Guides → Oklahoma

Getting paid to care for a parent in Oklahoma

Updated 2026-08-10 · Every figure below is dated and sourced · Rules change — confirm with the agency
The short answer: Oklahoma's door is CD-PASS (Consumer-Directed Personal Assistance Services and Supports), a service option inside the ADvantage Waiver (and the Medically Fragile Waiver) under SoonerCare/Oklahoma Medicaid, run by Oklahoma Human Services (OKDHS), Division of Community Living, Aging and Protective Services — ADvantage Administration; SoonerCare/Medicaid is run by the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA). Pay: There is no fixed statewide caregiver wage in Oklahoma. Under CD-PASS your parent is the employer and negotiates your hourly wage with you, inside an Individual Budget Allowance worksheet the case manager helps prepare. The floor is minimum wage ($7.25/hr, which is both the federal and the Oklahoma rate). Be careful with the numbers you will see quoted online. Medicaid funds the CD-PASS budget at $4.45 per 15-minute unit for Consumer-Directed Personal Services Assistance (billing code S5125) and $5.34 per 15-minute unit for Advanced PSA (S5125-TF), effective 10/1/2022 after a 25% increase. Those are still the current rates as of August 2026 - there is no newer Oklahoma rate bulletin, and the ADvantage waiver renewal filed 5/19/2026 (effective on CMS approval or 10/1/2026) proposes no rate change. But those are Medicaid BILLING rates, not your wage, and Oklahoma warns against multiplying them by four: 'The PSA/APSA maximum hourly wage cannot be determined by simply multiplying the 15-minute service unit rate by 4' (OKDHS Medicaid Service Update, 9/19/2022). The same pot of money has to cover the employer's payroll taxes, workers' compensation, and a required minimum of $150 per plan year for background checks and hiring costs, so the actual take-home wage lands meaningfully below $17.80/hr. Do not budget your family's life around a number you got from arithmetic - ask the case manager to walk you through the Budget Worksheet and tell you the maximum hourly wage in dollars. One more thing worth knowing: when the rates went up in 2022, individual caregiver wages were NOT raised automatically. The member had to ask the case manager to file a wage adjustment. If the state ever raises rates again, expect to have to ask.

One or more details on this page could not be fully confirmed against official sources at publish time — confirm specifics with the agency below.

Who can be the paid caregiver

Adult children, grandchildren, siblings, nieces/nephews, other relatives, and friends can be hired as the Personal Services Assistant under CD-PASS. Hard rule: the person serving as the member's guardian, Power of Attorney, or Authorized Representative CANNOT also be the paid caregiver — those roles must be different people. Caregivers must be 18+, pass a background check, and be paid through the program's Financial Management Service. The separate State Plan Personal Care program also allows non-spouse family and friends 18+ who are not legally responsible for the member.

The spouse question

Mostly no, with a narrow escape hatch. Under CD-PASS a spouse may be the paid caregiver only if the ADvantage Administration grants a policy exception ("Your spouse is only allowed to be your paid caregiver if an exception is made by the AA" — CD-PASS Employer Handbook). Even then, the spouse cannot simultaneously act as the member's authorized representative. Under State Plan Personal Care, spouses cannot be paid at all. Plan on adult-child caregiving being the smooth path; spouse pay is rare in Oklahoma.

Waitlist reality

State Plan Personal Care: an entitlement. If your parent qualifies for SoonerCare and meets the service criteria, there is no waitlist. ADvantage Waiver: NOT an entitlement. It has a limited number of enrollment slots, and when they fill, a waitlist forms and slots go out in application-date order - so apply the day you think you might need it, not the day you are sure. You will see 'about 27,000 slots a year' (26,972) quoted on advocacy sites; that number is not published on any Oklahoma agency page, and it is changing right now - OKDHS filed an ADvantage waiver renewal on 5/19/2026 that updates service-utilization projections for a new five-year cycle taking effect on CMS approval or 10/1/2026. Oklahoma does not publish a current ADvantage waitlist count anywhere public, so ask the Medicaid Services Unit at (800) 435-4711 whether anyone is waiting today and how long. Either way, plan on the eligibility process itself - SoonerCare financial approval plus the nurse's assessment for nursing-facility level of care - taking several weeks to a few months before any money moves.

