Most families who ask us “can I get paid to care for my own family member in New Jersey?” have been doing the work for years already. The honest answer is yes. New Jersey has three programs that pay family caregivers, and which one applies depends on two things: the age of the person receiving care, and where their funding comes from.
This article takes each route in turn. It covers who can be paid, what the rules say about parents and spouses, how the pay is set, and who to call. Every rule and figure is tied to the state document it comes from, so you can check it yourself.
Can a family member be paid to be a caregiver in New Jersey?
Yes. As of 2026, three New Jersey programs pay family caregivers. The Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) covers adults 21 and older with a developmental disability. The Personal Preference Program (PPP) covers NJ FamilyCare members who need personal care. Jersey Assistance for Community Caregiving (JACC) covers people 60 and older who are not on Medicaid.
They rarely overlap. A 24-year-old with an intellectual disability who lives with his parents is a DDD case. A 45-year-old on NJ FamilyCare who needs help bathing and dressing after a stroke is a PPP case. An 82-year-old grandmother with three or more daily-living needs and modest savings is a JACC case.
| Program | Who it’s for | Who can be paid | Where the money sits | Where to start |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NJ DDD (Supports Program or Community Care Program) | Adults 21+ with a developmental disability that began before 22, eligible for NJ Medicaid | A family member “including a parent, spouse, or guardian” (DDD FAQ, Feb. 2026) | The person’s individualized budget, paid through an agency or a fiscal intermediary | The support coordinator, or a DDD-approved agency |
| Personal Preference Program (PPP) | NJ FamilyCare members approved for Personal Care Assistant services for at least six months | “Friends, relatives, or neighbors”; the state fact sheet names spouses | A monthly cash budget run with a fiscal intermediary | Your NJ FamilyCare health plan, or 609-631-2481 |
| JACC | People 60+ who need help with three or more daily activities, under the income and asset limits, not on Medicaid | “His or her own provider(s)” under the participant-employed option | State funds, capped at $1,090 a month, with a sliding-scale co-pay | Your county Aging & Disability Resource Connection, 1-877-222-3737 |
If the person you care for is an adult with a developmental disability, the first route is the one that matters. It’s also the one Ameriwell works in every day.
Route 1: NJ DDD, for adults with a developmental disability
DDD serves New Jersey adults 21 and older who have a developmental disability that began before age 22 and who are eligible for NJ Medicaid. Our NJ DDD services guide walks through eligibility and the application, and what DDD is covers the basics. Once someone is enrolled, the NJCAT assessment sets an individualized budget. A support coordinator then turns that budget into a service plan.
The question families ask is whether the person doing the care can be paid from that budget. In February 2026, DDD’s own FAQ on self-directed employee models answered it in one sentence: “Yes, you can hire a family member, including a parent, spouse, or guardian.” (NJ Division of Developmental Disabilities, FAQ: Self-Directed Employee Service Models, February 2026.)
That matters, because older material still circulates online and says the opposite. A 2014 self-directed services policy excluded parents, spouses and guardians from payment. It belonged to the system DDD ran before the current fee-for-service programs. The 2026 FAQ is the guidance in force. If a relative was ever told “parents can’t be paid,” they were reading the old rule.
Two ways to be the paid caregiver under DDD
There are two arrangements. The difference is who the employer is.
Through an approved agency. The agency employs the family member. It handles the background checks, the training, payroll, electronic visit verification and daily documentation, and it arranges a substitute when the relative needs a break. This is what Ameriwell’s family-based support is: the parent or sibling keeps doing the care, and the agency carries the employer side. Ameriwell publishes its family-caregiver rate on that page.
Self-directed, as a self-directed employee (SDE). The person receiving services, or their guardian, hires the relative directly. A fiscal intermediary runs the payroll. DDD offers two SDE models. In the Vendor Fiscal/Employer Agent model, Acumen is the fiscal intermediary and “you enroll as the employer of record or you choose someone else to enroll as the employer of record.” That means getting an employer identification number from the IRS, with the intermediary’s help. In the Agency with Choice model, Easterseals NJ is both fiscal intermediary and employer of record, the family is the managing employer, and no EIN is needed.
The two models differ in cost and benefits. DDD pays the monthly administrative fee under Vendor Fiscal/Employer Agent; under Agency with Choice it comes out of the person’s budget. Employer taxes come out of the budget in both. Agency with Choice offers a health plan to employees working 30 or more hours a week. Vendor Fiscal/Employer Agent offers sick time only, one hour for every 30 hours worked. All of this is in the same February 2026 FAQ.
What a paid family caregiver has to do under DDD
The requirements apply to every self-directed employee “regardless of relationship to the person served or living arrangement,” as DDD’s self-direction page puts it. They are:
- fingerprinting, with ongoing criminal background checks;
- registry and exclusion-database checks, plus a Child Abuse Record Information check;
- drug testing before hiring and at random afterwards;
- the mandatory trainings, and CPR and First Aid certification renewed every two years;
- electronic visit verification and a service note for every day worked.
