To apply for Michigan’s Home Help program, you start by contacting your local Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) office, completing the DHS-390 Adult Services Application along with a Medical Needs Certification signed by your loved one’s medical provider, and returning both to the county where your loved one lives. From there, a county worker schedules an in-home assessment, and the family member who will be paid enrolls as a provider through CHAMPS. That’s the short version — and the rest of this guide walks through each step in order, so you know what’s coming and what to prepare.
This is the same program that lets a family member get paid for the personal care they’re already providing. Home Help is a Medicaid program in Michigan that allows the care recipient to hire someone — often a relative — to help with day-to-day activities. If you’re still not sure whether your situation fits, Mozyne’s free eligibility check takes a few minutes and tells you where you stand, with no paperwork and no commitment.
At a Glance – The michigan home help program application process starts with the DHS-390 Adult Services Application and a Medical Needs Certification, returned to your county MDHHS office. – A county Adult Services Worker conducts an in-home assessment of Activities of Daily Living to decide how many paid hours are authorized. – The family caregiver who will be paid must complete CHAMPS provider enrollment (Community Health Automated Medicaid Processing System) through a MiLogin account. – Most caregivers must use Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) to record visits, with some exemptions. – The full process commonly takes about two to four months from application to first payment.
Step 1: Confirm Eligibility Before You Apply
Before filling out a single form, it helps to confirm two things: that your loved one likely qualifies, and that the care relationship is one the program allows.
Home Help is funded through Michigan Medicaid, so your loved one generally needs to be eligible for Medicaid and need hands-on help with daily living. The program provides personal care services to individuals who need hands-on assistance with Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) — things like bathing, dressing, eating, and mobility — and help with Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs) such as meal preparation and light housework. Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) are the essential self-care tasks a person does each day; needing help with at least one is typically the functional threshold.
On the caregiver side, Michigan allows family members to be hired and paid as the personal care provider, with some exclusions. The most common one to know about is the spousal exclusion — a spouse generally cannot be the paid Home Help provider. Parents of a minor child face similar limits.
This step matters because the application moves more smoothly when you’ve confirmed the basics first. We’ve laid out the full criteria in our guide to who qualifies for the Home Help program, including income, asset, and relationship rules.
Key Takeaway: Confirm your loved one’s Medicaid eligibility and that the care relationship is allowed before you start the paperwork — it prevents avoidable delays later.
Step 2: Gather Your Documents and Complete the DHS-390
The core of the michigan home help program application process is two documents: the application itself and a medical certification of need.
The DHS-390 Adult Services Application is the form that opens your case. Alongside it, you’ll need a Medical Needs Certification — the form MDHHS uses to confirm, through your loved one’s medical provider, that the help is medically necessary. According to MDHHS, you return the DHS-390, Adult Services Application, and the Medical Needs Certification to the MDHHS office in the county where the client lives.
You can request both forms by calling your county office, or download them from the Adult Services section of the state website. To find the right office, MDHHS maintains a directory of local county offices.
Beyond the two forms, it helps to have a few supporting items ready:
- A government-issued photo ID for both the caregiver and the care recipient
- The care recipient’s Medicaid ID number
- Proof of address for the person receiving care
- The medical provider’s contact information, so the Medical Needs Certification can be completed
Having these in hand before you submit reduces back-and-forth. For a deeper walkthrough of every form and supporting document, see our breakdown of the paperwork you’ll need.
Key Takeaway: The DHS-390 plus a completed Medical Needs Certification, returned to your county MDHHS office, is what formally starts the application.
Step 3: Submit the Application and Prepare for the Home Visit
Once your county office receives the DHS-390 and Medical Needs Certification, the case is assigned to an Adult Services Worker — the county caseworker who manages Home Help applications.
That worker schedules an in-home assessment, sometimes called a functional needs assessment. During the visit, the worker observes your loved one’s living situation and reviews how much help they need with each daily activity. This is not a test to pass or fail; it’s a structured way to match authorized hours to actual need.
The assessment is also where the number of paid hours is decided. As the MDHHS Home Help Client Handbook explains, the worker will make the decision about how many hours of services you are eligible for. Authorized hours vary widely from one household to the next, because they’re tied to the specific level of need the worker documents — not a flat amount.
A few things tend to make the home visit go smoothly:
1. Be present alongside your loved one, since you know the daily routine.
2. Be honest about the hardest parts of the day — the assessment can only reflect what’s described and observed.
3. Have a list ready of the specific tasks you help with and roughly how long each takes.
Getting paid for caregiving through Medicaid isn’t unusual or fringe. All 50 states and the District of Columbia offer a version of self-directed Medicaid services for long-term care, which let the person receiving care choose who provides it — and many families choose a relative. If you’d like to see the full sequence laid out visually, our page on how the Home Help program works maps each stage end to end.
Key Takeaway: A county Adult Services Worker assesses your loved one’s needs in person and decides how many paid hours are authorized, so describe the daily routine accurately.
Step 4: Complete CHAMPS Enrollment and EVV Setup
While the care recipient’s case moves forward, the family member who will be paid has a separate task: enrolling as a Medicaid provider.
