Parents of a child with a developmental disability or complex medical needs often assume they have to finish a long state eligibility process before anyone can come to the house. In New York City, that is frequently not the first step. Many children with Medicaid can get in-home hours through their health plan, including while an OPWDD application is still open.
Community Home Care helps families see which door is actually open today, then keeps the longer OPWDD work moving in the background. This guide is about starting care, not about filling out every OPWDD form. For the application sequence itself, use our parent guide, How to Apply for OPWDD in NYC. Our pediatric program page has the service details.
The fastest door is often coverage you already have
If your child has Medicaid, begin there. When you call (718) 435-8555, intake looks at the Medicaid card, any health plan enrollment, and whether OPWDD is already in the picture. You do not need a complete evaluation folder for that first conversation.
Plan-approved hours have begun for some families within a short stretch of days. Others wait closer to a month. That range is about getting authorized home care in place. It is not a forecast of how long OPWDD will take to issue an eligibility decision. Those are two different clocks, and you can often start the first one while the second is still running.
The New York State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities is still worth pursuing if your child may qualify. It can add therapies, respite, and other supports that a health plan may not cover on its own. It does not have to be the thing that delays an aide.
What an in-home pediatric aide actually does
Pediatric home care is help in your child’s own room and routine, not a scaled-down version of adult care. Depending on what is authorized, an aide may help with bathing, dressing, feeding, toileting, and grooming; carry out skilled tasks that are written into the plan, such as support with a feeding tube; keep your child engaged with play or sensory activity; go along to school, IEP meetings, therapy, or medical visits; give you in-home respite so you can rest, work, or look after siblings; or stay overnight, or around the clock, when that level of support is approved.
We work with children who have autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, developmental or intellectual disabilities, seizure disorders, and medically complex conditions, among others. When we assign an aide, we try to match language, culture, and personality to what your child already responds to. Tell intake those details early.
Health plan hours and OPWDD supports are not an either-or choice
If your child has Medicaid and is not yet with OPWDD, the health plan can often authorize hours after an assessment. For many families, that is the practical way to get help in the house first.
OPWDD is for people whose developmental disability began before their 22nd birthday and places substantial limits on daily life. Among the conditions that may qualify, when all legal criteria are met, are autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, a neurological impairment, Prader-Willi syndrome, and familial dysautonomia.
After a child is found eligible, a Care Coordination Organization (CCO) care manager helps write a Life Plan. That plan may include home care plus speech, physical, or occupational therapy, respite, community or day habilitation, family support services, and sometimes home or vehicle modifications or adaptive equipment. Nothing on that list is automatic. It depends on the child’s needs and on what is approved.
The state’s official starting point is the Front Door. Start with the OPWDD Infoline at 866-946-9733, then ask for the regional office that matches your county. We also help families understand eligibility, collect records, and enroll with a CCO, which submits the application. Think of the health plan as the way an aide can start, and OPWDD as the way a wider set of supports can be added over time. Plenty of families use both, just not on the same timetable.
How a first case usually moves at Community Home Care
Community Home Care has 47+ years in New York and has helped more than 20,000 families. For a child, the work usually looks like this:
- Call (718) 435-8555 or use our contact page. We review coverage.
- A nurse assesses your child at home.
- Authorized hours follow the assessment and the plan or program that will pay for the care.
- We assign a pediatric aide from our team, or a qualifying relative starts once free HHA certification is complete.
Our Brooklyn office sits at 3920 13th Avenue, in ZIP 11218. Staff answer from 9 a.m. on weekdays and stay until 5 p.m., except Friday, when the line closes at 3 p.m. Our support team also answers after those hours, which matters when a child’s needs do not follow a business calendar.
A parent cannot be the paid aide. Another relative often can.
Parents ask, understandably, whether they can be paid to care for their own child. In this program they cannot.
A grandparent, aunt, uncle, adult sibling, cousin, or close family friend often can. That person takes free HHA certification and then cares for your child as a Community Home Care aide, much like our Family PCA/HHA Program. Speak with intake to begin. If no eligible relative is available, we still provide a trained pediatric aide.
Where we go
We serve children in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island, as well as in Brooklyn, Queens, and Nassau County. Brooklyn families who are also applying to OPWDD will work with the state’s Brooklyn Developmental Disabilities Regional Office, which sits in Region 4. That is a state office, not our intake line. To start care with us, the number is still (718) 435-8555. More about the agency is on About Us.
Before the call, it helps to have the Medicaid information nearby and to be ready to describe a usual day, including school, therapy, and nights. If a relative wants to be the paid aide, tell us how they are related to your child. If your child does not have Medicaid yet, say that too. We can talk through whether they may be eligible. We will not invent a coverage decision in a blog post.
Questions NYC parents ask first
We have Medicaid, but no OPWDD letter yet. Can an aide still come?
Often, yes. Many families begin through the child’s Medicaid health plan while the OPWDD application is pending. You do not have to pause home care until the state finishes its review.
Is this only for children who are already in OPWDD?
No. OPWDD is one path to services, and a valuable one. It is not the only path. If your child has Medicaid, the health plan may be able to authorize hours now.
Why can’t I be paid if I am the child’s parent?
The program does not allow a parent to be the paid aide. A grandparent, aunt, uncle, adult sibling, cousin, or trusted family friend may qualify after free HHA certification through Community Home Care.
How long after the first call might hours begin?
It depends on approvals. Some families see an aide within a short stretch of days. Others wait closer to a month. Treat that range as the home-care clock, not the OPWDD eligibility clock.
Should I finish the OPWDD paperwork before I call you?
You can start both at once. If you already have evaluations, mention them. Those records matter more for OPWDD than for a first health-plan conversation. Our application guide and OPWDD’s eligibility page list the usual documents, including a psychological evaluation with intellectual functioning scores, a standardized adaptive behavior assessment, a recent medical report, and a social or developmental history showing that the disability began before age 22. For young children, an Early Intervention Multidisciplinary Core Evaluation may be acceptable if it includes the right standardized scores. We help families gather what they have.
Do you only serve Brooklyn, or the rest of the city as well?
Staff travel throughout the five boroughs and into Nassau County. A call to (718) 435-8555 is enough for us to say whether we cover your block.
Talk with pediatric intake
If you are trying to get in-home help for a child with special needs in New York City or Nassau County, call Community Home Care at (718) 435-8555. We will review coverage, explain whether hours can start through the Medicaid health plan, and help you take the next step with OPWDD when that is the right path. A free in-home assessment can also be requested from the contact page.
