Michigan Home Help: Agency or Individual Caregiver?

A caregiver helps an older man stand up from his bed at home

Michigan’s Home Help program lets the person who needs care choose how their caregiver is hired. There are 2 ways: an individual caregiver, who is paid by the state, or a Home Help agency, which employs the caregiver. A family member or friend can be the caregiver either way.

The care is the same. The pay, the paperwork and who runs payroll are different.

Individual caregiver: paid by the state

The state pays $17.13 an hour in 2026. The rate is the same in every Michigan county, according to the MDHHS rate table.
The caregiver enrolls in CHAMPS, the state’s Medicaid provider system, and passes a background check before giving paid care.
The caregiver clocks in and out of each visit and confirms each month’s services.
The state pays by check. It is usually made out to both the client and the caregiver and mailed to the client’s address.
Social Security and Medicare taxes are taken out. Income tax is not. The caregiver gets a W-2.
A parent caring for an adult child is the exception: no Social Security or Medicare tax is taken out.

These rules come from the state’s Home Help caregiver policy.

Agency caregiver: employed by an approved agency

The agency hires and pays the caregiver. The state pays approved agencies $27.00 an hour in 2026, and each agency sets its own wage.
Panda Care pays Michigan caregivers $19 an hour, paid every 2 weeks.
The agency must be approved by MDHHS. Its caregivers enroll in CHAMPS and pass a background check too.
The agency handles payroll, billing and records. Caregivers still clock in and out of each visit.
An agency must accept the Home Help payment as payment in full. It can’t charge the family extra for the care MDHHS approved.

The agency rules are in the state’s agency provider policy.

What stays the same

MDHHS decides who qualifies and how many hours are approved. An adult services worker does the assessment at home.
The person receiving care is the employer either way. They can change their caregiver or their agency at any time.
The caregiver must be at least 18.
A spouse can’t be the paid caregiver. Neither can a parent caring for a child under 18.

A relative can be the caregiver through an agency

Choosing an agency doesn’t mean a stranger comes to the house. The person receiving care can choose an agency and have their relative or friend hired as their caregiver. That is how Panda Care works with Michigan families.

One rule matters if the caregiver has already been paid as an individual caregiver. That caregiver can’t care for the same person through an agency for 90 days. The 90 days start when they join the agency or when they stop as the individual caregiver, whichever is later.

How to choose

The individual route can work well for a caregiver who is comfortable enrolling with the state, confirming services each month and waiting for a mailed check.

An agency can work well for a family that wants help with the paperwork, a team to call and a regular paycheck from an employer.

Ask any agency these questions before you decide:

What is the hourly wage, and how often is payday?
Is the agency approved by MDHHS to provide Home Help?
Who helps the caregiver enroll in CHAMPS?
Who do we call when hours or needs change?

How to start

To ask for Home Help, contact the Adult Services unit at your county MDHHS office. At the home visit, tell the worker whether you want an individual caregiver or an agency. MDHHS explains the steps on its Home Help page.

To talk with Panda Care about caring for a relative in Michigan, call (313) 284-2501 or visit our Michigan page. Our help is free for families.