Worth knowing: Disqualifiers to say out loud: (1) whoever is your parent's guardian, Power of Attorney, or Authorized Representative cannot be the paid caregiver - the CD-PASS Employer Handbook says it flatly, so your family has to split those two jobs between two different people; (2) spouses are shut out of State Plan Personal Care entirely, and under CD-PASS a spouse needs a rare exception from ADvantage Administration; (3) your parent must qualify financially for SoonerCare long-term-care Medicaid (about $2,982/month in income and $2,000 in countable assets for one person in 2026 - that income cap is 300% of the $994 SSI check) AND meet nursing-facility level of care on the nurse's assessment. A parent who is 'just slowing down' will fail the medical screen; (4) ADvantage takes anyone 65 and older, including people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, but for ages 19 to 64 the disability has to be physical or other - not an intellectual disability or a cognitive impairment tied to a developmental disability. Those families go to Developmental Disabilities Services instead, and contrary to what older guides still say, DDS is no longer a multi-year wait: Oklahoma funded away the 13-year waiting list starting in May 2022, and OKDHS reported in April 2025 and again on its waitlist page updated 6/30/2026 that the wait is now roughly one year from applying. Why confidence is 'partial': the only official Oklahoma dollar figures are the 10/1/2022 CD-PASS unit rates, and the state says plainly those cannot be turned into an hourly wage by multiplying by four. Your actual maximum hourly wage comes off the Individual Budget Allowance worksheet after payroll taxes and workers' comp, and only the case manager can tell you that number. There is no 2025-2026 rate bulletin and no public ADvantage waitlist count, so confirm both on the (800) 435-4711 call. Budget a minimum of $150 per plan year out of the CD-PASS budget for the employee background check and hiring costs - that is required. And one piece of good news: wages paid to a live-in family caregiver may be exempt from federal income tax under IRS Notice 2014-7.

Other doors in Oklahoma

ProgramWhat to know
SoonerCare State Plan Personal CareRegular-Medicaid personal care with no waitlist (entitlement). Non-spouse family and friends 18+ can be hired; spouses excluded. Lower hour allotments than the waiver. Apply via (800) 435-4711 or a county Oklahoma Human Services office.
Veteran-Directed Care (VDC)Available in Oklahoma through the Oklahoma City VA and Eastern Oklahoma (Muskogee) VA health systems, partnered with Ability Resources and SWODA Aging Services. Veteran gets a flexible budget and can hire family — including a spouse. Ask the VA social worker or the Caregiver Support Line (855) 260-3274.
VA Aid & Attendance pension + VA PCAFC stipendFor veteran parents: A&A adds up to roughly $2,400/month (2026, single veteran max) that can pay a family caregiver informally; PCAFC pays a tax-free monthly stipend for qualifying 70%+ service-connected veterans.
National Family Caregiver Support Program (Area Agencies on Aging)Not a paycheck — free respite, training, and supports for the caregiver. Find your AAA at (800) 677-1116. Oklahoma has no structured-family-caregiving per-diem program and no state-funded non-Medicaid caregiver wage program.

Wartime veteran or surviving spouse in the family? VA Aid & Attendance stacks on top of state programs — see the national guide.

How to apply — step by step

  1. 1. Call the Oklahoma Human Services Medicaid Services Unit / ADvantage line at (800) 435-4711 (or 918-933-4900) and ask to apply for the ADvantage Waiver — or start the online ADvantage intake at oklahoma.gov/okdhs/services/cap/advantage-services.html.
  2. 2. Complete SoonerCare financial eligibility (2026 individual limits are about $2,982/month income and $2,000 countable assets for waiver level of care) and the nurse's Uniform Comprehensive Assessment to confirm nursing-facility level of care.
  3. 3. Once enrolled in ADvantage, tell your case manager you want the CD-PASS service option so your family member can be the paid caregiver.
  4. 4. Complete the CD-PASS Member/employer packet with the Financial Management Service; your parent becomes the employer of record.
  5. 5. Your family caregiver completes the employment packet and background check; after authorization from the ADvantage Administration, they can start logging paid hours.
  6. 6. If ADvantage is delayed or denied, ask the same 800 number about State Plan Personal Care (no waitlist; non-spouse family can be hired).

Where to start: Oklahoma Human Services — Community Living, Aging and Protective Services / ADvantage Administration: (800) 435-4711 or (918) 933-4900; program page and online intake: https://oklahoma.gov/okdhs/services/cap/advantage-services.html

Do it yourself vs. get help

Free, accredited help first, always: your Area Agency on Aging (eldercare.acl.gov) walks families through these applications at no charge, and your county Veterans Service Officer files VA claims free. Where Resbit fits: if you're working a job and don't have hours for hold music, Resbit finds what your family qualifies for, fills out the paperwork down to the signature line, and does the chasing — flat $49/month, and the screener that starts it is free.

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Sources & dates checked: Program rules and payment rates change. Everything here is educational — real eligibility is decided by the agencies, based on your family's details.