I'm taking care of my Dad who cannot do much for himself. How can I get paid to live with him?

In California, if your father is eligible for Medi-Cal, IHSS will pay you for the work you do. Contact the state Department of Health and Social Services for info and enrollment. Many other states, like Illinois, offer the same federally funded programs. If your father has the resources to compensate himself, you need a written compensation agreement and have to report the income and pay taxes. Without a written agreement, you can get screwed by greedy siblings or the court, if anyone objects. I know this from personal experience. It's a mistake to try to provide this care for free unless you have an iron-clad POA, guardianship or conservatorship in place before you start.

Your father gets SS and perhaps also retirement income. Perhaps he has a nest egg saved or investments or a life insurance policy with a cash value. Dad can do a legal personal care services contract for you to provide caregiving and he pays you from his resources. This needs to be all above board with taxes, etc done. Pay based on community standards. He needs it to be done correctly so an elder law attorney needs to do this.

This is a win win for all - you are paid, have income & build your own future SS credits; dad has a caregiver who knows him & his needs 24/7. As this is all above aboard, if in the future dad needs to go into a facility and apply for Medicaid there is no gifting or transfer penalty issues with how he did the spend down. If dad has a home, by caregiving 2 years with supporting documents as to need, you qualify for the caregiver exemption for MERPs estate recovery so you can inherit the homestead & have hopefully saved some income to be able to afford the house. You have to do whatever now to safeguard your own aging.

This is? #1 on this site. There are lots of other posts with all sorts of wonderful comments with great insight. Click on them as well.

I'd like to add to freqflyers great answer, the programs tend to pay minimum wage or slightly above that. The hours are limited and based on a needs assessment done by the state. So it will not be the salary of your old job or a living wage. You are viewed as getting free room & board so compensated by that. Your parent may have to do a co pay of their income for getting this..

for example, CA has the IHSS program, you cannot have more than 6 hrs a month on domestic services or 1 hr a week for grocery shopping. pays varies by county, like San bernardino is $ 9.25 hr & done by payroll. You as the caregiver have to do your own paperwork, fingerprint, take a first aid or other courses prior, etc. If you did 20 hrs week, your going to make less than 9K a year.

Please, please Look realistically at your & dads $ & needs before you find yourself 4 years from now in your own precarious situation.

vbaca505,majority of grown children do not get paid for caring for their elderly parent, unless the parent is financially able to pay from their own funds. If so, that parent and the grown child will need to put together an employment contract. and be responsible for payroll taxes or estimated quarterly income taxes. If your family member has long-term care insurance, it may cover some home care.

Check with your local Council on Aging to see what is available for Aides to come to the house for a couple of hours to help give you time for yourself. Caregiver burnout comes quickly.

You might want to check to see if your parent could qualify for Medicaid, each State has different requirement and different things they do to help or pay for. Most have income and other eligibility requirements that the care recipient must meet, and strict rules often apply. These programs — called, variously, "consumer-directed," "participant-directed," "cash and counseling" or other titles — differ enormously depending on where you live.

For information about what's available in your State, contact your local Medicaid or aging services department or go to the National Resource Center for Participant-Directed Services.

But be aware that there are waiting lists for these programs and that states have been cutting back on them because of budgetary pressures.

I should amend that to say unless your father is very young, completely disabled, and is on disabilty payments from the government. Then and only then, there *might* be a program to help - but if your father is elderly and you are caring for him in his old age, there are no programs to help.

Sorry, but no programs exist to pay you to care for your father.