Get help paying for elder care
Most families pay for care out of pocket without knowing there are programs that would have helped. This page lists the ones that matter in Arizona, California and New York, sorted by the question that decides whether a program fits you: who does it pay?
Money a family controls
These programs put money in the family’s hands, or reimburse what the family spent. You choose the caregiver. A verified independent caregiver on looking.care is exactly what these are spent on.
VA Aid & Attendance (both states)
A pension add-on for wartime veterans and surviving spouses who need help with daily activities. For 2026 the maximum is $2,424 a month for a veteran alone, $2,874 with a spouse, and $1,558 for a surviving spouse. The veteran can pay anyone for care except a spouse — including an adult child, and including a caregiver found here. The application takes months; a Veterans Service Officer helps for free.
Source: va.gov — Aid and Attendance
Where to apply: VA pension application (online, by mail, or with a free VSO) →
Veteran-Directed Care (both states)
A monthly budget the veteran manages and spends on caregivers of their choice, family included. Offered through VA medical centers that run the program, with the local Area Agency on Aging. Ask the VA social worker whether your medical center offers it.
Source: va.gov — Veteran-Directed Care
Where to apply: Ask the social worker at your VA medical center →
Arizona Lifespan Respite Vouchers
For an unpaid family caregiver who needs a break. You hire the respite provider yourself and set the rate; the program reimburses up to $12 an hour, $300 a quarter, $1,200 a year. The person cared for must need help with two or more daily activities and not be safe alone; you reapply each quarter. Resource line 888-737-7494.
Source: Arizona Caregiver Coalition — Caregiver Respite
Where to apply: Arizona Caregiver Coalition voucher application, or call 888-737-7494 →
Long-term care insurance
If there is a policy, it usually reimburses the policyholder for home care after an elimination period, up to a daily cap. Most policies accept an independent caregiver who meets the policy’s definition of a qualified provider — a California HCA registration or an Arizona fingerprint clearance card typically does. Read the policy’s definition before you hire.
Dependent Care FSA and the federal Dependent Care Credit
If you work and pay for care of a dependent adult so you can, the cost can be paid pre-tax through an employer FSA or claimed as a credit. Either needs the caregiver’s name and tax ID on your return, so hire someone willing to be reported.
Source: IRS — Topic 602, Child and Dependent Care Credit
Where to apply: IRS Form 2441 with your tax return; the FSA is through your employer →
California Paid Family Leave
Wage replacement for a working Californian taking up to eight weeks off to care for a seriously ill family member. It pays the family caregiver, not a hired one.
Source: EDD — Paid Family Leave
Where to apply: File a PFL claim in SDI Online →
New York Paid Family Leave
Up to twelve weeks of partially paid, job-protected leave for a New York worker caring for a family member with a serious health condition. It pays the working relative, not a hired caregiver, and it runs through the employer’s insurance carrier.
Source: New York State — Paid Family Leave
Where to apply: Ask your employer for the PFL forms (PFL-1 and PFL-3) and file with their carrier →
EISEP — Expanded In-home Services for the Elderly (New York)
For New Yorkers 60 and older who need help with daily activities and are not on Medicaid. The county office for the aging arranges in-home help, case management and caregiver respite, on a sliding fee. It pays the agency the county contracts with — not a caregiver you hire yourself.
Source: NYS Office for the Aging — EISEP
Where to apply: NY Connects (1-800-342-9871) routes you to your county office for the aging →
Every program above pays against records: who provided the care, on what date, for how many hours, and what was paid. A caregiver hired off a flyer leaves nothing to show. A visit booked through looking.care documents itself, whether you pay by card or in cash:
- ✓Verified at the door. The caregiver clocks in from their phone, and the phone has to be at your home — within about a block — to start the visit. Clock-out is the same. Arrival and departure are timestamped, not typed in later.
- ✓Card or cash — your choice, same record. Pay by card and the charge goes on after the visit, so there is a bank record matched to the visit it paid for. Pay the caregiver directly and the visit is still booked, clocked and recorded here, with the rate agreed at booking on the record.
- ✓A named, checked caregiver. Every caregiver here was verified against their state’s own records before going live, so the name on your record is a name a program can look up.
- ✓Nobody missing. If a caregiver doesn’t clock in, the visit is offered to your named backups automatically. A visit the caregiver didn’t show up for is never charged.
- ✓All of it in one place. Every completed visit sits in your account — caregiver, date, clock-in and clock-out, hours, amount — and Care records turns any date range into a PDF, the kind of record these programs ask for.
Programs that pay a home or an agency
These pay a licensed care home, assisted-living community or home health agency directly. If a family member qualifies, ask a home in our directory whether it accepts the program.
ALTCS — Arizona Long Term Care System
Arizona’s Medicaid program for people who need a nursing-facility level of care. It pays for in-home attendant care, adult day programs and assisted-living homes through registered providers. Many Arizona care homes accept ALTCS residents. Two options let the member choose the caregiver: Self-Directed Attendant Care (the member is the employer and can hire family) and Agency with Choice. Eligibility is both financial and medical.
