Illinois can pay a family caregiver through two state programs most families never hear about, and one of them can pay a spouse. If you're caring for an aging parent, a spouse, or an adult with a serious disability, the help is there. The hard part is knowing which program fits your situation.

You don't have to piece this together alone.

In This Guide

Illinois Caregiver Programs at a Glance

Program What It Offers Who Qualifies Who Funds It
CCP In-Home Service Provider may hire a family member, including a spouse (spouse only for extraordinary care), as a home care aide Adults 60+, non-exempt assets $17,500 or less, at risk of nursing-facility placement on the DON assessment Illinois Department on Aging; part runs as a Medicaid waiver
Home Services Program (HSP) Customer hires and supervises their own Personal Assistant People with severe disabilities, under age 60, who need help with daily living Illinois Medicaid home and community-based services authority
NFCSP (via 13 AAAs) Information, counseling, training, respite, limited supplemental services Informal caregivers of an adult 60+ (and some other groups); respite requires a frail care recipient Federal Older Americans Act, Title III-E
VA PCAFC Monthly stipend to primary family caregiver; CHAMPVA; counseling Veterans rated 70%+, discharged, needing 6+ months in-person care, and VA-enrolled; VA assesses more at application VA (federal)
VA Aid and Attendance Pension up to $29,093/yr (veteran alone) to pay for care Wartime veterans on VA pension who meet an A&A need test; income and net-worth limits apply VA (federal),

Illinois Caregiver Programs That Pay Family Members

For the full walkthrough of eligibility, application steps, and how much you can be paid, read How to Get Paid as a Family Caregiver in Illinois.

CCP In-Home Service (the Spouse Pathway)

The Illinois Community Care Program, administered by the Illinois Department on Aging, helps older adults who might otherwise need nursing-home care stay in their homes. Its services are care coordination, adult day services, in-home services, emergency home response, and an automated medication dispenser service. The service relevant to family caregivers is CCP In-Home Service (sometimes called the homemaker program).

Under CCP In-Home Service, a participating provider may choose to hire any family member, including a spouse, as the customer's home care aide, as long as that person meets qualifications, passes a background check, completes 24 hours of pre-service training, and agrees to be supervised by the provider.

What it pays: Illinois law sets a minimum wage of $18.75 an hour for these direct service workers from January 1, 2026, subject to federal approval. The $30.80 an hour in the same law is what the state pays the agency, not your wage, and an agency may pay more.

CCP rules treat a hired spouse as a "legally responsible individual" delivering extraordinary care, as documented by the Care Coordination Unit (CCU): care beyond what someone the same age without a disability or chronic condition would ordinarily get, needed to protect your loved one's health and welfare and avoid institutional care. It also covers cases where the CCU documents that no other qualified aide is available, or that the spouse is uniquely able to meet your loved one's needs and that the spouse's care is in your loved one's best interest.

Illinois's current Persons who are Elderly waiver (IL.0143.R08.00, a renewal effective October 1, 2026) sets the working rules: the CCU refers the relative to your chosen provider, a spouse's services and hours are limited to the Person-Centered Plan, paid relatives must use electronic visit verification, and a paid relative cannot be the customer's authorized representative or sign the program's forms.

To qualify for CCP, the Department on Aging lists these requirements:

Part of CCP also runs as a Medicaid waiver with a narrower population: people 65 or older, or 60 to 64 with a physical disability, who meet nursing-facility level of care. Your CCU settles which side of the program applies to you.

Not all In-Home Service providers employ family members as aides, and your CCU will discuss the options with you.

Home Services Program (HSP)

The Illinois Home Services Program, administered by the Illinois Department of Human Services Division of Rehabilitation Services (DHS-DRS), helps people with severe disabilities who are under age 60 and need help with daily living activities stay in their own homes. DHS says many of them are at risk of moving into a nursing home or other facility, but it doesn't list that risk as an eligibility condition. HSP customers select, employ, and supervise their own Personal Assistants (PAs), who help with household tasks, personal care, and, with a physician's approval, certain health-care procedures.

