Structured Family Caregiving in Columbus, Georgia

If you’re caring for an aging parent, a spouse’s relative, or an adult child with disabilities here in Columbus, Georgia Medicaid may be able to pay you for that care. It’s called Structured Family Care, and Freedom Adult Care is a Columbus-based provider. Our office is on Macon Road, in the county you live in.

Getting Paid to Care for a Loved One in Columbus

Most of the companies advertising Structured Family Care to Columbus families coordinate Georgia from somewhere else: a regional office up near Atlanta, or a call center in another state entirely. Freedom Adult Care has operated out of Columbus for over 23 years, under the same family ownership. When you call, you reach people who know which side of town you’re describing.

That matters more than it sounds like it should. Structured Family Care is an ongoing working relationship with the agency that trains you, supports you, and pays you every week, not a one-time application. The question is who picks up the phone eighteen months from now, when your mother’s condition changes.

Who Qualifies in Muscogee County

The requirements are set by Georgia Medicaid, so they’re the same in Muscogee County as anywhere else in the state:

• Your loved one has active Georgia Medicaid and is enrolled in the CCSP or SOURCE waiver
• They need a nursing-home level of care, generally 5 or more hours of personal support a day
• You and your loved one live at the same address
• You’re a family member by blood or marriage, but not their spouse or legal guardian
• You’re 18 or older and pass a background check, which the program pays for

Our full Structured Family Care guide walks through each requirement in detail, and the FAQs answer the questions families ask most.

How Columbus Families Start the Process

Before Structured Family Care can begin, your loved one needs to be assessed and enrolled in a Georgia Medicaid waiver, either CCSP or SOURCE. In Muscogee County that assessment runs through the River Valley Area Agency on Aging, which is itself based in Columbus and covers this county along with Harris, Talbot, Chattahoochee, Marion, Taylor and ten others across west Georgia.

You can start that process by calling Georgia’s Aging and Disability Resource Connection at 1-866-552-4464, which routes you to the River Valley office. Or call us first. We do this every week, and we can tell you in about ten minutes whether it’s worth pursuing, and we’ll walk you through the assessment step either way. There’s no charge and no obligation for that conversation.

If your loved one is already on a CCSP or SOURCE waiver and receiving care from an outside aide, you don’t need to start over. Those approved hours can transfer to you as the paid family caregiver.

Serving Columbus and the Surrounding Area

We work with families throughout Columbus and Muscogee County: Midtown, Bibb City, Rose Hill, Wynnton, north Columbus along Whitesville Road, the east side out toward Fort Benning, and the communities south along Victory Drive and Cusseta Road. Beyond Muscogee County, Freedom Adult Care serves 19 more counties across west and middle Georgia, including neighboring Harris County to the north and Troup County up the I-185 corridor. See the full list of counties we serve.

Questions from Columbus Families

Is Freedom Adult Care actually located in Columbus?
Yes. 3596 Macon Road, Suite E, Columbus, GA 31907. We’re not a satellite office of a larger company and we’re not affiliated with the similarly named national providers that advertise here. Freedom Adult Care is family-owned and has served this area for more than 23 years.

My mother lives in Columbus but I live in Phenix City. Can I still be her paid caregiver?
Not as things stand. Structured Family Care requires the caregiver and the care recipient to live at the same address, and Alabama residency doesn’t change that. What matters is the shared household, not the state line. If you’re planning to move in with her, call us and we’ll talk through the timing.

Does my loved one have to leave their home?
No. The entire point of the program is the opposite. Structured Family Care exists so families can stay in their own home in Columbus instead of moving a loved one into a facility.