·State program
MassHealth Adult Foster Care
MassHealth Adult Foster Care serves individuals aged 16 and older needing physical assistance or cueing with Activities of Daily Living, providing care by family members or non-family caregivers.
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 Massachusetts?
Residency is usually the first thing a program checks.
- 02
Does your relationship to the person — other 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 you need to live with the person receiving care, and how is that verified?
- 06
Do the work hours meet the minimum (our record lists null hours)?
- 07
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.
- 08
What documents do you need from us to start an application?
- 09
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
“Are 16 or older”
mass.gov →Disability of the person receiving care
“Need physical assistance or cueing and supervision with at least one Activity of Daily Living (ADL) such as bathing, dressing, eating, or mobility”
mass.gov →Minimum VA disability rating
Minimum VA disability rating: null%.
Living with the person receiving care
“The MassHealth member and their caregiver live together in either the member or the caregiver’s home.”
mass.gov →Work hours
Minimum work hours: null.
Relationship to the person receiving care
“Family members (excluding spouses or legal guardians) or non-family caregivers able and willing to provide daily personal care as a live-in caregiver.”
mass.gov →
How to apply
- 01
AFC must be ordered by the member's PCP. As a prerequisite for payment, the AFC provider must obtain prior authorization from the MassHealth agency or its designee before the first date of service delivery, and annually thereafter, and upon significant change.