Who qualifies

Plain, respectful answers about who can receive care, who can be the paid caregiver, and who cannot be paid.

Who can receive care

  • A Delaware resident
  • Covered by Delaware Medicaid
  • Meets the program’s level-of-care assessment
  • Has authorized hours in a care plan
  • Adults in DSHP-Plus long-term care
  • Children under 21 in the Self-Directed Attendant Care program

Who can be the paid caregiver

  • Legally authorized to work in the United States
  • Passes the state Background Check Center criminal check and drug screening
  • Completes orientation and competency testing
  • Adult children, relatives, and friends
  • Parents and guardians for their own child — subject to the 40 hours per week cap
  • Spouses in Delaware’s adult attendant-care programs — the plan confirms at enrollment

Who cannot be paid

  • The person who directs the care cannot also be paid to provide it. Every family names an Employer Representative to direct the care and run the employer paperwork, and that person can never be the paid caregiver. In families where a parent directs the care, another adult serves as Employer Representative.
  • Anyone who fails the background check, or who appears on federal exclusion lists.
  • No one — pay can never be shared back to the member. A caregiver’s pay belongs to the caregiver.

Final eligibility is confirmed at enrollment, based on the member’s program, care plan, and health plan.

Sign up to check your family’s eligibility