Key Takeaways
- Colorado can pay a family member to care for your child at home: In-Home Support Services is one of the ways families get care under a Health First Colorado benefit called Community First Choice, and a parent can sometimes be the paid caregiver.
- The free printable checklist on this page walks you through it: whether your child qualifies and each step of the application.
- You can get help with the therapy side too: if you want someone to look at coverage with you, get started with Alpaca Health.
Apply for IHSS in Colorado with every step and document in one place.
We also sent the link to your email.
In-Home Support Services (IHSS) is one of the ways a Colorado family gets paid help with a child’s daily care at home. It sits inside Community First Choice, a Health First Colorado benefit, and an attendant does the work at home and out in the community. In some cases that attendant can be you.
Agencies do hire parents for this work. When a parent lives with the child, that parent is paid only for care a case manager authorized in advance. The care also has to go beyond what a parent would normally provide.
What IHSS is and who runs it
The state describes In-Home Support Services as a way for people on Health First Colorado to get long-term care at home. For a child, that means hands-on help with the parts of the day they can’t manage alone. It also covers the health tasks that keep them safe.
Community First Choice is the benefit that pays for long-term services and supports, or LTSS. That means the everyday help people need to stay out of a facility. It started in Colorado on July 1, 2025 and widened who can get IHSS. Under Colorado’s rules, IHSS is now available only to members enrolled in that benefit.
An approved IHSS agency employs the caregiver and handles hiring, payroll, and training. Your family still has a say in who does the work. The member or their authorized representative helps pick the attendant and directs the day-to-day care.
Colorado and California run different programs
Both states use the name IHSS for very different benefits. California’s IHSS runs through county social services offices, with its own application, wage rules, and caregiver enrollment steps.
Colorado’s IHSS sits inside Community First Choice, so it reaches families enrolled in that benefit. You work with a case manager and an approved IHSS agency serving your county, and that agency sets the wage your family sees and carries the employment side.
So check who qualifies, which tasks are covered, and what caregivers earn on Colorado pages only. Advice written for California families won’t match what gets approved or paid here. When you call, say you are asking about Colorado’s In-Home Support Services under Community First Choice, because that is the phrasing the state uses. Families usually combine it with other Colorado supports. If you want to see what else is available, you can read our guide to autism resources in Colorado.
Who qualifies for IHSS in Colorado
Your child has to qualify for the service. Separately, the person who will be paid has to meet the caregiver rules. Both decisions are made by people you can reach on the phone, so call a case manager early.
On your child’s side, they have to be on Health First Colorado and meet the financial rules for full Medicaid benefits. Community First Choice enrollment comes next, and it requires an institutional level of care. A state assessment decides that. A child already on a home and community based services waiver meets it automatically.
An assessor then reviews what your child needs help with every day, and the approved hours come out of that. An autism diagnosis by itself doesn’t determine the number of hours, because the assessment looks at the care one particular child needs, day to day. If your child isn’t on Health First Colorado yet, Colorado’s Medicaid buy-in is one option families ask about.
On your side, the member or their authorized representative names the attendant they want, and that person can be a family member in certain cases. Every member under 18 has to have an authorized representative, and that person cannot be paid as the attendant. The agency then hires you, runs payroll, and carries the employer paperwork.
Paying for ABA therapy
Alpaca Health accepts Health First Colorado, which is Colorado Medicaid, and many private plans, and verifies your benefits before therapy starts so you know what your plan covers.
Check your coverage →
What IHSS covers and what it leaves out
The benefit pays for three kinds of help. Homemaker services deal with household tasks tied to your child’s needs. Personal care is the hands-on part, like bathing and dressing, and health maintenance activities cover health-related tasks your child can’t do alone.
The assessment decides what goes into the plan. Two children with identical diagnoses can end up with different approved tasks and different hours. The tasks are written into the plan by name, so walk the assessor through your child’s entire day.
IHSS won’t pay for every hour you spend caring for your child. Colorado’s rule says plainly that companionship isn’t an IHSS benefit, so time spent keeping your child company doesn’t turn into paid hours. A task also has to be on the approved care plan before anyone can bill for it.
Colorado also caps what one support plan can authorize. One plan can carry 4,750 hours of health maintenance activities, 2,500 hours of personal care, and 1,125 hours of homemaker services. Those limits took effect on April 1, 2026. The rule behind them also gives the state a way to grant exceptions.
How much IHSS pays in Colorado
There’s no single hourly wage for caregivers across the state. Colorado publishes Medicaid rates for these services, and under the state rule those rates go to the IHSS agency for each 15 minutes of service. That amount is not automatically your hourly wage. Since July 1, 2026, one caregiver can be paid for at most 84 hours a week of care for one child, unless the state approves an exception. That cap drops to 70 hours on January 1, 2027 and to 56 hours on July 1, 2027.
What you take home depends on which agency hires you, the type of care you give, and the terms that agency offers. So compare a few agencies before you sign with one, and put these questions to each of them.
- Ask what the agency pays attendants per hour right now.
- Find out whether the rate changes with the type of care.
- Check how overtime works, if the agency offers it at all.
- Ask about benefits and paid time off before you sign anything.
Apply for IHSS in Colorado with every step and document in one place.
We also sent the link to your email.
How to apply for IHSS in Colorado
Getting paid as your child’s caregiver comes at the end of the process. Your child has to be on Health First Colorado and approved for services before an agency can put you on payroll.
Get a Health First Colorado eligibility decision
Enroll your child in Health First Colorado first. The state then checks whether they meet the institutional level of care that Community First Choice requires. To apply for IHSS, contact your case management agency.
