How to Get Paid to Care for a Parent in Massachusetts (2026): PCA and Adult Foster Care

ElderHearth offers general information, not financial, tax, or legal advice. Program rules and pay change, so confirm the details with MassHealth or a program agency.

If you are caring for an aging parent in Massachusetts, MassHealth pays family caregivers through two different programs, and which fits depends on how you provide the care. To get paid to care for a parent in Massachusetts, most families use either the Personal Care Attendant (PCA) program, an hourly, self-directed option, or Adult Foster Care (AFC), which pays a live-in caregiver a tax-free monthly stipend. An adult child can be the paid caregiver under either. This guide covers how each works, who qualifies, what it pays, and how to apply.

How to get paid to care for a parent in Massachusetts: two programs

• Personal Care Attendant (PCA) program. This is self-directed: your parent (the member) hires, schedules, and directs their own attendants, who are paid an hourly wage by MassHealth for help with daily activities. An adult child, grandchild, niece, nephew, or sibling can be the paid PCA. A spouse or legally responsible relative cannot. Your parent must live at home or in a family member's home, not in an assisted living or foster-care setting.
• Adult Foster Care (AFC). This pays a live-in caregiver a tax-free monthly stipend to provide daily care, with an agency nurse providing oversight. AFC also excludes a spouse or legal guardian as the paid caregiver.

What Massachusetts pays

• The PCA program pays an hourly wage, commonly in the range of $18 to $20 an hour, with the authorized hours set by your parent's assessed needs.
• Adult Foster Care pays a tax-free monthly stipend to the live-in caregiver rather than an hourly wage. Confirm the current amounts with MassHealth or the program agency.

Who qualifies

Eligibility runs through your parent:

• Your parent must have MassHealth and be assessed as needing daily hands-on help. For long-term care, the 2026 asset limit is $2,000 for a single applicant (a bit higher for married couples).
• For the PCA program, you can be an adult child or other non-spouse relative, and your parent lives at home rather than in a facility.
• For Adult Foster Care, you must live with your parent as the caregiver, and again a spouse or legal guardian is excluded.

How to apply in Massachusetts

The process runs through MassHealth and a program agency:

1. Make sure your parent has MassHealth, applying if needed.
2. For the PCA program, contact a Personal Care Management (PCM) agency, which evaluates your parent and helps set up the self-directed arrangement.
3. For Adult Foster Care, contact an AFC agency, which assesses eligibility and arranges the live-in stipend and nurse oversight.
4. Complete the caregiver enrollment for whichever program fits, so your hours or stipend can be paid.

Other ways to get paid to care for a parent in Massachusetts

The MassHealth programs are the main routes, but not the only ones:

• VA programs, if your parent is a veteran, can pay a family caregiver (including a spouse) through Veteran-Directed Care or the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers, which is one route when a spouse needs to be the caregiver.
• A personal care agreement, if your parent can pay from their own savings, sets the hours, duties, and pay in writing, which matters for family clarity, taxes, and any future Medicaid application.

For the full national picture of every program and how they compare, see our main guide to how to get paid to care for an elderly parent.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I get paid to care for my parent in Massachusetts? Often, yes. MassHealth pays family caregivers through the Personal Care Attendant (PCA) program (an hourly, self-directed option) and Adult Foster Care (a live-in monthly stipend). An adult child can be the paid caregiver under either; a spouse cannot.

Can an adult child be paid to care for a parent in Massachusetts? Yes. An adult child, grandchild, niece, nephew, or sibling can be a paid PCA, and an adult child can be the live-in caregiver under Adult Foster Care. A spouse or legally responsible relative is excluded from both.

How much does the PCA program pay in Massachusetts? The PCA program pays an hourly wage, commonly around $18 to $20 an hour, with the hours based on your parent's assessed needs. Adult Foster Care pays a tax-free monthly stipend instead. Confirm the current figures with MassHealth.

Does MassHealth pay family caregivers? Yes, through the Personal Care Attendant program (hourly, self-directed) and Adult Foster Care (a live-in monthly stipend), both for non-spouse family caregivers. The VA also pays family caregivers of eligible veterans.

Where to start

The fastest first step is to make sure your parent has MassHealth, then decide which fits: contact a Personal Care Management agency for the hourly PCA program, or an Adult Foster Care agency if you live with your parent and prefer the monthly stipend. If your parent is a veteran, or if a spouse needs to be the caregiver, look at the VA programs. Getting set up to get paid to care for a parent in Massachusetts is a realistic way to keep aging in place affordable.

If you would like help figuring out where to begin, you are welcome to reach out.

Sources

• Mass.gov, MassHealth Personal Care Attendant (PCA) Program.
• Mass.gov, Adult Foster Care (AFC).
• U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Caregiver Support Program.