None of this is unusual for the field, and none of it is waived because the worker is a mother or a brother. It’s also why many families choose the agency route: the checks and trainings still happen, but someone else organises them.
Enrolment goes through the support coordinator. The coordinator sends the details to the fiscal intermediary and, in DDD’s words, “you should hear back within 3-5 days to start the process.” The employee can begin once fingerprinting, drug testing and paperwork are complete and the bill rate has been written into the plan.
Route 2: The Personal Preference Program, for NJ FamilyCare members
PPP is the self-directed version of Medicaid’s Personal Care Assistant service. To use it, a person must be NJ FamilyCare eligible, approved for Personal Care Assistant services with a need lasting at least six months, and able to direct their own care or have an authorized representative who can. Age is not the gate. The need for hands-on help with daily living is.
In 2024, the state’s General PPP FAQ described it plainly: “You, or someone you designate as authorized representative, can choose the workers you want to hire to provide your personal care services. You decide what schedule this person will follow, how much you pay them, and the job responsibilities they perform within your approved budget.” The state’s PPP fact sheet adds that participants can hire “spouse, friends, relatives and neighbors,” which “could enable a relative to stay at home and care for a spouse, parent or child, and receive payment for their services.”
Two rules to know. Your PPP worker cannot also be your authorized representative, and the representative must live within 30 miles or one hour of your home. And the budget has a ceiling. The health plan converts the Personal Care Assistant hours it has authorised into dollars at the current reimbursement rate, takes a standard administrative deduction, and the rest is what you have to pay your workers. The more you pay per hour, the fewer hours the budget covers.
Two fiscal intermediaries run the payroll: PALCO for Horizon NJ Health members, and Public Partnerships LLC for Aetna, Fidelis Care, UnitedHealthcare and Wellpoint members. The participant pays nothing beyond the fees taken from the monthly budget. To start, ask your NJ FamilyCare plan for options counselling, or call the PPP line at 609-631-2481.
Route 3: JACC, for people 60 and older who are not on Medicaid
Jersey Assistance for Community Caregiving is state-funded rather than Medicaid-funded. It exists for older adults who would qualify for a nursing home but want to stay at home. The Division of Aging Services sets three tests: age 60 or older; help needed with at least three activities of daily living, such as bathing, toileting, dressing, transfers and walking; and finances under the limits.
In 2026 those limits are a monthly income of no more than 365% of the federal poverty level, which the Division states as $4,855 for an individual and $6,582 for a married couple. Countable assets must be $40,000 or less for an individual, or $60,000 or less for a couple.
JACC can pay a relative. Its participant-employed provider option “allows a participant to employ his or her own provider(s) and to direct his or her own care.” The program funds care management plus in-home services, respite, adult day care, meals, home modifications, equipment and transport. Services are capped at $1,090 a month per participant, and participants may owe a co-pay on a sliding scale based on income. Applications go through the county Area Agency on Aging, reached statewide at 1-877-222-3737.
Because JACC is for people 60 and older, it rarely applies to the adults Ameriwell supports. It’s here because families often care for more than one person, and “can I be paid?” comes up for a parent as often as for a child.
How much do family caregivers get paid in New Jersey?
There is no single statewide rate. Any page that gives you one number for “family caregiver pay in NJ” is guessing. What the rules actually say is this.
Under DDD self-direction, “you decide the employee’s hourly wage, but it needs to be within the Division’s ‘reasonable and customary’ limits and your budget must be able to support it” (DDD, FAQ: Self-Directed Employee Service Models, February 2026). DDD’s Supports Program manual, version 10.0.1 from September 2025, adds that a rate above or below the reasonable-and-customary range is flagged for review in iRecord. So the wage is a family decision inside a range the state polices.
Through an agency, the rate is the agency’s. Ameriwell states its family-caregiver rate on the family-based support page. Ask any agency you’re considering to put theirs in writing before you enrol.
Under PPP, pay is whatever you set within a budget derived from your authorised hours. Under JACC, total services are capped at $1,090 a month before any co-pay, so a paid relative shares that cap with everything else the plan covers.
One practical point from our side of the desk: a higher hourly rate isn’t always the better deal. In the self-directed models, every extra dollar per hour comes out of the same annual budget, so the person ends up with fewer hours of support. Families who want the relative paid fairly and the person supported enough usually get there by putting the paperwork, backup and training on an agency, not by pushing the rate.
