Jamaica, Queens: CDPAP, agency aides, and where the paperwork actually goes

Jamaica has more government front doors within walking distance of each other than almost anywhere in Queens: a Social Security office, HRA offices, a state courthouse, and two large hospitals. That density is useful and it is also the source of the neighborhood's most common mistake, which is bringing a home care problem to the wrong window. This page sorts out which door handles which piece of the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP). Jamaica households speak English, Spanish, Bengali, Haitian Creole, Punjabi, and many other languages; interpreters are available on every line listed here, and India Home, the NYC Aging counseling site in Jamaica, serves South Asian older adults in several languages.

Jamaica's ZIPs are usually given as 11432 (Jamaica Hills and the Jamaica Estates side), 11433 and 11436 (South Jamaica), 11434 (toward Rochdale), and 11435 (Briarwood and the Van Wyck side). All approximate; verify with USPS. County: Queens.

• NY Connects: 1-800-342-9871 (Relay 7-1-1).
• HIICAP: 1-800-701-0501; say "Queens" when asked for your county. NYC Aging Connect, 212-244-6469, ask for HIICAP.
• In person: India Home, 178-36 Wexford Terrace, 2nd Floor, Room STU 2C, Jamaica, NY 11432, 917-288-7600, Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., by appointment. Near the F at 169th Street and the Q3, Q43, and Q76 on Hillside Avenue. Call Aging Connect first; sites change.

There is no "Jamaica Medicaid office" phone line; Medicaid in the five boroughs is HRA. Use the HRA Medicaid Helpline, 1-888-692-6116, for eligibility and renewals. HRA's Home Care Services Program, which handles fee-for-service personal care and CDPAP for people not in a managed care plan, is reached through the DSS OneNumber, 718-557-1399, and its Home Care CASA offices are listed on nyc.gov/hra. For plan enrollment questions, New York Medicaid Choice: 1-800-505-5678, TTY 1-888-329-1541.

1. Medicaid is active, and an assessment has found a need for help with daily activities (adults 21 and over assessed on or after September 1, 2025 fall under the Department of Health's Minimum Needs Requirements).
2. Either the Managed Long Term Care plan or, for fee-for-service cases, HRA's Home Care Services Program authorizes personal care. CDPAP requires its own authorization and person-centered service plan per the Department's chart.
3. The family selects the assistant. The Department's rule excludes the consumer's spouse, designated representative, and the parent of a consumer under 21; adult children, in-laws, and other adult relatives are named as allowed. If a relative lives in the same apartment, Department guidance allows that when the amount of care makes the relative's presence necessary.
4. Consumer and assistant register with Public Partnerships LLC (PPL), the Department-designated statewide fiscal intermediary: 1-833-247-5346, TTY 1-833-204-9042, or through PPL@Home online, a community facilitator, or an in-person session (options listed on health.ny.gov/cdpap).
5. The assistant's pre-service health assessment is done, and hours are logged and approved through PPL.

• Taking a reduced-hours notice to the Social Security office on Jamaica Avenue. Social Security has nothing to do with Medicaid home care hours. A reduction is appealed through the plan (for managed care members) and then the state fair hearing office, and the notice itself tells you how.
• Walking into an HRA office when the person is in a Managed Long Term Care plan. For plan members, the plan authorized the hours and the plan appeal comes first. HRA's Home Care Services Program handles fee-for-service cases only.
• Naming the same person as designated representative and personal assistant. A designated representative makes CDPAP decisions on the consumer's behalf and, under the Department's rule, cannot also be the paid assistant. Families in South Jamaica often have one organized daughter doing everything; the roles need to be split.

NYC Health + Hospitals / Queens on 164th Street and Jamaica Hospital Medical Center near the Van Wyck are the hospitals most residents know. India Home on Wexford Terrace is the neighborhood's in-person counseling site. None of them decides home care hours.