Skip to content

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.

Eligibility

  • Care recipient must have a qualifying disability
  • Applicant age: at least 18
  • Relationship: spouse, parent, other relative, non relative

Questions to ask the program

These are questions to ask the program, not a verdict on your eligibility. Confirm the current rules directly with the program.

  • Does the person receiving care live in Kentucky? — Residency is usually the first thing a program checks.
  • Does your relationship to the person — spouse, parent, other relative, or non relative — count for this program?
  • What counts as a qualifying disability or level of care need, and what documentation shows it?
  • 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.
  • What documents do you need from us to start an application?
  • Is there a waitlist right now, and how long is it?

What this record does not yet say

  • a direct application link
  • eligibility criteria

How to apply

  • 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.