What is in-home care around Birmingham?
In-home care is non-medical help at home with bathing, dressing, meals, housekeeping, errands and supervision, provided by agency aides or independent caregivers, and is different from skilled home health.
ADPH's facilities directory has no category for non-medical home care agencies, so we do not list them; vet agencies through references, proof of insurance, background-check policies and written service agreements.
What does in-home care cost in Alabama?
CareScout's 2025 Alabama median for non-medical home care is $61,776 a year for 44 hours a week, about $27 an hour; at that rate roughly 36 hours a week equals the assisted living median.
Can Medicaid pay for in-home care in Alabama?
For people who meet nursing facility level of care and Medicaid's financial limits, the Elderly and Disabled Waiver can pay for personal care, homemaker, companion and respite services, and Personal Choices lets participants direct their own care.
Start with the area agency on aging for the county where your parent lives.
How do we vet a non-medical home care agency?
Ask whether caregivers are employees or contractors, whether the agency carries liability insurance and workers' compensation, how it screens and trains caregivers, what its minimum shift is and who covers when a caregiver calls in sick.
Get the service agreement, rates and cancellation terms in writing.
How many hours of home care does a parent need?
Start from the day: list the times help is actually needed, such as getting up, bathing, meals, medications and bedtime, then add travel and minimum shift lengths; many families start with 15 to 20 hours a week and adjust.
If the list needs someone present overnight, compare assisted living.
What does home care cost per month at different hours?
At Alabama's 2025 median of about $27 an hour, 10 hours a week runs about $1,170 a month, 20 hours about $2,340 and 40 hours about $4,680, using 52 weeks divided by 12 months.
See the full table.
Can family caregivers get paid through Medicaid in Alabama?
Through the Personal Choices option of Alabama's Medicaid waivers, an eligible participant can use an allotted budget to hire a helper, which can include some relatives, while the E&D Waiver also funds agency personal care.
Ask the area agency on aging case manager which relatives can be hired.
When is in-home care no longer enough?
When help is needed at unpredictable times, nights are no longer safe alone, or the weekly hours pass the point where assisted living costs less, a move to assisted living or memory care is usually safer.
At a glance
| In-home care provides | It does not provide | |
|---|---|---|
| Help | Personal care, meals, housekeeping, companionship | Skilled nursing (that is home health) |
| Oversight | Whatever the family arranges | An ADPH license category |