Payment runs through CHAMPS — the Community Health Automated Medicaid Processing System, Michigan’s online platform for Medicaid providers. MDHHS is clear that individual caregivers must have their enrollment approved through the online CHAMPS Provider Enrollment subsystem to be reimbursed for the care they provide. To reach CHAMPS, you first create a MiLogin account, the state’s secure sign-on. If you already work through a Home Help agency, that agency may complete the CHAMPS enrollment on your behalf.
Most caregivers also need to set up Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) — an electronic system that records when a care visit starts and ends. EVV isn’t a Michigan invention; it’s federal. Section 12006(a) of the 21st Century Cures Act mandates that states implement EVV for all Medicaid personal care services that require an in-home visit. In Michigan, individual Home Help caregivers have been required to use EVV since September 3, 2024, unless they fall under an exemption.
Some situations are exempt from EVV. MDHHS notes that Home Help services provided to clients who live with their caregiver are exempt from EVV, as are services in a congregate living setting and certain combined-visit situations. If you live with the person you care for, this may apply to you — your county office can confirm.
Key Takeaway: The paid caregiver enrolls through CHAMPS using a MiLogin account, and most caregivers set up EVV — though caregivers who live with the person they care for are generally exempt.
Step 5: Get Authorized and Receive Your First Payment
Enrollment alone doesn’t trigger payment. There’s one more step that ties everything together.
After CHAMPS enrollment is approved and the assessment is complete, MDHHS instructs caregivers to contact the local MDHHS county office to get authorized, provide services, and submit for payment. Authorization is the green light: it confirms the worker’s approved hours and connects them to your enrolled provider record so claims can be paid.
From there, you record your hours through your service verification method — EVV for most caregivers — and payment flows from Michigan Medicaid. Pay rates are set by MDHHS and adjusted periodically. As of January 1, 2026, the individual caregiver rate is $17.13 per hour, made up of a $13.73 base rate plus a $3.40 supplement.
It’s worth being realistic about timing. Between the assessment scheduling, CHAMPS approval, and authorization, the full path from application to first payment commonly runs about two to four months. We won’t tell you it’s fast, because it isn’t — but it is a defined sequence with predictable stages. Our guide to how long approval takes breaks down what’s happening during each part of that window.
Key Takeaway: Final authorization from your county office links your approved hours to your CHAMPS provider record — only then can you record hours and be paid.
The Application Process at a Glance
Here is the whole michigan home help program application process as an ordered checklist:
1. Confirm eligibility — verify your loved one’s Medicaid status and that your care relationship is allowed.
2. Complete the DHS-390 and obtain a Medical Needs Certification from a medical provider.
3. Return both forms to the MDHHS office in the county where your loved one lives.
4. Complete the in-home assessment with the county Adult Services Worker, who decides authorized hours.
5. Enroll in CHAMPS as an individual provider through a MiLogin account.
6. Set up EVV (unless exempt) to record your visits.
7. Get authorized by your county office, then record hours and submit for payment.
Key Takeaway: Seven ordered steps — eligibility, application, submission, assessment, CHAMPS enrollment, EVV, and authorization — move you from “thinking about it” to your first payment.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I start the Michigan Home Help application?
You start by contacting the MDHHS office in the county where your loved one lives and completing the DHS-390 Adult Services Application along with a Medical Needs Certification. You can request these forms from your county MDHHS office or download them from the state’s Adult Services pages.
Can I apply for Home Help online?
There isn’t a single dedicated online portal for the complete Home Help application. The DHS-390 and Medical Needs Certification are returned to your county office, while the caregiver’s provider enrollment is completed online through CHAMPS. Mozyne can help you organize both tracks so nothing falls through the cracks — see how the Home Help program works.
Who decides how many paid hours I’ll get?
A county Adult Services Worker decides authorized hours during the in-home assessment. The Home Help Client Handbook confirms the worker makes the decision about how many hours of services you are eligible for, based on documented need rather than a flat amount.
Do I have to use Electronic Visit Verification?
Most individual Home Help caregivers in Michigan have been required to use EVV since September 3, 2024. There are exemptions — notably, caregivers who live with the person they care for are generally exempt. Your county office can confirm whether an exemption applies to you.
Will most applicants get approved?
There’s no guaranteed outcome, but most applicants who meet the criteria — Medicaid eligibility, a documented need for help with daily activities, and an allowed care relationship — move through the process and are authorized for some number of paid hours. The exact number depends on the assessment.
Where to Go From Here
Applying for Michigan Home Help is a defined sequence: confirm eligibility, complete the DHS-390 and Medical Needs Certification, complete the in-home assessment, enroll in CHAMPS, set up EVV, and get authorized. None of the individual steps is complicated on its own — the friction usually comes from not knowing what’s next or which form goes where.
You’re already providing the care. This process is about formalizing it so you’re compensated for it. The ACLS Bureau within MDHHS oversees Home Help as part of Michigan’s long-term care and community-based supports, which means the program is a permanent part of the state’s system — not a temporary offer.
If you’d rather not navigate the forms and timelines alone, that’s exactly what Mozyne is here for. Start with a free eligibility check to find out whether the program applies to your situation, and we’ll walk through each step with you from there.