Participant Direction

Many older adults find a care provider by going through a certified personal care service agency. But perhaps you already know someone who you think would be a good fit, or you’d just prefer to choose and hire a care provider for yourself. 

Participant direction — also known as self-direction — is an option available to individuals on Ohio’s PASSPORT Medicaid Waiver Program. Participant direction is designed to give individuals more choice and control over how, when, and by whom they receive their services.

In participant direction, you recruit and hire your own care provider. The person you hire becomes certified through the Ohio Department of Aging (ODA) instead of getting hired as an employee through a certified personal care service agency. YOU are the employer, and the provider is your employee. You are responsible for recruiting, hiring, firing, managing, and evaluating provider performance, keeping employer records, and setting the provider’s work schedule. You can designate a representative of your choice to assist with some, or all, of your employer responsibilities.

Choices-Home Care Attendant Service (C-HCAS)

This is the official name of the program through which your chosen provider will need to be certified. Through C-HCAS, your care provider can assist you with tasks such as money management, activities of daily living (ADLs) like bathing, dressing, feeding, toileting, etc., and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) like grocery shopping, meal preparation, managing transportation, house cleaning, etc., as well as escort and transportation, errands outside the home, respite, homemaking, and home maintenance and chore tasks. You are responsible for setting the provider’s hourly wage, with the help of your case manager.