Indiana Structured Family Caregiving: Who Gets Paid (2026)

An adult child who lives with an older or disabled parent can be paid to give that parent daily care at home through Indiana Structured Family Caregiving, a Medicaid service.1,2 Under Structured Family Caregiving (SFC), Indiana pays a certified agency, which pays the caregiver a daily stipend, and payment never goes directly to the caregiver.2 If your parent isn't enrolled in PathWays for Aging, the first call is Maximus, Indiana's Level of Care Assessment Representative (LCAR), at 1-833-597-2777; a PathWays member's health plan does the assessment instead.3

In This Guide

• Who Can Be Paid Through Indiana Structured Family Caregiving?
• The Rule for a Paid Spouse
• What Indiana Structured Family Caregiving Pays
• What the Agency Does for You
• Does Your Parent Qualify?
• How to Start Getting Paid in Indiana
• Is the Stipend Taxable?
• Frequently Asked Questions

Who Can Be Paid Through Indiana Structured Family Caregiving?

The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) lists Structured Family Caregiving (SFC) under PathWays for Aging and the Health and Wellness Waiver, and Medicaid.gov's Indiana waiver list also shows SFC under the Traumatic Brain Injury waiver.1 The paid SFC caregiver can be a family member but must live in the home.1

Under the PathWays waiver amendment effective August 1, 2026, an FSSA-approved agency can pay a qualified relative it employs or contracts with for SFC, including a child (natural, step or adopted), or a legal guardian. Payment goes to the agency, never directly to the relative or guardian.2 FSSA also says a power of attorney who lives with the waiver recipient can provide paid structured family care.7

If you don't live with your parent, Indiana's Attendant Care service is the hourly route, and an adult child can be paid for it through an agency or, when it's self-directed, through the financial management services vendor.2 Our Indiana caregiver programs guide compares the two.

The Rule for a Paid Spouse

Under PathWays, a participant's spouse is the only "legally responsible individual," and an agency may pay a spouse for SFC only for "extraordinary care": day-to-day care or support beyond what a spouse would ordinarily provide in the household for a person of the same age without a disability or chronic illness. A spouse paid through PathWays SFC must work for or contract with an approved agency, and only the agency receives the payment.2 Indiana's Health and Wellness and Traumatic Brain Injury waivers also pay a spouse for SFC only as extraordinary care, with payment made only to an approved agency.7

What Indiana Structured Family Caregiving Pays

SFC doesn't pay an hourly wage. Indiana pays the SFC agency a daily rate set by your parent's assessed level of need: $77.54 a day at Level 1, $99.71 at Level 2 and $133.44 at Level 3, per the Indiana Health Coverage Programs table effective July 1, 2025.4 Your parent's SFC level comes from a Level of Service Assessment that the service coordinator or case manager completes at least once a year.2

Indiana requires the SFC agency to spend at least 60% of its daily rate on caregiver stipends and direct care, but caregiver coach and nurse supervision (including training and transportation) and respite costs count inside that 60%, so it isn't a share guaranteed to you.4 You receive the daily stipend the agency passes on, so ask each agency what it pays caregivers before you choose one.1,2

For a rough estimate, home health and personal care aides in Indiana earned a median $16.86 an hour in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is what employers pay aides, not a rate SFC pays.5

What the Agency Does for You

The SFC agency trains you for your parent's needs and checks that you meet the caregiver qualifications.1 Under the PathWays waiver, the agency must make at least one home visit every quarter, give you at least eight hours of training a year, and provide a substitute caregiver for up to 15 days a year so you can take a break.2

While your parent receives SFC, FSSA says separate payment may not be made for home and community assistance, assisted living, attendant care or adult family care.7

Does Your Parent Qualify?

The PathWays waiver serves people 65 or older, and people 60 to 64 with physical or other disabilities, who meet nursing facility level of care.1 Indiana's Health and Wellness waiver covers people 59 and under with physical or other disabilities who meet a nursing facility level of care, and its Traumatic Brain Injury waiver covers people of any age with a brain injury who meet a nursing facility level of care or an intermediate care facility for individuals with intellectual disabilities (ICF/IID) level of care.1

For the PathWays or Health and Wellness waiver, your parent also needs full-coverage Medicaid in an aged, blind or disabled category.8 For the PathWays waiver, Indiana counts income up to $2,982 a month (effective March 1, 2026) and assets up to $2,000 for a single person or $3,000 for a married couple. Only your parent's income counts, not a spouse's or other household members', so yours doesn't count even though you live together.9 If your parent is close to a limit, ask Indiana Medicaid before you rule SFC out.

How to Start Getting Paid in Indiana

Is the Stipend Taxable?

Possibly not for federal income tax. Under IRS Notice 2014-7, payments under a 1915(c) Medicaid waiver for care given in the caregiver's own home, where the person cared for also lives, can be excluded from the caregiver's gross income, including when the caregiver moved into the parent's home. Whether FICA payroll taxes apply depends on whether you're an employee of the agency, of your parent, or an independent contractor.10 Indiana's PathWays for Aging waiver is a 1915(c) waiver.11 Our guide to whether Medicaid caregiver payments are taxable goes further.

Learn More

Find personalized help getting paid as a live-in caregiver through Indiana Structured Family Caregiving 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.