Many seniors require long-term care due to medical or personal needs, while others may need temporary respite care while their regular caregiver is away on vacation or needs some time off.
Owners should use a lease addendum to restrict occupancy for family members who serve as live-in aides, although a separated spouse could qualify if income verification shows they are no longer financially dependent upon them.
Qualifications
Live-in aides offer 24-hour home care options to individuals who require constant supervision. These caregivers are an alternative to assisted living; sleeping within the client’s home ensures there will be someone there if slips and falls occur at night when risk increases significantly.
An immediate family member can qualify as a live-in aide as long as HUD requirements are fulfilled. Owners should make sure this relative meets essential service needs of their tenant with disabilities by getting verification from his or her physician, psychiatrist or other health care provider that the assistance is essential to his or her wellbeing and life.
Affordable housing programs like HUD apartments, Section 8, public and rural rental assistance program communities may increase rent for tenants with live-in aides. Owners can avoid this situation by creating a lease addendum which denies continued occupancy of any live-in aide and stipulates their right to be removed should they violate community rules or violate other tenants.
Requirements for a Client
State housing authorities often employ live-in aides as an affordable solution for elderly and disabled tenants who prefer living independently in their own homes. This option can provide greater continuity than hourly aides or residential care facilities while giving clients a chance to form strong bonds with one caregiver.
Clients of live-in aides benefit from developing relationships with their caregiver, particularly when feeling isolated. A caregiver can also act as a safety net during night shifts when slips and falls are more likely to occur or assist them with any health concerns that may arise.
Your own room and private bathroom with shower facilities will usually be provided to you, along with bed and linens and meals provided to you. Depending on the client, other caregivers may work alongside you and take turns taking days off; in any event, three meal breaks and eight hours of sleep per day should always be guaranteed for yourself.
Responsibilities
Live-in aides offer 24-hour care services and may include meal preparation, household tasks completion, medication reminders and transportation assistance as well as grooming, bathing and dressing assistance. They may be hired by elderly or disabled persons in need of around-the-clock attention due to Alzheimer’s, Dementia or Parkinson’s related usestatia.
PHAs and property owners should be mindful of the fact that live-in aides may have partners and children living with them, according to HUD guidance. Adult family members of live-in aides should not reside with them in housing provided under Section 8 and other rental assistance programs.
Recent guidance indicates that owner/operators of multifamily housing do not need to enforce such bans and may consider accommodating occupancy by family members of live-in aides as a reasonable accommodation. Such tenants must be screened using the same criteria used when screening tenants on other units at the property, with their income excluded when calculating eligibility for assisted living or residential care programs.
Compensation
For individuals requiring 24/7 care, live-in caregivers may be the better solution. These professionals work around their client’s sleep schedule and are usually employed through home healthcare agencies.
Persons in need of home attendant services may qualify for Medicaid assistance through a consumer directed Home and Community Based Service Waiver. For more information regarding eligibility requirements, contact your local Single Entry Point agency.
Tenants who require live-in aides as part of their lease agreements in Section 8, public housing, housing voucher or rental assistance programs must seek permission from property management before asking to have one live with them in a separate bedroom. Once granted, property owners must ensure this request meets requirements.
Separated spouses often provide live-in care for their parents. A disabled Section 8 renter filed a Fair Housing Act discrimination complaint against his property manager for not permitting his separated spouse to live in his unit as an aid. HUD issued guidance indicating it’s not illegal to deny such requests as long as the care provider doesn’t live within the same unit with whom they’re providing care.