Managing Personal Care Assistance

Personal care assistants (PCAs) provide the support people with disabilities need to live more independent lives. If you have a personal assistant, that person helps you do what you need to do. For example, your assistant may help you with dressing, going from one place to another, preparing meals, bathing, or other activities.

PCAs can also help you do different types of tasks in the workplace. They can help with personal care, like in the restroom or at lunch breaks, or can help with job-related tasks, like help with reading, interpreting, lifting or reaching work materials, and travel assistance between work sites.

Paying for Personal Assistance

Some or all of the cost of hiring your personal care assistant may be paid by:

• Medicaid
• Veterans' Benefits
• Long-Term Care Insurance
• Private payments by you or your family

Two Types of Programs

Alaska Medicaid offers Personal Care Services (PCS, previously called Personal Care Assistance) to seniors and people with disabilities. The program is run by the Division of Senior & Disabilities Services at the Alaska Department Health, with the services provided by private agencies statewide. Medicaid offers two types of PCS programs:

• Agency-Based PCS (ABPCA): An agency hires, schedules, and supervises your personal care assistant. The assistant is monitored by the agency's nurse and must have certain certifications, pass a background test, and have CPR and first-aid training.
• Consumer-Directed PCS (CDPCA): You select, hire, fire, and supervise your own personal care assistant, while the agency handles the paperwork (billing, payment, and other administrative tasks).

Getting Personal Care Services

To find a state-approved PCS agency near you, contact your nearest Aging and Disability Resource Center or call 1-855-565-2017.

Once you locate a PCS agency, that agency helps you fill out and submit the application. Next a nurse from Senior & Disabilities Services assesses your needs and works with you to create a service plan. Then you get a letter telling you if you qualify for the PCS program.

If you are approved for agency-based services, the agency hires, schedules, and supervises your personal care assistnat.

If you are approved for the Consumer-Directed PCS program, you need to find and hire your own personal care assistant. Some people with disabilities rely on their family or friends for personal care assistance. Others decide to hire individuals who are not their family or friends. You can find good PCAs a number of different ways, including Independent Living Center, PCS agencies, or online.

Ensuring a Good Relationship

If you are the person who hires, trains, and manages your PCA, it is important to make sure you learn how to do that. You’ll also be spending a lot of time with your assistant and need to make sure the two of you have good communication and a good relationship.

Personal care services can be crucial to your ability to live independently. For more information on how to have good communication, tips on how to hire a personal assistant, and much more, take a look at the following resources:

• Making the Move to Managing Your Own Personal Assistance Services (PAS): A Toolkit for Youth with Disabilities Transitioning to Adulthood is a complete guide with fact sheets and tips for all sorts of topics, like finding, hiring, training, and managing a PCA.
• A Good Job is a six-minute animated video that talks about how to improve your relationship with a personal care assistant.
• Your Personal Care Assistant and You, by Alaska Senior & Disabilities Services, gives tips for hiring your personal assistant, how to communicate clearly, and how to get help if there are problems.