Who to call
For DDD, start with the person’s support coordinator if they already have one. If they don’t, DDD’s main office is 609-633-1482, or toll-free 800-832-9173. Each county is also served by a Community Services Office:
| Office | Counties | Phone |
|---|---|---|
| Freehold | Ocean, Monmouth | 732-863-4500 |
| Trenton | Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex | 609-292-1922 |
| Green Brook | Union, Somerset | 908-226-7800 |
| Newark | Essex | 973-693-5080 |
| Paterson | Bergen, Hudson, Passaic | 973-977-4004 |
| Flanders | Morris, Sussex, Warren | 973-927-2600 |
| Voorhees | Burlington, Camden, Gloucester | 856-770-5900 |
| Egg Harbor | Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, Salem | 609-300-1898 |
For PPP, call 609-631-2481 or email MAHS.PPP@dhs.nj.gov. For JACC, the statewide Aging & Disability Resource Connection line is 1-877-222-3737.
And if the person you care for is an adult with a developmental disability anywhere in New Jersey, you can skip the maze and talk to a care specialist at Ameriwell. We’ll confirm which program applies, what the current plan already authorises, and who can be paid under it, usually within a day. If the plan doesn’t yet include the hours a family caregiver would need, how home-based support is funded explains how hours get written in.
Frequently asked questions
Can a parent be paid to care for an adult child with a disability in NJ?
Yes. DDD’s February 2026 FAQ on self-directed employee models states that a family member “including a parent, spouse, or guardian” can be hired. The adult child must be 21 or older and enrolled with DDD. The parent can then be employed by an approved agency or hired directly as a self-directed employee.
Can a spouse be paid as a caregiver in New Jersey?
Under DDD, yes, per the same 2026 FAQ. Under PPP, the state’s fact sheet lists “spouse, friends, relatives and neighbors” among the people a participant can hire. The one consistent limit is that the paid worker cannot also be the participant’s authorized representative.
Do I have to become an employer to get paid?
No. Two of the DDD arrangements avoid it. An approved agency can employ you, or the Agency with Choice model makes Easterseals NJ the employer of record. Only the Vendor Fiscal/Employer Agent model makes the family the employer of record, with an IRS employer identification number.
What checks does a family caregiver have to pass?
Under DDD, the same as any worker: fingerprinting and ongoing criminal background checks, registry and exclusion checks, a Child Abuse Record Information check, drug testing before hiring and at random, the mandatory trainings, and CPR and First Aid certification renewed every two years. An agency arranges all of it. A self-directed family arranges it with the fiscal intermediary.
Does paying a family member reduce the person’s other services?
It can, in the self-directed models, because the wage comes from the same individualized budget as everything else. DDD’s 2026 FAQ makes the wage a family decision “within the Division’s reasonable and customary limits,” so a higher rate means fewer funded hours. Through an agency, the agency’s rate is fixed and the hours are set in the service plan.
Can I be paid to care for my child under 21?
Not through DDD, which begins at 21 (eligibility can be assessed from 18). Children’s services in New Jersey run through the Children’s System of Care and NJ FamilyCare. If the child is a NJ FamilyCare member approved for Personal Care Assistant services, the Personal Preference Program is the route to ask about.
Sources
- NJ Division of Developmental Disabilities, FAQ: Self-Directed Employee Service Models, February 2026, retrieved 2026-09-22, https://www.nj.gov/humanservices/ddd/documents/individuals/sde-models-faq.pdf
- NJ Division of Developmental Disabilities, Self-Direction Options and Education, retrieved 2026-09-22, https://www.nj.gov/humanservices/ddd/individuals/access-services/self-direction
- NJ Division of Developmental Disabilities, Supports Program Policies & Procedures Manual, version 10.0.1, September 2025, retrieved 2026-09-22, https://www.nj.gov/humanservices/ddd/assets/documents/supports-program-policy-manual.pdf
- NJ Division of Developmental Disabilities, Community Services Offices, retrieved 2026-09-22, https://www.nj.gov/humanservices/ddd/about/community-services/
- NJ Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services, Personal Preference Program, retrieved 2026-09-22, https://www.nj.gov/humanservices/dmahs/individuals-families/njppp.shtml
- NJ Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services, General PPP FAQ, April 2024, retrieved 2026-09-22, https://www.nj.gov/humanservices/dmahs/documents/individuals-families/Section_2_g_General_PPP_FAQ.pdf
- NJ Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services, Personal Preference Program Fact Sheet, retrieved 2026-09-22, https://www.nj.gov/humanservices/dmahs/documents/individuals-families/PPP_Fact_Sheet.pdf
- NJ Division of Aging Services, Jersey Assistance for Community Caregiving (JACC), retrieved 2026-09-22, https://www.nj.gov/humanservices/doas/services/a-k/jacc/
This article is general information about New Jersey’s caregiver programs and is not legal or benefits advice. Program rules, rates and limits change; confirm current details with DDD, your NJ FamilyCare plan or your county Aging & Disability Resource Connection before making decisions.