How to Choose an IHSS Agency in Colorado

A son stands beside his father, who is seated in a wheelchair outside their home

In-Home Support Services (IHSS) lets a Health First Colorado member choose their own caregiver, including a family member, with an approved agency behind them. You pick and supervise the caregiver. The agency sets the pay, runs payroll and sends a substitute when your caregiver can’t work.

Only agencies on the state’s IHSS provider list can provide the service, so choosing an agency is part of signing up.

Who can use IHSS

HCPF, the state Medicaid agency, lists the requirements on its IHSS page. You must:

Be enrolled in Health First Colorado, the state’s Medicaid program
Have an assessed need for Personal Care, Homemaker or Health Maintenance Activities
Meet an institutional level of care, which means needing enough help that you would otherwise need a nursing home or a similar facility
Plan your services with a Case Management Agency

IHSS is offered through Community First Choice, a Medicaid benefit Colorado started on July 1, 2025.

What you do and what the agency does

HCPF’s guide to participant-directed programs splits the work this way in IHSS:

You interview and choose your caregivers and supervise their work.
You and the agency share recruiting, screening and training.
The agency sets pay and benefits, runs payroll, handles the paperwork and provides a substitute caregiver.

In CDASS, the other self-directed option, you take on those jobs yourself, and a financial management service runs payroll.

How to find agencies

HCPF keeps the official IHSS provider list. An agency that is not on it can’t provide IHSS. The list shows the counties each agency serves and the ages it works with.

Panda Care’s Colorado provider, Gentler Homecare LLC, is on the list for Adams, Arapahoe, Denver and Jefferson counties. It serves children, young adults and adults.

Questions to ask an agency

What do you pay, and how often? Colorado’s 2026 base wage for these services is $17.00 an hour, and $19.29 in Denver. Panda Care pays Colorado caregivers $21 an hour.
Do you serve my county and my family member’s age group?
What training do you give a family caregiver?
Who covers when my caregiver is sick?
How do you track hours?
How will you handle the weekly hour limit? One caregiver can be paid for up to 84 hours a week per member now, and fewer in 2027. See our guide to Colorado’s weekly caregiver limit.

How to sign up

If you don’t have Health First Colorado yet, apply at Colorado PEAK.
Contact your local Case Management Agency. It handles the assessment and your service plan.
Tell your case manager you want IHSS and which agency you chose.
Complete the agency’s hiring steps for your caregiver.

To talk with Panda Care’s Colorado team, call (303) 558-1057 or visit our Colorado page. The office is at 1390 Tennyson St, Denver, CO 80204.