For a spouse, two official Illinois sources disagree, and neither is shown to govern. Illinois's current Persons with Disabilities waiver (IL.0142.R08.00, effective July 1, 2026) lets a spouse furnish personal care as an individual provider only for extraordinary care, beyond what a spouse would ordinarily do and necessary to avoid institutional care, after the counselor documents that no other viable provider is available; the person-centered plan sets the tasks and hours, and the renewal removed the old 40-hour-a-week limit. But 89 Ill. Admin. Code 684.30 (amended July 22, 2021) still says a spouse shall not be paid through HSP. Whether an adult child can be the paid PA is not stated in so many words, though 684.30's list of people who shall not be paid does not name an adult child. Ask your DRS rehabilitation counselor which rule applies to your family, and for how many hours.

The HSP customer is the employer, but the State runs the payroll: Personal Assistants are paid on the published HSP Individual Provider Payroll Schedule, the Illinois Office of the Comptroller issues the payments, PAs send their tax-withholding forms to DHS Payroll, and W-2s are mailed to the PA's address on file. IDHS's rate table, updated July 1, 2026, sets the Personal Assistant rate at $20.00 per hour, up from $19.50 on January 1, 2026, and the schedule bargained with SEIU raises it to $20.75 per hour on January 1, 2027. A seniority add-on pays an extra $1.00 per hour at 10,000 career hours, $2.00 at 20,000, and $4.00 at 30,000, counting every hour you have worked and been paid for by HSP as an Individual Provider. The wage is renegotiated each collective-bargaining cycle, so confirm the current base rate with your local DRS office before you count on it.

Which Pathway Fits Your Family?

If your loved one is 60 or older, CCP In-Home Service is the path, and a spouse can be hired through it when the care counts as extraordinary. If your loved one is under 60 with a severe disability, HSP is the path, but whether a spouse can be paid through HSP is unsettled, so ask your DRS rehabilitation counselor. For a veteran of any age, VA Veteran-Directed Care is a third option: the veteran (or a representative) manages a budget for services and, with a counselor's help, hires their own workers, who VA says might include a family member. VA's page doesn't say whether a spouse can be the paid worker, so confirm with the VA medical center serving you.

Respite Care Programs

Respite, a real planned break, is easy to put off until you're already worn down. For the full walkthrough, read Respite Care in Illinois. The condensed version:

  • CCP adult day service: respite isn't a separate CCP service line. The Department on Aging credits it to CCP's adult day service, which "provides respite for family caregivers, especially those who are employed outside the home," along with socialization for isolated older adults. The CCP eligibility rules above apply.
  • NFCSP through 13 Illinois AAAs: information, help getting services, counseling, support groups, training, respite, and limited supplemental services for family and other informal caregivers of an adult 60 or older (and some other groups). Respite and supplemental services also require the older person you care for to be frail (see the FAQ below).

Where to Find Caregiver Support and Training

The 13 Area Agencies on Aging

Illinois divides the state into 13 planning and service areas, each covered by its own Area Agency on Aging (12 not-for-profit corporations plus the City of Chicago). Area Agencies aren't usually direct service providers: each one contracts with local agencies, which deliver NFCSP services such as caregiver training, support groups, individual counseling, respite, and limited supplemental services. The Department on Aging's caregiver support program passes these federal funds to the 13 AAAs.,

The Numbers to Keep by the Phone

Illinois Senior HelpLine The Illinois Department on Aging's statewide Senior HelpLine, a first call for questions about the Community Care Program and caregiver support. 1-800-252-8966 ilaging.illinois.gov
VA Caregiver Support Line Help, support, and referrals for family caregivers of veterans, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. It is not a crisis line: anyone in crisis can call 988 and press 1, text 838255, or chat at VeteransCrisisLine.net, any hour of any day. 1-855-260-3274 www.caregiver.va.gov

VA Caregiver Benefits in Illinois

If the person you're caring for is a veteran enrolled in VA health care, the federal VA system runs a parallel benefit stack alongside the state programs.,

VA Medical Centers Partnering With AgeGuide

AgeGuide names these Veteran-Directed Care partners, plus the Northern Indiana VAMC, across Indiana and Illinois. It doesn't say which are in Illinois, and this isn't a complete list of VA facilities.

  • Jesse Brown VAMC
  • Edward J. Hines Veterans Affairs Medical Center
  • Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center
  • Illiana Danville VAMC

Look up the current phone number and address for any of them through the VA facility locator. Each facility also has a Caregiver Support Coordinator (CSC); CSC direct lines are not always published, so call the facility switchboard and ask for the CSC, or use the CSP Team Locator at caregiver.va.gov.