Source: AHCCCS — ALTCS
Where to apply: Health-e-Arizona Plus (register an ALTCS application) →
Area Agency on Aging services (Arizona)
Homemaker, personal care, respite and home-delivered meals for people 60 and over, through contracted providers on a sliding scale. Waitlists are common. The same agencies run the Family Caregiver Support Program — counseling, training and some respite.
Source: Arizona DES — Family Caregiver Support
Where to apply: Find your Area Agency on Aging →
Medi-Cal Assisted Living Waiver (California)
Medi-Cal pays a participating assisted-living community or board-and-care home instead of a nursing facility. Only in participating counties, and the waitlist is long — apply early. For 2026 the Medi-Cal countable income limit for a single applicant is $1,836 a month, and an asset limit of $130,000 for one person applies again.
Source: DHCS — Assisted Living Waiver
Where to apply: Contact a Care Coordination Agency listed on the DHCS ALW page; Medi-Cal itself is at benefitscal.com →
Medi-Cal Home & Community-Based Alternatives Waiver (California)
Nursing and personal care at home for people who would otherwise need a nursing facility, delivered through waiver agencies and licensed home care organizations. Waitlisted.
Source: DHCS — HCBA Waiver
Where to apply: Contact a waiver agency listed on the DHCS HCBA page →
Medi-Cal managed care “Community Supports” (California)
Some Medi-Cal health plans pay for respite, home modifications and personal care through their own vendors, without a waiver slot. It depends on the plan — call the number on the Medi-Cal card.
Source: DHCS — CalAIM
Where to apply: Call the member number on the Medi-Cal card and ask for Community Supports →
Medicaid Managed Long Term Care — MLTC (New York)
The way New York Medicaid pays for long-term care at home: personal care aides, home health, adult day care and nursing services, arranged by a managed long-term care plan. Eligibility starts with a functional assessment by the state’s Independent Assessor, then you choose a plan. It pays the licensed agency (LHCSA or CHHA) the plan contracts with.
Source: NYSDOH — Managed Long Term Care
Where to apply: Call the New York Independent Assessor (1-855-222-8350) to start the assessment →
Assisted Living Program — ALP (New York)
Medicaid pays for a bed in a licensed adult home or enriched housing program that holds an ALP contract, for someone who would otherwise need a nursing home. Personal care, housekeeping, nursing and therapies are included. Slots are capped statewide, so there is often a wait. It pays the home.
Source: NYSDOH — Assisted Living Program
Where to apply: Ask the adult home whether it holds ALP beds; the home starts the Medicaid ALP application with you →
Find a licensed care home or agency near you →Income for caregivers
IHSS — In-Home Supportive Services (California)
California pays caregivers directly to help Medi-Cal recipients at home. The caregiver enrolls with the county as an IHSS provider — an orientation, a background check and an enrollment form — and a recipient who has been assessed for hours can hire them. Family members qualify. In Los Angeles County the rate is $19.64 an hour in 2026; other counties differ.
For families: IHSS pays for the hours the county assessed. Anything beyond them — evenings, weekends, extra help — is private pay, which you can book here with the same caregiver. For caregivers: IHSS work and looking.care work are separate income, and they stack.
Source: CDSS — In-Home Supportive Services
Where to apply: Your county IHSS office (recipients file form SOC 295; caregivers enroll as providers there too) →
ALTCS Self-Directed Attendant Care (Arizona)
The Arizona counterpart: an ALTCS member chooses their own attendant, family included, and the caregiver is paid through a fiscal agent at roughly minimum wage. The member, not the caregiver, starts the process.
Source: AHCCCS — Self-Directed Attendant Care
Where to apply: The member applies for ALTCS first, then asks their case manager for SDAC →
CDPAP — Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (New York)
New York’s version of IHSS: a Medicaid member who needs help at home hires their own personal assistant — a relative or friend included, though not a spouse — and the assistant is paid through the state’s single fiscal intermediary. No certificate is required to be a CDPAP assistant. The member starts the process through their Medicaid plan or local district; the assistant then enrolls with the fiscal intermediary.
Source: NYSDOH — CDPAP
Where to apply: PPL — the statewide fiscal intermediary (consumer and personal-assistant enrollment) →
- ✓Your hours are proven, not argued. Clock-in and clock-out at the door are timestamped, so a dispute about whether you came, or for how long, has an answer that isn’t your word against theirs.
- ✓Card or cash, your call. Take card and the family’s card is charged after the visit; take cash and the visit is still booked and clocked. Either way we take no commission.
- ✓Your own record of work. Every completed visit is in your history — useful when a family, an insurer or a program asks what you did and when.
- ✓It stacks with IHSS. Your IHSS hours are paid by the county through the county’s system; your looking.care visits are paid by the family through here. Two records, two incomes, no overlap.
Figures are for 2026 and change each year; income limits reset every April in California, every January for VA, IHSS and New York Medicaid. Always confirm with the program before making a decision. looking.care is not affiliated with any program listed and does not determine eligibility. Tell us if something here is out of date.
looking.care is an online software marketplace connecting families with independent care providers, operated by Liberty Marketplaces LLC. We are a technology platform, not a care agency or medical provider; we do not employ caregivers or deliver care. Families can book care in Arizona & California now.