-facility level of care: they need substantial hands-on help with everyday activities like bathing, dressing, and moving around, the kind of care that would otherwise point toward a nursing home. DSS confirms this during its assessment.3

For the full guide to paid pathways: How to Get Paid as a Family Caregiver in Connecticut.

How to Apply for Connecticut Caregiver Programs

The path into every Connecticut caregiver program starts the same way, with one phone call. Here is the order it usually follows.

If your loved one is currently in a nursing home or hospital and wants to come home, ask the Infoline about Money Follows the Person (MFP). MFP helps people who have spent at least 90 days in an institution move back into the community and bridges them into CHCPE, the PCA Waiver, or CFC, where the paid-caregiver pathways live.9

Respite Care Programs

Caring for someone around the clock is exhausting, and needing a break does not make you a worse caregiver. Connecticut funds several ways to get one, some through Medicaid and some free to any family.

Medicaid Respite (CHCPE and CFC)

CHCPE and CFC can authorize in-home respite within the member's care plan. Under the CFC self-directed option, a non-spouse family member can be the respite worker. Ask the DSS care coordinator to add respite hours.5

NFCSP Grants Through Connecticut's 5 Area Agencies on Aging

The National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP), funded by Title III-E of the Older Americans Act, flows through DSS to 5 regional Area Agencies on Aging. Connecticut also operates a Statewide Respite Care Program that supplements NFCSP. Services include in-home respite, adult day vouchers, caregiver training, and counseling, with no income test for respite services. Call the Infoline at 1-800-994-9422.5

For the full respite guide: Respite Care in Connecticut.

VA Caregiver Benefits in Connecticut

If the person you care for is a veteran, this is where the news gets better. Because Adult Family Living and Community First Choice both exclude spouses, a husband or wife caring for a veteran often finds the two state programs closed to them. The VA programs below are the alternative path, and they were designed to pay spouses. Veterans enrolled in VA health care in Connecticut can use them alongside, or instead of, Medicaid.

VA Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC)

The Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC) pays a monthly stipend to the Primary Family Caregiver of an eligible veteran. The stipend is not a flat national figure: it is calculated from the federal Office of Personnel Management GS-4, Step 1 annual rate for the veteran's locality, divided by 12, then multiplied by 62.5 percent (or 100 percent if the VA determines the veteran is unable to self-sustain in the community). It is federal tax-free and can pay a spouse. To qualify, the veteran needs a VA 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.6

Because AFL and CFC both exclude spouses, the PCAFC stipend and Veteran-Directed Care are often the only routes through which a Connecticut spouse can be paid to provide care. To confirm eligibility and start an application, call the VA Caregiver Support Line at 1-855-260-3274.6

VA Aid and Attendance Pension

Wartime veterans and surviving spouses who meet the functional criteria and have countable assets and income under the net-worth limit ($163,699 in 2026) may receive the Aid and Attendance pension. 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. The pension goes to the veteran, who typically pays a family caregiver from it.10

The Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs and town Veterans Service Officers help file both PCAFC and pension claims at no cost.

Taxes for Connecticut Caregivers

IRS Notice 2014-7

IRS Notice 2014-7 lets a caregiver exclude Medicaid waiver pay from federal gross income as difficulty-of-care payments. Two things have to be true: the pay comes under a Section 1915(c) home and community-based services waiver, and you provide the care in the home where you actually live. If you keep a separate home where you regularly reside, the exclusion doesn't reach you.

Read that boundary carefully before you count on it, because Connecticut's programs land on both sides of it. The PCA Waiver and CHCPE are 1915(c) waivers, so they fall inside the notice's frame. Community First Choice does not. DSS describes it as an optional Medicaid state plan service created by the Affordable Care Act, and for a program that isn't a waiver the IRS says only that the treatment depends on the nature of the payments and the purpose and design of the program. That means CFC pay is not automatically tax-free, whatever you may have been told. The AFL stipend is separately structured as non-taxable. Talk to a tax preparer familiar with the rules before filing.8

Connecticut State Income Tax

Connecticut levies a graduated individual income tax. Because Connecticut starts from federal adjusted gross income, the IRS Notice 2014-7 exclusion generally flows through to the Connecticut return. Confirm the current rates with the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services.7

VA PCAFC Stipend

The PCAFC monthly stipend is federal tax-free and is not reported on a W-2.6

Where to Get Help in Connecticut

You do not have to hold all of these numbers in your head. These are the front doors that route you to the rest.

Learn More

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.