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

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Vermont program

Paid hands-on help at home (children's personal care)

Paid help at home with washing, dressing, eating and moving through Children's Personal Care Services.

What it is

Paid help at home with washing, dressing, eating and moving through Children's Personal Care Services.

Treatment can change what your child can manage alone. Children's Personal Care Services looks at that daily help. The assessment and finding an available attendant are separate steps.

Eligibility rules
  • Your child needs Vermont Medicaid and an assessment using the functional ability screening tool. Clinical review and program approval also apply.
  • Children’s Personal Care Services serves Medicaid-enrolled children under 21 with a documented condition and more help with daily activities than is usual for their age. A functional assessment and clinical review set individual hours, rather than a diagnosis-based flat allowance. Reassessment depends on age, prior assessment results and changes in need; the decision letter explains the 60-day appeal route.
What you get
  • Approved hours of hands-on care, with no charge through Vermont Medicaid.
What the help includes
  • An ordinary paid attendant cannot be a legally responsible adult.
  • Temporary parent backup requires written statements that no attendant is available.
  • A parent can be paid only as a temporary backup, after stating in writing that no attendant can be found, and at the state's set rate. The arrangement ends when an attendant is hired.
  • Hours are set in six-month budgets that cannot be borrowed against. Young children are reassessed every year; older children whose needs have not changed can move to every three years.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask Children with Special Health Needs about an assessment through your regional agency.
  2. Keep a list of daily care tasks and the help your child needs for each one.

Assessment help: 800-660-4427. ARIS Solutions payroll questions: 800-798-1658. · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • The program sends a decision after clinical review. Your social worker can check current processing time and the separate search for an attendant.
Good to know

Parent payment is a temporary backup route with additional conditions, not the ordinary attendant arrangement.

Other details
  • Hands-on personal care and skilled nursing address different tasks; the care team can explain which assessment fits.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Would personal care hours help with the daily tasks our child needs? Who could do the care, what would our responsibilities be, and could you help start the assessment?”

Why I’m asking: I want to understand what help is available at home and whether a parent can ever be paid.

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 for the assessment and keep a written list of what your child needs help with each day.

Your social worker

The hospital social worker refers you to the regional agency and helps with the list.

The care team

Records and letters when the application asks for them.

Who decides
The programme, after an assessment by a trained assessor at the regional agency.
Ask your social worker
“Our child needs hands-on help at home now. Can we start the personal care assessment, and can you tell us who the assessor is in our area?”

How to apply

First step: Call 800-660-4427 and ask for the children's personal care assessment.

  1. Call 800-660-4427 and ask for the personal care assessment.
  2. Write down everything your child now needs help with that they used to do alone; that list is what the assessment measures.
  3. If no attendant can be found, ask in writing about the back-up route for a parent to be paid.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Ask the children with special health needs team on 800-660-4427 to start the assessment. Payroll questions go to ARIS Solutions on 800-798-1658.

What to gather

  • A written list of what your child needs help with each day
  • The Green Mountain Care identification number

How long: Vermont reported a four-day average in 2025 from a complete application to a decision letter.

What a yes looks like

Authorised hours and a named agency or attendant.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Ask which parts of the assessment fell short and whether it can be redone now treatment has changed.

Watch out

  • A parent being paid is a temporary back-up, not a job. It needs written statements that no attendant is available.
  • An ordinary paid attendant must not be a legally responsible adult. The two routes are different and it is worth saying which you are asking about.
  • The four-day figure is the paperwork clock. Finding an attendant in a rural area is a separate wait Vermont has not published.

The numbers and the rules

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

What it is worth

Paid hands-on care hours at home, with a four-day average in 2025 from a complete application to a decision letter.

  • $4 — Average days in 2025 from a complete application to a decision letter

Covers: Paid personal care hours at home · A functional assessment with a trained assessor at the regional agency · A narrow, conditional route to paying a parent as a temporary back-up

What it costs the family: None on Vermont Medicaid.

The eligibility facts, as published

Coverage
Vermont Medicaid
Assessment
functional ability screening tool with a trained assessor at the regional designated agency, plus clinical review
Authorisation
prior authorised by the programme

The trap: The paid-parent route is a back-up, not a job. The rule says an ordinary personal care attendant must not be a legally responsible individual, and the November 2025 guidelines say payments to a legally responsible adult are a temporary back-up option and that such adults are not employees. It needs written statements that no attendant is available and that the parent can deliver the care.

Where I read this

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