Becoming a paid family caregiver through CDPAP in Jackson Heights

Jackson Heights is where a lot of Queens families first hear the phrase "consumer directed." A parent in one of the garden apartments off 37th Avenue needs help with bathing and meals, an adult daughter or nephew already lives a few blocks away, and someone at the mosque, the gurdwara, or the clinic mentions that Medicaid can pay a relative. That is the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP). The alternative is agency personal care services (PCS), where a home care agency employs and sends the aide. Both are Medicaid home care; the difference is who hires, trains, and supervises the caregiver.

Jackson Heights households speak Spanish, Bengali, Nepali, Tibetan, Hindi, Urdu, and many other languages. Every public line on this page offers interpreters, and the statewide fiscal intermediary reports support in more than 300 languages, so the language a family speaks at home is not a barrier to any step below.

Jackson Heights mail mostly carries ZIP 11372, and the blocks toward Woodside and the 7 train's western stretch use 11377. Both are approximate; verify with USPS. On any Medicaid or fair hearing form that asks for a county, write "Queens."

• NY Connects: 1-800-342-9871 (Relay 7-1-1). Statewide information on long-term services and supports, and the right first call if the person is not yet on Medicaid.
• HIICAP: 1-800-701-0501. Free, unbiased Medicare counseling. When the recording asks for your county, say "Queens." Inside the city you can also call NYC Aging Connect at 212-244-6469 and ask for HIICAP.
• Nearest in-person NYC Aging counseling site: RAICES / Corona Senior Center, 102-47 43rd Avenue, Corona, NY 11368, 718-458-7259, Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., by appointment. From Roosevelt Avenue it is a few stops east on the 7 to 103rd Street. Call Aging Connect first; sites and hours change.

Medicaid in Jackson Heights is run citywide by the NYC Human Resources Administration (HRA), not by a neighborhood office. For eligibility, renewals, or an address change, call the HRA Medicaid Helpline at 1-888-692-6116. If the person has fee-for-service Medicaid and needs personal care or CDPAP, HRA's Home Care Services Program is reached through the DSS OneNumber, 718-557-1399. If the person is in a Managed Long Term Care plan, the plan handles authorizations, and New York Medicaid Choice at 1-800-505-5678 (TTY 1-888-329-1541) answers plan questions. Office locations are listed on nyc.gov/hra; do not rely on an address a neighbor remembers.

1. Medicaid is in place through HRA, and a home care assessment finds a need for help with daily activities. Since September 1, 2025 new assessments for people 21 and older apply the state's Minimum Needs Requirements; people already receiving services continue under the earlier criteria, per the Department of Health.
2. The plan (or HRA, for fee-for-service cases) issues an authorization. Choosing CDPAP instead of agency PCS usually needs its own authorization and person-centered service plan, so say "CDPAP" early rather than after an agency aide has started.
3. The consumer picks the personal assistant. Per the Department of Health, it cannot be the consumer's spouse, the designated representative, or the parent of a consumer under 21. An adult child, a son- or daughter-in-law, a sibling, or a friend generally can be.
4. The consumer and the personal assistant both register with Public Partnerships LLC (PPL), the single statewide fiscal intermediary the Department of Health designates for every CDPAP consumer: 1-833-247-5346, TTY 1-833-204-9042, online through PPL@Home, through a community facilitator, or by in-office appointment (the DOH consumer resources sheet lists a Forest Hills office). Check health.ny.gov/cdpap for current options.
5. The personal assistant completes the health assessment the state requires before service begins, then records hours through PPL's timekeeping systems. The consumer approves the time. Nothing on this page predicts how long any step takes.

• Assuming the consumer's Medicaid file covers the relative's paperwork. The personal assistant is an employee, and the assistant's own identity and work-authorization documents go on the fiscal intermediary's employment forms. Ask the fiscal intermediary directly what it accepts rather than guessing.
• Letting a Bengali- or Spanish-speaking parent set aside an English notice about reduced hours. The clock for keeping hours unchanged during an appeal is usually 10 days from the notice date; call ICAN or the plan and ask for an interpreter the day the letter arrives.
• Treating the 74th Street storefronts that advertise "CDPAP" as the program itself. The program is a Medicaid service; registration is with the state's fiscal intermediary, and no storefront decides eligibility.

Managed Long Term Care members file a plan appeal first; the plan keeps services unchanged if the appeal is filed within 10 days of the notice date or the effective date, whichever is later. After a final adverse determination there are 120 days to request a fair hearing, but only 10 days to keep aid continuing. Fee-for-service cases through HRA go straight to a fair hearing through OTDA at otda.ny.gov/hearings (online, phone, fax, or mail; current channels on that page), generally within 60 days of the notice, with aid to continue if requested before the effective date or within 10 days of mailing. ICAN, the state's ombudsprogram for people with Medicaid who need long-term care, is free: 1-844-614-8800, TTY 711.

NYC Health + Hospitals / Elmhurst on Broadway is the public hospital most Jackson Heights residents know; the RAICES / Corona Senior Center on 43rd Avenue is the closest counseling site. Both are named for orientation only.