If you’re caring for an aging or disabled family member in Georgia, you may be able to get paid for it — without giving up your role as their caregiver. This guide explains exactly how Georgia’s Structured Family Care (SFC) program works, what it pays, who qualifies, and how Freedom Adult Care helps families through the entire process.

A quick note: Freedom Adult Care is a private, licensed home- and community-based care provider — not a government agency, and we don’t issue or process government benefits, cards, or documents. Structured Family Care is a care service funded through Georgia Medicaid; our job is the caregiving, training, and support.

What Is Structured Family Care?

Structured Family Care (SFC) is an in-home care service delivered through Georgia Medicaid’s CCSP (Community Care Services Program) and SOURCE waivers. It allows a family member who is already providing daily care to a loved one to join a licensed provider agency like Freedom Adult Care as a paid, trained caregiver — instead of an outside aide being brought into the home.

The goal of the program is simple: keep families together at home, supported by training and a paycheck, rather than moving a loved one into a nursing facility.

How Does Structured Family Care Pay Work?

As a Freedom Adult Care caregiver, you receive a weekly paycheck, deposited directly, for the care you provide — you’re a caregiver on our team, not filling out benefit paperwork. Pay rates are set by Georgia Medicaid and vary based on the assessed level of care the recipient needs — our team will walk you through what to expect for your specific situation during your free eligibility check.

This pay is generally tax-free. Under the IRS “difficulty of care” payment exclusion (IRS Notice 2014-7), payments received by family caregivers through Medicaid-funded home and community-based services programs — including SFC — are typically excluded from federal income tax. We recommend every caregiver confirm their specific situation with a tax professional, since individual circumstances vary.

Who Qualifies for Structured Family Care?

Both the care recipient and the caregiver must meet Georgia Medicaid’s requirements.

Care Recipient Must:

• Live in Georgia
• Be enrolled in Medicaid or be Medicaid-eligible
• Be a participant in the CCSP or SOURCE waiver program
• Need help with activities of daily living (bathing, dressing, feeding, mobility, etc.)
• Require a nursing-home level of care — generally an assessed need of 5+ hours of personal support per day (about 35 hours/week)
• Live in the same household as the caregiver

Caregiver Must:

• Be at least 18 years old
• Be a family member — biological or by marriage (examples: adult child, sibling, daughter-in-law, grandchild)
• Live in the same household as the care recipient
• Pass a satisfactory background check (funded by the program)
• Not be the care recipient’s spouse or legal guardian — spouses and legal guardians are not eligible to be paid caregivers under Georgia’s SFC program
• Generally not hold outside employment that conflicts with required caregiving hours

Is the Pay Really Tax-Free?

For most family caregivers, yes. The IRS difficulty-of-care exclusion (Notice 2014-7) allows Medicaid waiver payments to qualifying family caregivers to be excluded from gross income for federal tax purposes. Freedom Adult Care isn’t a tax advisory service, so we always recommend caregivers talk to a tax professional about how this applies to their specific household — but for the large majority of families in this program, the weekly pay is not subject to federal income tax.

Counties We Serve

Freedom Adult Care’s Structured Family Care program proudly serves Muscogee County and the surrounding region, including: Bibb, Chattahoochee, Clay, Dougherty, Harris, Houston, Lee, Macon, Marion, Meriwether, Muscogee, Quitman, Randolph, Schley, Stewart, Sumter, Talbot, Taylor, Troup, and Webster counties. If you live in one of these Georgia counties and care for an aging or disabled family member, you may qualify for Structured Family Care — contact us for a free eligibility check.

How to Get Started with Freedom Adult Care

Freedom Adult Care handles the entire process so families don’t have to navigate Georgia Medicaid alone.

1. Free Eligibility Check — Call (706) 786-3041. We ask a few quick questions to confirm whether you and your loved one meet the program requirements. Takes about 10–15 minutes.
2. Confirm Program Eligibility — We review where your loved one stands with Georgia Medicaid and their CCSP/SOURCE waiver, and coordinate with your case manager on any next steps. (The state agencies handle the official determinations.)
3. Caregiver Background Check & Enrollment — The caregiver completes a background check (paid for by the program), then signs enrollment paperwork.
4. Professional Training — We provide all required caregiver training — no healthcare experience needed.
5. Start Caregiving & Get Paid Weekly — Once enrolled and trained, you begin logging care hours and receive your tax-free weekly pay.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much will I get paid as a family caregiver in Georgia?
Pay rates are set by Georgia Medicaid based on the care recipient’s assessed needs and are paid weekly, generally tax-free. Call us for a free eligibility check and we can give you a clearer picture for your situation.

Do I have to pay taxes on my SFC caregiver pay?
Most caregivers do not, thanks to the IRS difficulty-of-care exclusion (IRS Notice 2014-7) for Medicaid waiver payments. We recommend confirming with a tax professional for your specific situation.

What is the CCSP or SOURCE waiver?
These are Georgia Medicaid home and community-based services waivers that fund Structured Family Care. Your loved one must be enrolled in one of these waivers (or be eligible) to participate.

How many hours of care does my loved one need to qualify?
Generally, the care recipient must need a nursing-home level of care — an assessed need of about 5 or more hours of personal support per day.

For more answers, see our full Structured Family Care FAQs.

Ready to Get Started?

Call Freedom Adult Care at (706) 786-3041 for your free eligibility check, or visit our Get Started page to begin the process today.