Family Caregiver Pay

Overview

Family members caring for Georgia Medicaid members may be eligible to receive payment under Georgia Medicaid’s Structured Family Caregiver (SFC) program or Family Hire (FH) program. Care recipients must be eligible for Medicaid home care waiver services like CCSP and SOURCE. There are thousands of Georgia Medicaid members who receive care from family members at home. For a long time, the hard work performed by family caregivers was neither acknowledged nor compensated but recently, things have changed. Eligible family caregivers are now able to receive payment for the services that they are providing to Medicaid care recipients who would otherwise be placed in nursing homes if not for the care provided for free by loved ones.

Caring Hands United is proud to be a provider of Medicaid home care waiver services that allow for family caregivers to be paid, including the Structured Family Caregiver program and the Family Hire program.

Structured Family Caregiver (SFC)

Structured Family Caregiver (SFC) is a special program for live-in family caregivers who are unable to work due to taking care of a Medicaid member. With SFC, one primary caregiver is selected and only that person can receive stipend payments for taking care of the member. Switching to another family caregiver requires approval from the Case Manager and the SFC provider agency.

Family Hire (FH)

Family Hire (FH) is when a Medicaid member is approved to receive traditional home care services through CCSP, SOURCE, ICWP, NOW, or COMP. Normally, the personal care services are provided by non-related personal care aides, but with Family Hire, an immediate or extended family member can also be hired to work in the home, as long as that family member has onboarded with the home care provider agency in the same way that any other employee would.

SFC caregivers are not allowed to have a job or business, whereas FH caregivers can. SFC caregivers must live in the same home, but Family Hire caregivers do not have to live in the same home.

FH caregivers are just one of potentially multiple paid caregivers working in the home, whereas SFC can only have one paid primary caregiver at a time.

Difference Between SFC and Family Hire

The table below provides the differences between SFC and FH at a glance. After comparing programs, you can proceed to our Intake Form if you’re ready to begin services.

Program Guidelines Family Hire (FH) Structured Family Caregiver (SFC)
Must be in the same house? No Yes
Can be spouse? No No
Can be the client’s guardian? No No
Can be parent of care recipient under age 18? No No
Allowed to work other jobs? Yes No
Must be at least a PCA Yes N/A
Schedule and mandatory EVV required? Yes No. *must submit daily tasks
Background check/fingerprints? Yes Yes
Payment type Employee Independent contractor, receives Stipend
Periodic in-services (training) required? Yes Yes
Travel allowed? Yes, but only in the United States. Prior notification to DCH and Case Management is required for time out of the home (member and aide together) for vacation/family circumstance purposes. This is important in the event that a medical emergency occurs outside the state, insurance may not reimburse–leaving the member responsible for their own bills and possibly being kicked out the EDWP program as well. Providers are not responsible for travel costs. Out of Country travel with Medicaid is prohibited.
What about non-related live-in caregivers? Not allowed, effective July 2023 in Medicaid. Not allowed in the program.
Can other, non-related or related caregivers be scheduled to work shifts? Yes No. Only one designated SFC caregiver permitted at a time. Each one must be approved separately.