Family Paid Caregiver Pilot Program

Family members who provide extraordinary care to either a child or adult who are enrolled in one of the following Medicaid 1915(c) waivers may receive payments from the state.

• Autism Spectrum Disorder Birth Through 17 Waiver
• Children with Medically Fragile Needs Home and Community-Based Services Waiver
• Children’s Hospice Home and Community-Based Services Waiver
• Traditional Individual with Intellectual Disabilities and Developmental Disabilities Home and Community-Based Services Waiver

      Click here to for more information about current Medicaid 1915(c) waivers. 

State funding for the pilot program was approved from the passage of Senate Bill 2276 during the 2023 legislative session. 

This pilot project has a limited allocation of resources. We fully expect the interest to exceed the resources that are available.

HHS is now accepting applications for the Family Paid Caregiver.  

What is "extraordinary care"? 

When a family member provides care for someone with medical or behavioral needs that is beyond what a legally responsible individual would typically perform.

Who can apply

You can apply if you are enrolled in one of the listed Medicaid 1915(c) waivers or if you are the legally responsible individual for someone enrolled in one of the waivers. 

Where to apply

You can access and submit an application on the Family Paid Caregiver Portal.

Link to the Portal: https://familycaregiver.hhs.nd.gov/     

Enrollment process

Once you apply, and your application has been reviewed, an HHS team member will ask you to complete an assessment to determine if the care required meets the definition of extraordinary care.

You will be required to complete a Child Abuse and Neglect Inquiry at that time as well.

NEW!

Will I get confirmation that my application has been submitted?

Within the portal, on the applications tab, there will be a status next to the application that you created. There will be a status for each step of the application process. Some statuses you can expect to see and their meaning:

• In Progress - Application has been started, but not submitted
• Submitted (date and time) - Application has been submitted
• In Review - Your application is in initial review
• Pending Assessment - Assessment and Child Abuse & Neglect Background Inquiry has been sent to be completed by a family caregiver
• Assessment Received - The Assessment and Child Abuse & Neglect Background Inquiry have been received and will be reviewed
• Assessment and Background Inquiry in Review - The Assessment and the Child Abuse & Neglect Background Inquiry is being reviewed
• Approved/Denied/Closed/Terminated - final status of application and notice will also be sent

What are the next steps

We have started reviewing applications in the order that they were received. Once each individual application has been reviewed, notice will be sent out to the email address on your portal account for any next steps (including the assessment and information for the Child Abuse and Neglect Inquiry). 

How do caregivers get paid

If the application is approved, you will receive a service authorization allowing you to request payment. 
You will be able to receive payments up to twice a month.

Please see the Frequently Asked Questions tile below for more information on the pilot program and questions that you may have. 

Further questions can be emailed to: familycaregiver@nd.gov