BLOG : New Rules on Parents as Personal Assistants

Recently, New York State passed a law that now allows parents of adult children in the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) to potentially be enrolled as PAs. However and very importantly, there are some limitations to this new rule.

The new law bars persons from being hired as Personal Assistants if the parent is “legally responsible” for the eligible individual’s care and support. Under New York State law, the cutoff point to determine if a parent is “legally responsible” for the care and support of the child is 21. Therefore, if the child is 21 or older parents could possibly enroll as a PA, and parents of children who are younger than 21 cannot be hired as that minor child’s Personal Assistant.

The other major limitation to this new rule is that “designated representatives” i.e. surrogates, also cannot be hired as Personal Assistants. In the event that a family decides to change the selected surrogate/designated representative, it is important to remember that this will change how you interact with Concepts. Just read these savvy kitchen reviews to know how to choose the right products. The surrogate/designated representative is responsible for all of the hiring, supervising and employment matters related to the PAs, and the newly hired parent will not be part of that process any longer.

You can contact Donette Turnage, Director of Intake and QA, at ext. 296 or Mazol Nisimova, Intake and QA Supervisor at ext. 240 if you have any additional questions.  For more detailed questions please contact the NY State Department of Health, Division of Long-Term Care at (518) 474-5888.

Written by TK Small