CCSP vs SOURCE Waiver Georgia: Eligibility, Services, and How to Apply in 2026

What Georgia's Two Home-Care Waivers Actually Cover

Georgia runs two Medicaid waivers under its Elderly and Disabled Waiver Program (EDWP) that pay for care at home or in a personal care home instead of a nursing facility. Both require a clinical determination that the applicant needs nursing-facility-level care — the difference is who they serve and what services they emphasize.

CCSP (Community Care Services Program) is the broader program. It covers personal support services, adult day health, home-delivered meals, emergency response systems, and respite care. It also funds placement in licensed personal care homes at a state-set room-and-board rate of $768 per month in 2026. CCSP accepts applicants with income up to $2,982 per month (the Medicaid institutional income cap), making it accessible to middle-income Georgians whose Social Security and pension income would otherwise disqualify them from standard Medicaid.

SOURCE (Service Options Using Resources in a Community Environment) is more medically focused. It wraps waiver services around a primary care physician who coordinates the enrollee's overall care plan. SOURCE targets people with chronic medical conditions — diabetes requiring daily management, COPD with oxygen dependency, complex wound care — where medical coordination prevents hospitalizations. SOURCE eligibility generally ties to the SSI income level (approximately $994 per month in 2026), making it narrower than CCSP on the financial side.

Both waivers cover structured family caregiving, where an adult child or other family member can receive a tax-free stipend of roughly $80 per day (approximately $1,987 to $2,400 per month) for providing daily hands-on care under a formal care plan.

Eligibility: The Three Gates Every Applicant Must Clear

Gate 1 — Clinical need. The applicant must require nursing-facility-level care, as determined through Georgia's clinical assessment process and Uniform Assessment Tool.

Gate 2 — Financial qualification. For CCSP, gross monthly income cannot exceed $2,982. SOURCE's income threshold is tied to SSI classification, approximately $994 per month in 2026. Both programs require countable assets below $2,000 for an individual. For a CCSP applicant whose income exceeds the institutional cap, establishing a Qualified Income Trust (Miller Trust) can restore eligibility; SOURCE uses the lower SSI-linked threshold, so confirm the applicable program rules with the AAA.

Gate 3 — Medicaid enrollment. The applicant must be enrolled in Georgia Medicaid. Waiver enrollment happens after Medicaid approval, not before.

How to Apply: The AAA Telephone Screening Process

Applications for both CCSP and SOURCE flow through Georgia's network of 12 regional Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs). The statewide Aging and Disability Resource Connection (ADRC) helpline is 866-552-4464 and can route families to the local AAA.

The process works like this:

1. Initial call. A family member calls the statewide ADRC helpline or the local AAA. The intake worker asks basic screening questions about the person's age, location, Medicaid status, and care needs.

2. Telephone functional assessment. A case manager conducts a structured phone interview about the applicant's ability to perform daily activities. This is where specificity matters enormously. When the screener asks "Can your parent bathe independently?" the answer that moves the application forward is not "she needs a little help" — it's "she fell getting out of the tub on June 3rd, sustained a hip contusion, and has not bathed without full standby assistance since." Document every fall, every hospitalization, every near-miss before this call.

3. In-person assessment. If the phone screening indicates nursing-facility-level need, an assessor visits the home (or hospital/nursing facility) to complete the Uniform Assessment Tool in person.

4. Waitlist placement. Georgia's waiver slots are capped. Both CCSP and SOURCE maintain waitlists that can stretch from several weeks to several months depending on the region. Metro Atlanta waitlists tend to be longer than rural areas. Ask the AAA how its priority rules apply to people being discharged from hospitals or nursing facilities who would otherwise be institutionalized.

What Happens on the Waitlist

Being on a waitlist does not mean nothing happens. The AAA case manager can connect families with non-waiver services during the wait — Meals on Wheels, transportation assistance, and the Georgia Cares program for Medicare counseling. If the applicant's condition deteriorates while waiting, call the AAA to request a priority reassessment. Ask the AAA whether a hospital discharge creates any applicable priority or expedited handling; do not assume it does.

Which Waiver Should You Target?

Choose based on your parent's medical profile and income:

• CCSP if the primary need is personal support, supervision, or personal care home placement, and income is at or below $2,982 per month. This covers the majority of Georgia families navigating post-hospital transitions.

• SOURCE if the parent has complex chronic medical conditions requiring ongoing physician coordination, and income falls below the SSI threshold. SOURCE is especially relevant for parents managing multiple medications, frequent specialist visits, or conditions like congestive heart failure where care coordination prevents readmissions.

In practice, most families apply for CCSP because the income threshold is higher and the services are broader. If the AAA assessor determines that SOURCE is a better clinical fit and the applicant qualifies financially, they can recommend a switch during the assessment process.

The Full Transition Picture

Georgia's waiver programs are one piece of a larger post-hospital puzzle. If your parent was recently discharged and you're trying to understand the full landscape — from Medicare's three-day rule for skilled nursing coverage to Medicaid's 60-month look-back period for asset transfers — the Georgia Hospital-to-Home Transition Guide maps the complete pathway from hospital bed to stable home care, including the waiver application checklists and the financial worksheets you'll need for the AAA screening.

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