How to Get Paid to Take Care of an Elderly Parent in New York

CDPAP: The Primary Pathway

The Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) is New York's Medicaid-funded program that pays family members to provide care. Unlike standard Medicaid home care where an agency sends an aide, CDPAP lets the parent (the "consumer") hire someone they trust — including adult children, siblings, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and friends. Spouses cannot be hired, and parents of children under 21 are excluded.

As a CDPAP personal assistant, you are a W-2 employee of Public Partnerships LLC (PPL), the single statewide fiscal intermediary. PPL handles payroll, tax withholding, and workers' compensation insurance. You do not run a business or invoice anyone — you clock hours through the Time4Care app or telephony system, and PPL pays you on a biweekly schedule.

Pay rates: Effective January 1, 2026, PPL's posted minimum base wages are $20.65 per hour in Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens, and Richmond counties; $20.05 per hour in Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties; and $18.65 per hour in all other counties. Benefits and any applicable wage-parity components are separate; confirm the current total with PPL.

Hours: The number of authorized weekly hours depends on the consumer's care needs as determined by the NYIA assessment and the MLTC plan's Care Manager. A parent with extensive ADL needs may be authorized for 12-16 hours per day. The caregiver's schedule is set by the consumer, not by PPL or the MLTC plan.

Eligibility: Your parent must meet both financial Medicaid eligibility ($1,836 monthly income, $33,038 assets in 2026) and clinical eligibility (physical assistance with 3+ ADLs, or supervisory assistance with 2+ ADLs if diagnosed with dementia). There is no waitlist — CDPAP is a Medicaid State Plan entitlement.

The CDPAP Onboarding Process

Getting enrolled takes administrative persistence. The sequence:

1. Your parent secures Medicaid financial eligibility through HRA (NYC) or the county DSS
2. The NYIA assessment establishes clinical eligibility and care hour authorization
3. Your parent enrolls in an MLTC plan that offers CDPAP
4. You (the caregiver) register with PPL as a personal assistant
5. You complete Nevvon compliance training, a pre-employment health screening (through Mobile Health or The IMA Group), and the I-9 employment verification
6. You download the Time4Care app and begin logging hours

The PPL registration process has been notoriously slow since the April 2025 transition. Plan for 10-21 calendar days for caregiver onboarding and registration; first-pay timing can differ. Keep copies of every document you upload to the PPL portal so you can respond quickly if PPL asks for resubmission.

Paid Family Leave: Short-Term Income Replacement

New York's Paid Family Leave (PFL) program provides up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave at 67% of your average weekly wage, capped at $1,228.53 per week in 2026. You can use PFL to care for a seriously ill family member, including a parent.

PFL is not a caregiver payment — it is income replacement from your employer's PFL insurance carrier while you take time away from your job. Whether you can combine PFL with CDPAP work depends on the terms of the leave, your employer's policy, and the PFL insurer's requirements; confirm before doing both.

PFL covers biological, adoptive, and foster parents, as well as in-laws and grandparents. The leave can be taken consecutively or intermittently — one day per week for 12 weeks, for example, to attend medical appointments or handle Medicaid paperwork.

Private Caregiver Agreements

If your parent does not qualify for Medicaid (income or assets above the threshold), they can pay you directly under a written caregiver agreement. This is a private arrangement between family members — the parent compensates you at fair market value ($25-$35 per hour in New York) for specified care services.

For future services, sign the agreement before care begins, list specific tasks and hours, and keep meticulous documentation (daily care logs, payment records via check or direct deposit, tax reporting). If care has already been provided, have an elder-law attorney review the arrangement before attempting to characterize past payments for Medicaid purposes.

For more on structuring these agreements, see the caregiver agreement guide.

What You Cannot Do

You cannot be paid as a CDPAP personal assistant if you are the consumer's spouse. This is a hard statutory exclusion with no workaround.

You also cannot simultaneously receive caregiver compensation from both CDPAP and a private caregiver agreement for the same hours. If your parent is authorized for 8 hours per day of CDPAP care and you are the personal assistant for those 8 hours, any additional care you provide beyond those hours could potentially be covered under a separate private agreement — but the same hour cannot be billed to both.

Standard Medicaid home care through an MLTC-contracted agency does not allow family member aides. If your parent wants a family member as their caregiver, the CDPAP pathway is the only Medicaid option.

The Full Picture

The Aging in Place in New York guide walks through the complete caregiver compensation landscape — CDPAP enrollment through PPL with checklists for each compliance step, PFL application timing, private caregiver agreement frameworks, and the Medicaid planning implications of each approach. It also covers the intersection of caregiver pay with NYIA assessments, MLTC plan selection, and the legal instruments (POA, Health Care Proxy) needed to manage your parent's care.

See more New York guides →