Georgia Caregiver Programs: Paid, Respite & VA Support (2026)

Georgia's caregiver programs pay a live-in family member a tax-free daily stipend through Structured Family Caregiving, plus free respite and VA benefits.1

If you are caring for an aging parent, a spouse, or an adult child with a disability, the hardest part is rarely whether help exists in Georgia. It is knowing what is out there and where to start. This guide maps every major caregiver program in the state, who each one pays, and the first call to make.

You do not have to figure this out alone, and you do not have to fund all of it from your own savings.

In This Guide

• Georgia Caregiver Programs at a Glance
• Programs That Pay Georgia Family Caregivers
• Respite Care Programs
• Support, Training, and Area Agencies
• VA Caregiver Benefits in Georgia
• Taxes for Georgia Caregivers
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Learn More

Georgia Caregiver Programs at a Glance

Programs That Pay Georgia Family Caregivers

If your goal is to be paid for the care you are already giving, this is the section that matters most, and Georgia has a genuinely strong option here. Two things are worth knowing up front: the paid pathways run through Medicaid, so they come with income and asset limits, and none of them will pay a spouse.

Do you qualify?

Georgia's paid-caregiver waivers, CCSP and SOURCE, are for adults who need a nursing-home level of care but want to stay at home. In 2026, a single applicant's monthly income must fall below about $2,982 (that figure is 300% of the federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefit rate), and countable assets must stay under $2,000 for a single person or $3,000 for a married couple. Your home and one vehicle usually do not count.1

If those numbers are close but not quite right for your family, do not rule yourself out. A Medicaid planner or your Area Agency on Aging can walk through what counts and what does not before you assume the answer is no.

Structured Family Caregiving (SFC)

Georgia's flagship paid-family pathway is Structured Family Caregiving (SFC), offered as a service inside both the Community Care Services Program (CCSP) and the Service Options Using Resources in a Community Environment (SOURCE) Medicaid waivers. A live-in caregiver provides daily personal care and receives a tax-free stipend of about $80 a day (roughly $1,987 to $2,400 a month) through a contracted provider agency. Because you live in the same home and are paid through Medicaid, that stipend is generally treated as tax-free under IRS Notice 2014-7.1

One practical difference trips up a lot of families: CCSP can operate a waitlist once its slots fill, while SOURCE has no waitlist. If you need to start soon, ask specifically about SOURCE. The two waivers offer the same SFC service, so which door you walk through can decide whether you wait months or weeks.1

How to enroll in Structured Family Caregiving

You do not have to untangle all of this at once. The path is the same for most families, and the first two steps are the ones that get things moving.1

Other paid waivers and self-direction

Georgia has a few more paid rails, each aimed at a different situation:

• CCSP Personal Support Consumer Direction (PSCD) lets the member hire and direct their own personal support worker by the hour, rather than using an agency's staff. Adult children and other relatives can be hired.1
• The Independent Care Waiver Program (ICWP) serves adults ages 21 to 64 with a severe physical disability or traumatic brain injury, and allows self-directed personal support so a relative (but not a spouse or parent of a minor) can be paid.1
• The New Options Waiver (NOW) and Comprehensive Supports Waiver (COMP), run by the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD), serve people with intellectual or developmental disabilities and allow a case-by-case Family Hire, including a parent of an adult child.1

The spouse rule: Georgia applies a uniform bar across all of its Medicaid waivers, so a spouse cannot be the paid caregiver, no matter which program you use. Adult children, siblings, and other relatives can be hired. If you are a husband or wife hoping to be paid, the VA programs below are your route.1

For the full walk-through of who can be paid and how, see How to Get Paid as a Family Caregiver in Georgia.

Respite Care Programs

Every caregiver needs a break, and needing one does not make you any less devoted. Georgia funds respite through two main channels.

