Updated September 3, 2026. Quick answer: partially, through IndependentChoices (1915(j) self-direction) and ARChoices in Homecare (1915(c) HCBS waiver), Arkansas Department of Human Services, where family pay is possible but narrower than a full open hire. A spouse cannot be the paid caregiver; the federal rule against paying a “legally responsible relative” still applies here.
How Arkansas pays a family caregiver
| Program | IndependentChoices (1915(j) self-direction) and ARChoices in Homecare (1915(c) HCBS waiver), Arkansas Department of Human Services |
|---|---|
| Can a family member be paid? | Partial. “Family members, other than those with legal responsibility to the beneficiary, may serve as personal assistants. A court appointed legal guardian, spouse, power of attorney or income payee may not serve as a caregiver/employee.” |
| Can a spouse be paid? | No. “May not be an individual who is considered legally responsible for the client, e.g., spouse or guardian.” |
Why the spouse question is different
Federal Medicaid rule treats a spouse (and a parent paying for a minor child) as a “legally responsible relative”, someone already assumed to owe the care for free, so paying them is barred by default. A state has to build an explicit exception into its waiver or state-plan option to pay a spouse at all; the rule for any other relative (an adult child, a sibling, a grandchild) is looser and usually allowed. That is why the two rows above can carry different answers on the same page.
The going rate
Not published by the state in the materials reviewed this session.
How it works
Apply through the Arkansas DHS Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services via ARChoices in Homecare or IndependentChoices; Public Partnerships LLC (PPL) is the state’s financial management services vendor and handles payroll/taxes once you recruit and hire your own worker.
What this doesn’t answer
No current, clearly-labeled hourly wage figure was found on an Arkansas DHS page for a take-home family-caregiver rate; the only official personal-care fee schedule located is a tiered per-unit billing table that does not map cleanly to a single hourly figure. Whether ARChoices/IndependentChoices currently has a waitlist was not verified this session.
Sources
- Arkansas DHS: IndependentChoices Medicaid Provider Manual, Section II
- Arkansas DHS: Arkansas Medicaid Personal Care Fee Schedule
- Arkansas DHS: Self-Direction/IndependentChoices program page
Read September 3, 2026.
Same question, other states: California · Colorado.
Related: the private-pay caregiver-agreement rule · the household-employee tax rules once you’re being paid · what family caregiving actually costs unpaid.
General information drawn from each state’s own Medicaid agency and public program materials, not legal, tax or financial advice. Medicaid self-direction programs are administered state by state and change by budget cycle and waiver renewal; this page cannot see your own state’s current program status or your family’s eligibility. We are not a law firm, a benefits counselor, or a fiduciary, and this is not personalized advice. We sell nothing on this page and earn nothing from it.