·State program
Participant-Directed Services
Participant-Directed Services allows individuals receiving Medicaid HCBS waivers to hire their own caregivers, including friends, neighbors and certain family members, for non-medical, non-residential services, with a financial management agency handling payment and tax compliance.
Questions that decide eligibility
GiveCare prepares the questions; the program makes the decision. Bring these to the call or the application:
- 01
Does the person receiving care live in Kentucky?
Residency is usually the first thing a program checks.
- 02
Does your relationship to the person — spouse, parent, other relative, or non relative — count for this program?
- 03
What counts as a qualifying disability or level of care need, and what documentation shows it?
- 04
Does the VA disability rating meet the program’s minimum (our record lists null%)?
- 05
Do the work hours meet the minimum (our record lists null hours)?
- 06
Is there a caregiver-specific department, coordinator, or support line? Ask for it by name.
Many agencies have one that isn’t advertised on the website.
- 07
What documents do you need from us to start an application?
- 08
Is there a waitlist right now, and how long is it?
Who qualifies, in the source’s words
Where our record has a direct quote from the official source, here it is — otherwise, this is our best reading of the rule.
Applicant age
“Employees must be at least 18 years old and submit to a criminal background check.”
chfs.ky.gov →Disability of the person receiving care
“Individuals receiving services through the Acquired Brain Injury and Acquired Brain Injury Long-Term Care, Home and Community Based, Michelle P. or Supports for Community Living waivers may participate in the PDS program.”
chfs.ky.gov →Minimum VA disability rating
Minimum VA disability rating: null%.
Work hours
Minimum work hours: null.
Relationship to the person receiving care
“You may hire friends, neighbors, some provider agencies and certain family members.”
chfs.ky.gov →
How to apply
- 01
Talk to your case manager to enroll; the Department for Aging and Independent Living (DAIL) helps administer PDS for 1915(c) HCBS waiver participants. Current waiver participants (ABI-A, ABI-LTC, SCL, MPW, HCB2) may consult their case manager about enrolling in PDS. Those not currently served under an eligible waiver may get help from home health authorized adult day health care centers, acquired brain injury providers, home health agencies, or supports for community living providers, or from regional Area Agencies on Aging and Independent Living or community mental health centers, to apply for a waiver through the Kentucky Kynect website.