A case manager can help you work out what type of care your child needs and explain what happens next. The same review can point you to other benefits, such as hospital beds and equipment.
Ask for a needs assessment
An assessment decides what your child needs and which services are approved. Be specific when the assessor asks, and say what your child can do alone and where they need a hand.
Describe what a day looks like when nobody is there to help. It’s easy to forget the hard days once someone is sitting across from you with a form.
Pick an IHSS agency
If your child qualifies, you choose an approved IHSS agency serving your area. That agency hires attendants, runs payroll, and answers to Medicaid for the services. Comparing two or three agencies is normal.
Enroll as the paid caregiver
Once you pick an agency, you finish its hiring and enrollment steps before paid care starts. Approval still doesn’t make every hour payable, because your child’s approved care plan sets the services and hours Medicaid will cover.
IHSS, CDASS, and Community First Choice side by side
The three names get tangled together because they are related without being the same thing. Community First Choice is the Health First Colorado benefit itself, the pot of money that pays for certain long-term services and supports.
IHSS and Consumer-Directed Attendant Support Services, or CDASS, are two ways to receive and direct those services. With IHSS, an agency employs the attendants and carries the employer duties. With CDASS, you or your child’s authorized representative handle hiring and scheduling, plus the day-to-day managing.
Neither option is better on paper. IHSS suits families who want an employer handling payroll and paperwork. CDASS suits families who want more say over who works with their child and when. Colorado’s rule says a member cannot receive IHSS and CDASS at the same time, so ask your case manager which one is open to you.
Turn these ideas into a plan built for your child.
Activities at home are a good start, and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst can shape them into a program around your child's goals. Alpaca Health matches you with one.
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Can a parent be paid to care for their own child?
Yes, in some situations Colorado will pay you for care you already give. A parent who shares a home with the child is paid only for services the case manager decides meet Colorado’s definition of Extraordinary Care. That decision has to come before the care is given. Extraordinary Care means care beyond what a parent would normally provide for a child of the same age without a disability or chronic illness. It also has to be necessary to protect your child’s health and keep them living at home.
A parent or guardian who provides homemaker services to their own minor child counts as a legally responsible person. Since June 13, 2026, Colorado has paid for up to 7 hours of that homemaker care a week for each child. That is the total for every legally responsible person combined, so two parents share the same 7 hours. Any hours above that have to come from someone else. The cap arrived as a Medicaid sustainability change that reduced the earlier allowance of 10 hours a week.
Other approved services follow their own rules, and your child’s care plan settles which tasks and hours get paid. A caregiver also has to be at least 16 years old and able to demonstrate they can carry out the plan’s tasks safely. In a two-parent household one parent can be the authorized representative and the other can be paid. A sole parent who is the representative can’t also be the paid caregiver.
The program pays for covered services your child needs because of a disability or health condition, when a caregiver is the one delivering them.
What to do if your county has a wait
Openings depend on which agencies serve your area, and some families wait a while before one has room. Stay in touch with your case manager. Ask what else is open to you in the meantime.
Another agency might cover your county. A different Health First Colorado service might also suit your child right now. Keep a running log of every call, with the date, who you spoke to, and what they told you.
When you call back three weeks later and hear something different, that log gets the conversation unstuck. While you wait on one program, the rest of your child’s support can keep going. Families early in the process often start with the steps after a diagnosis. Whatever IHSS is doing, autism schools in Colorado run on their own timeline.
You don't have to figure this out alone.
Alpaca Health matches your family with an independent BCBA in Colorado and handles the insurance paperwork and scheduling so you can focus on your child.
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Where ABA therapy fits alongside paid caregiving
IHSS and ABA therapy help with different parts of a family’s week. IHSS covers daily living and health tasks your child can’t handle alone, while ABA works on skills and on behavior that interferes with everyday life.
Your child can receive both at once if they qualify for both. Medicaid covers ABA therapy in Colorado, and Alpaca Health works with families here on that coverage and on finding a provider nearby.
Some Colorado families are getting same-week autism assessments if their child still needs an evaluation. That shortens the gap between the referral and the first session.
Balancing the two is its own kind of work, especially if you’re the paid caregiver and the one driving to sessions. Ask your agency and your child’s provider about their schedules before you commit to hours, because the two calendars have to work around each other.
How Alpaca Health helps Colorado families
Medicaid, a caregiving program, and therapy in the same month add up to a lot of paperwork for one family. Alpaca Health works with Colorado families on ABA therapy and on the coverage questions that come with it. The team takes Medicaid along with major insurance plans.
Someone there can check what your plan covers and what is available near you. If you would like to talk it through with someone who does this every day, get started with Alpaca Health.
Apply for IHSS in Colorado with every step and document in one place.
We also sent the link to your email.
Frequently asked questions about IHSS in Colorado
Does Colorado have an IHSS program?
Yes. In-Home Support Services is one of the ways members enrolled in Community First Choice get approved care at home. The family keeps a say in who provides it.
What is the hourly pay rate for IHSS in Colorado?
There is no set wage for every caregiver in the state. Agencies decide what they pay attendants, so ask each one directly instead of treating the state’s Medicaid rate as your hourly number.
Can I get paid to care for my autistic child in Colorado?
Sometimes. A parent who lives with the child is paid only for care the case manager approved in advance as going beyond what a parent would normally give. An autism diagnosis on its own doesn’t qualify a parent for payment.
How do I become a paid caregiver for a family member in Colorado?
Start by asking your local case management agency whether your family member qualifies. If IHSS is approved, you pick an agency and finish its hiring steps. If you want help with the therapy and coverage side too, get started with Alpaca Health.
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