PCAFC: Monthly Stipend for Primary Caregivers

The Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC) pays a monthly stipend to the primary family caregiver of a qualifying veteran. The VA lists four requirements for the veteran, and all four must be true: a VA disability rating of 70% or higher (individual or combined), a discharge from the U.S. military or a date of medical discharge, a need for at least six months of continuous, in-person personal care services, and enrollment in VA health care. A 70% rating alone is never enough, and even the four are a first screen: you and the veteran apply together, and the VA decides eligibility through that application. The caregiver must be at least 18 and either a family member of the veteran or someone who lives full time with the veteran (or is willing to, if the VA designates them). Once approved, the stipend is paid only after the caregiver enrolls in direct deposit through the VA customer engagement portal.

The stipend is calculated as a percentage of the OPM General Schedule GS-4, Step 1 annual salary for the locality where the veteran resides, divided by 12. Illinois veterans in the Chicago locality see a different locality adjustment than those in a rest-of-U.S. area. Ask your Caregiver Support Coordinator at your nearest VAMC for the current stipend range for your locality.

Both Primary and Secondary Family Caregivers receive caregiver education and training, mental health counseling, and certain travel benefits when traveling with the veteran to receive care. Primary Family Caregivers may also receive access to health care benefits through CHAMPVA if they don't already qualify under another health care plan, free legal and financial planning assistance related to the veteran's needs, at least 30 days of respite care per year, telehealth therapy through the VA's virtual psychotherapy program for caregivers, and access to military commissaries and exchanges.

PGCSS: Support Without a Stipend

The Program of General Caregiver Support Services (PGCSS) is for caregivers whose veteran isn't eligible for PCAFC. The veteran must be enrolled in VA health care and need personal care, because they can't perform an activity of daily living or need supervision due to an impairment or injury. You don't have to live with the veteran, and there's no application: you ask staff at your local VA facility. General Caregivers get training, information, counseling, and respite care for the veteran, but no monthly stipend.

Aid and Attendance: Pension for Veterans Needing Help with ADLs

VA Aid and Attendance is an increased monthly payment added to a VA pension. A veteran may qualify if they get a VA pension, which has its own wartime-service, income, and net-worth rules, and meet at least one aid-and-attendance requirement, such as needing another person's help with daily activities like bathing, feeding, and dressing. VA publishes the 2026 rates (effective December 1, 2025 through November 30, 2026) as annual maximums, a ceiling, not a flat payment, since VA pays the difference between the claimant's countable income and that maximum. The annual ceilings are:

  • Veteran with no dependents: up to $29,093/year at the Aid and Attendance level.
  • Veteran with one dependent: up to $34,488/year at the Aid and Attendance level.
  • Surviving spouse (no dependents): up to $18,697/year at the Aid and Attendance level.

The net worth limit for both veterans and surviving spouses is $163,699 (effective December 1, 2025). The calculation counts the claimant's and dependents' assets and income, and assets exclude the primary residence, the car, and basic home items. Transfers of assets for less than fair market value are subject to a 36-month look-back, with a penalty period of up to five years for covered transfers made on or after October 18, 2018.,

For eligibility detail, application steps, and how pension interacts with Illinois Medicaid, see VA Aid and Attendance in Illinois.

Trying to figure out if you can be paid? Read How to Get Paid as a Family Caregiver in Illinois for the side-by-side breakdown of CCP In-Home Service, HSP, and VA programs.

What Illinois Taxes Mean for Your Caregiver Pay

IRS Notice 2014-7 and Medicaid Waiver Payments

IRS Notice 2014-7 treats qualified Medicaid waiver payments as difficulty-of-care payments that can be excluded from a caregiver's federal gross income. It covers care-provider payments under a state Medicaid 1915(c) home and community-based services waiver, only for care in your own home (where you live and carry on your private life) when the person you care for lives there under their plan of care, and not if you have a separate home where you live. Part of CCP runs through just such a waiver, the HCBS Waiver for Persons Who are Elderly, so ask your provider whether your pay comes through it. HSP is also funded through Illinois Medicaid home and community-based services waivers, so a live-in HSP Personal Assistant should ask DRS or a tax preparer whether the exclusion applies.

Illinois Flat 4.95% Income Tax

Illinois applies a flat individual income tax of 4.95% to net income, a single rate with no brackets. Withholding from employee pay runs at the same 4.95%, based on the allowances you claim, so a family caregiver on a payroll, such as an HSP Personal Assistant or an aide employed by a CCP provider, has Illinois tax withheld at that rate.