Medicaid Respite (CCSP and SOURCE)

If your loved one is enrolled in the CCSP or SOURCE waiver, in-home respite and adult day services can be written into the care plan. Ask your care coordinator to include respite hours; it is easy to overlook when you are focused on daily care.3

NFCSP Grants Through Georgia's 12 Area Agencies on Aging

The National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP), funded by Title III-E of the Older Americans Act, flows through the Georgia Division of Aging Services to 12 regional Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs). Services include in-home respite, adult day vouchers, caregiver training, and counseling, with no income test for respite. Georgia also funds the REACH program for dementia caregivers. Call 1-866-552-4464 (Georgia Aging Access) to start.2,3

For the full respite guide, see Respite Care in Georgia.

Support, Training, and Area Agencies

Georgia's 12 Area Agencies on Aging are the front door for most caregiver support that is not tied to a Medicaid waiver. They deliver NFCSP services, the REACH dementia-caregiver program, adult day referrals, caregiver training, and counseling. When you are not sure where to begin, these are the numbers to keep by the phone.3

VA Caregiver Benefits in Georgia

If your loved one is a veteran, this is where the most generous, and the only spouse-paying, options live. Veterans enrolled in VA health care in Georgia can access caregiver support that is entirely separate from Medicaid. Because Georgia's Medicaid programs bar paid spouses, the VA is the main route through which a Georgia spouse can be paid for caregiving.

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. To qualify, the veteran needs a VA disability rating of 70 percent or higher and enrollment in VA health care. A spouse can serve as the paid Primary Family Caregiver, and the caregiver also gets access to at least 30 days of respite a year.4

The stipend starts from the federal GS-4, Step 1 annual pay rate for the veteran's locality, divided by 12, then multiplied by a stipend factor under 38 CFR 71.40(c)(4)(i). Which factor you get depends on how the veteran qualifies, and there are two separate schedules:4

• Current program (the veteran meets the criteria at 38 CFR 71.20(a)): the factor is 0.625, or 1.00 if VA determines the veteran is unable to self-sustain in the community.4
• Legacy participant or legacy applicant (38 CFR 71.20(b) or (c)): the factor is set by the sum of the veteran's 2019 clinical ratings, 1.00 for a sum of 21 or higher, 0.625 for 13 to 20, and 0.25 for 1 to 12. This route needs no self-sustain determination, so a legacy household rated 21 or higher reaches the full 1.00 on the rating sum alone.4

If a veteran meets both tests, VA pays whichever amount is higher. A legacy participant under 71.20(b) also keeps a floor: the stipend cannot fall below what the caregiver was eligible to receive on September 30, 2020, for as long as the veteran stays at the address VA has on record. These legacy provisions run until October 1, 2028. Ask your VA Caregiver Support Coordinator which schedule applies to your household.4

VA Aid and Attendance Pension

Wartime veterans and surviving spouses who meet the functional criteria and fall under the net-worth limit ($163,699 in 2026) may receive the Aid and Attendance (A&A) pension. The VA sets these as maximum annual pension rates: in 2026, a single veteran with Aid and Attendance receives up to $29,093 a year, and a veteran with one dependent up to $34,488 a year, paid out a twelfth at a time (about $2,424 and $2,874 a month). The pension is paid to the veteran, who can then use it to pay a family caregiver, including a spouse.5

The Georgia Department of Veterans Service and county Veterans Service Officers help you file at no cost.

Taxes for Georgia Caregivers

IRS Notice 2014-7

If you live in the same home as the person you care for and are paid through a Medicaid program, your wages may be excluded from federal gross income under IRS Notice 2014-7. The Structured Family Caregiving stipend is generally structured this way. Talk to a tax preparer familiar with the rule before you file.1

Georgia's Caregiving Expense Credit

Georgia offers a Qualified Caregiving Expense Credit under O.C.G.A. Section 48-7-29.2, a modest nonrefundable state income-tax credit worth 10 percent of qualified caregiving expenses, capped at $150. Georgia also protects kin-care sick leave under the Family Care Act, though that is not a paid-family-leave program. Confirm current credit amounts with the Georgia Department of Revenue or a tax preparer.1

Learn More

Find personalized help navigating Georgia caregiver programs 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.