Get Paid to Care for Your Loved One — IHSS Agency in Denver & Lakewood
When Health First Colorado authorizes In-Home Support Services (IHSS), an eligible family member can be paid as an attendant. A case manager decides eligibility and hours. Sunshine HomeCare Colorado does not approve Medicaid.
What IHSS is
In-Home Support Services is a way to receive care at home through Health First Colorado. The member, or an authorized representative, directs the attendants. The IHSS agency is the employer. The agency handles employment, payroll, training, and a nurse skills check.
The member can choose the attendants, including family or friends, when state rules allow it. Some relationships, including a spouse or the parent of a minor child, have limits. The case manager confirms who can be paid and for which tasks.
Community First Choice as of July 1, 2026
Effective July 1, 2026, Colorado IHSS is available through Community First Choice rather than as a waiver service. Community First Choice is a Health First Colorado option for people who meet an institutional level of care and want services at home.
If you are still receiving IHSS through a waiver and have not moved to Community First Choice, your case manager explains the timing. This page is a plain-language summary, not a benefits decision.
Who qualifies
- Be enrolled in Health First Colorado.
- Meet Community First Choice eligibility, including an assessed need for personal care, homemaker, and/or health maintenance activities, and an institutional level of care.
- Take part in service planning with a Case Management Agency.
- Live in Colorado. Sunshine HomeCare Colorado serves clients throughout the state.
Services IHSS can cover
- Personal care, such as bathing, dressing, grooming, and eating.
- Homemaker services, such as light housekeeping, meals, shopping, and laundry.
- Health maintenance activities authorized on the plan, after an agency nurse completes a skills check.
These services can also be delivered through CDASS. Personal care and homemaker services can also be provided by a traditional agency, depending on the plan. Sunshine HomeCare Colorado does not provide emergency medical care.
How to start
- Talk with your case manager. If you do not have Health First Colorado yet, apply at Colorado PEAK or your county department of human services, then ask your Case Management Agency for a long-term care assessment.
- If IHSS is the right option, choose Sunshine HomeCare Colorado as your IHSS agency.
- An agency nurse completes a skills check so the attendant is ready for the authorized tasks.
- Authorized care can start. Visits follow the hours and tasks on the service plan.
IHSS and CDASS
Both are options in which the member directs the care. The main difference is who the employer is.
| Topic | IHSS | CDASS |
|---|---|---|
| Who employs the attendant? | The IHSS agency | The member or authorized representative |
| Who handles payroll and taxes? | The agency | A financial management service, with the member directing employment |
| Who directs day-to-day care? | The member, including choosing a family attendant when the rules allow | The member or authorized representative |
| Skills check | An agency nurse checks that the attendant can do the authorized tasks | The member trains the attendants |
| Services | Personal care, homemaker, and health maintenance activities, when authorized | The same three, when authorized |
Talk with us
Tell us the county, whether Medicaid is already in place, and whether there is a case manager. Do not include medical details or a Medicaid number on the form.
Official sources
- IHSS, Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (opens in a new tab)
- Community First Choice (opens in a new tab)
- Colorado PEAK (opens in a new tab)
Rules change. Your case manager confirms eligibility, hours, and who can be a paid attendant.