Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

Childhood Cancer Lantern
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Arizona program

Being paid for the care you already give

ALTCS can pay a parent or guardian for approved care beyond what a child that age normally needs.

What it is

ALTCS can pay a parent or guardian for approved care beyond what a child that age normally needs.

A parent may already be providing substantial hands-on care every day. ALTCS can turn approved tasks into paid work through an agency. The case manager decides the hours with the family.

Eligibility rules
  • Your child must be enrolled in ALTCS. The caregiver must be a legally responsible parent or legal guardian with formal physical or legal custody.
  • The care must be medically necessary and extraordinary compared with ordinary parental care.
  • The parent must have lived in Arizona for six months before paid services begin, and work or contract through one agency.
What you get
  • Pay for up to 40 hours of approved care per child in seven days.
  • Another caregiver can cover approved hours above the parent limit.
What the help includes
  • Since July 1, 2025, the combined parent limit is 40 hours per child in any seven-day period for approved attendant care, personal care, homemaker help and in-home habilitation. This is shared across the parents, not 40 hours each.
  • This became a permanent option on February 16, 2024.
  • The agency, not ALTCS, sets your hourly pay; it must be at least Arizona's minimum wage ($15.15 in 2026). Ask about pay, training and payroll deductions before you sign.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the ALTCS case manager to review the paid-parent option with you.
  2. Have proof of custody, six months of Arizona residence and your child’s care plan ready.
  3. Ask the agency about its employment terms and pay before deciding whether to work through it.

ALTCS case manager; PPCG@azahcccs.gov · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • An approved arrangement includes the agency agreement, authorized weekly hours and timesheets.
  • The plan and agency check training, competencies, the approved care plan, parent acknowledgement, employment terms and required visit or time records. They can confirm the remaining steps and start date. Approval does not automatically pay for earlier unpaid caregiving.
Good to know

The 40-hour limit is shared across both parents for one child. It is not 40 hours each.

Other details
  • Your answers here do not settle legal parenthood, guardianship or custody. The case manager checks those documents.
  • A properly licensed parent may have a separate home-health agency employment route under licensed nursing assistant rules, or licensed health aide rules for eligible ALTCS members under 21. That has different clinical, credential and employment requirements. The same care cannot be billed twice.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could ALTCS pay me for some of our child’s care? What would the agency job require, how much would it pay, and could you help us decide whether it fits?”

Why I’m asking: I want to understand whether the hands-on care I give could become paid work.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Ask the case manager, choose an agency, and keep the timesheets.

Your social worker

The case manager assesses the hours with you and does the cost-effectiveness study.

The care team

Records and letters when the application asks for them.

Who decides
The long-term care case manager sets the hours; an agency employs or contracts the parent.
Ask the agency
“Can I be paid as my child’s caregiver under the paid-parent option, and which agency would employ me?”

How to apply

First step: Ask the long-term care case manager to add the paid-parent option to the care plan.

  1. Once your child is on the long-term care programme, ask the case manager about being paid as the caregiver.
  2. Ask which agencies in your area take paid parents, and what they pay an hour.
  3. Ask who covers any authorised hours above 40 a week.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Ask the case manager to add the paid-parent option to the care plan; questions to PPCG@azahcccs.gov.

What to gather

  • Proof of custody
  • Proof of six months’ Arizona residence
  • The care plan and the authorised hours

How long: It follows the care plan; no separate decision deadline was published.

What a yes looks like

An agency contract, a set number of hours a week and timesheets to submit.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Ask whether the no is about custody, residence, the agency, or whether the care counts as beyond the ordinary.

Watch out

  • The 40 hours is the total across both parents for one child each week.
  • The parent must have lived in Arizona for six months before the pay can start.
  • The hourly rate was not published; ask the agency before you sign.

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.

What it is worth

Up to 40 hours a week of paid care for one child, shared across both parents.

  • $40/week — Most hours a parent can be paid for, one child, seven days
  • $6 — Arizona residence required before a parent starts being paid

Covers: Attendant care · Personal care · Homemaker help · In-home habilitation

Legal protection: Care authorised above 40 hours is covered by another caregiver, not lost

What it costs the family: None. This pays the parent.

The eligibility facts, as published

Coverage
the child must be on the Arizona Long Term Care System
Who
a legally responsible parent or legal guardian with formal physical or legal custody
Care standard
medically necessary and, because a parent is responsible for the child anyway, extraordinary in nature
Residence
six months in Arizona before paid services start
Employer
the parent is employed or contracted by one agency

Expect friction on: Six months of Arizona residence is required before a parent can start being paid · The parent works through one agency

The trap: The 40 hours is the total across both parents for one child in any seven days, and it covers attendant care, personal care, homemaker and in-home habilitation together. If the case manager authorises more than 40 hours, someone other than a parent has to cover the rest. The parent works or contracts through one agency.

Where I read this

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