Whether a payment excluded from federal gross income under Notice 2014-7 also stays out of your Illinois net income is a question about the Illinois tax base, which the rate table doesn't address.

Talk to a tax preparer familiar with Medicaid waiver caregiver compensation before you file.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the State of Illinois caregiver program?

Illinois runs two state programs that can pay a family caregiver, and the dividing line is mostly age. The Community Care Program (CCP), administered by the Illinois Department on Aging, serves residents 60 and older who would otherwise need nursing-home care, and through CCP In-Home Service a contracted provider agency may hire any family member, including a spouse, as the paid home care aide (a spouse only for extraordinary care).,, The Home Services Program (HSP), administered by the Illinois Department of Human Services Division of Rehabilitation Services (DHS-DRS), serves people with severe disabilities who are under age 60 and need help with daily living; the customer hires their own Personal Assistant. Whether a spouse can fill that paid role is unsettled, as the HSP section explains. To start with CCP, call the Senior HelpLine at 1-800-252-8966 to reach your local Care Coordination Unit.

Can I be paid to care for my spouse through Illinois's caregiver programs?

Through CCP In-Home Service, yes. A participating provider may choose to hire a spouse as the customer's home care aide, as long as the spouse meets qualifications, passes a background check, completes 24 hours of pre-service training, and agrees to be supervised by the provider. The CCP rules tie a spouse's hire to extraordinary care documented by the Care Coordination Unit. Not every In-Home Service provider employs family members, and your Care Coordination Unit will discuss the options with you. For a spouse, CCP also requires that the care count as extraordinary. Through HSP, the official sources disagree: the current waiver allows a spouse to be paid for extraordinary care, while 89 Ill. Admin. Code 684.30 still bars it, so ask your DRS rehabilitation counselor which applies. Through VA Veteran-Directed Care, it depends: VA's page doesn't say whether a spouse can be the paid worker, so ask the VA medical center serving you.

What's the difference between CCP and HSP?

CCP (Community Care Program) is administered by the Illinois Department on Aging and serves residents age 60 and older. The customer works with a contracted provider agency, and the agency employs the caregiver. HSP (Home Services Program) is administered by DHS-DRS and serves people with severe disabilities who are under 60. Under HSP, the customer is the employer: they select, hire, and supervise their own Personal Assistant, and the State handles the payroll.

My loved one is under 60 and a veteran. Which program applies?

For veterans under 60 with service-connected conditions, VA programs are the primary pathway. PCAFC pays a monthly stipend to the primary caregiver of a veteran who qualifies. VA Veteran-Directed Care gives the veteran a budget to hire their own workers; VA doesn't say whether a spouse can be one, so ask your VA medical center. AgeGuide, which delivers it in Illinois, requires the veteran to get care at a participating VA medical center and be at risk of nursing home placement.

Does the NFCSP have an income test?

The federal eligibility list turns on who you care for, not what you earn: chiefly family and other informal caregivers of someone 60 or older, or of someone any age with Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder. That list names no income limit. Federal law does add one condition for respite and supplemental services: the older person you care for must be frail, meaning unable to do at least two activities of daily living without substantial help, or needing substantial supervision because a cognitive or other mental impairment makes their behavior a serious health or safety hazard. Services come through the 13 Illinois AAAs, so ask yours about any cost sharing.

Learn More

CaregiverCaregiver Programs: The 50-State GuideA directory of caregiver programs in all 50 states: paid family caregiver pathways, respite, NFCSP grants, and VA benefits. Find your state's complete guide. CaregiverMedicaid Self-Direction and Consumer-Directed ServicesHow Medicaid self-direction lets a family member be your paid caregiver: employer authority, budget authority, the 1915(j) spouse rule, and how to get started. CaregiverThe National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP): A Complete GuideWhat the National Family Caregiver Support Program funds, who is eligible, and how to reach respite and caregiver support through your Area Agency on Aging. CaregiverSenior Transportation in Illinois: How an Older Adult Who No Longer Drives Gets AroundSenior transportation in Illinois when a parent stops driving: aging-network rides, Pace ADA paratransit, Medicaid medical rides, and the Ride Free benefit.
Your next step Not sure which Illinois program fits your family? Call the Illinois Department on Aging's Senior HelpLine at 1-800-252-8966 with your questions about the Community Care Program or caregiver support, or map your options with Brevy.

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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