URGENT POLICY UPDATE (February 2026): The Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (HCPF) has issued an immediate pause on the implementation of the 56-hour caregiver cap. According to official division communications, Case Management Agencies (CMAs) have been instructed to stop all outreach and planning discussions regarding this cap while policy direction and timelines are revised.
What this means for you: If you are a family using IHSS or other waiver services, your current care hours are not subject to a 56-hour cap at this time. We will provide additional guidance as soon as HCPF releases finalized instructions.
While the state previously announced a transition toward a 56-hour weekly cap for individual caregivers, these recent sustainability adjustments mean the policy is officially delayed pending further direction.
Caregivers First Choice (CFC) is committed to keeping families informed as the state navigates these LTSS sustainability initiatives. However, even with this immediate pressure removed, the strategies below for building a robust care team remain the "gold standard" for any family seeking long-term stability and flexibility in their care.
Why "Village Building" Matters Even Without the Cap
At Caregivers First Choice, our core philosophy is Sustainability through Diversity. Relying on a single caregiver, even when state policy allows it, creates a "single point of failure" for your family’s stability. If a primary attendant faces illness, burnout, or a family emergency, your loved one’s care should never be at risk.
Leveraging our deep expertise in scaling Colorado care models, we recommend the following team-building strategies as a roadmap for growth and security, rather than a response to a mandate.
The Strategy: Hiring Who You Trust
We know the idea of a "stranger" coming into your home can be stressful. You know your loved one’s needs better than anyone else, from managing complex medical tasks like G-tubes to knowing exactly how they like their routine managed.
Under the In-Home Support Services (IHSS) model, you have the authority to select your own attendants. This "Employer Authority" allows you to turn your informal support circle into a professional, paid care team.
Think about the people already in your life who you trust implicitly:
- The adult sibling who is already a regular part of your home life.
- The neighbor who has a deep history with your family.
- The trusted friend who wants to help but needs a formal structure to do so.
By formalizing these roles now, you aren't just reacting to potential state changes; you are building a safety net that prevents caregiver burnout and ensures 24/7 peace of mind.
How Caregivers First Choice Supports Your Village
At CFC, we handle the administrative "boss" duties so you can focus on the heart of caregiving.
We Employ Your Trusted Circle
If you have a friend, neighbor, or relative you want to bring onto your team, send them to us. We handle the background checks, payroll, and taxes. As an IHSS agency, we become the employer of record, ensuring they are legally compliant while you retain the power to train them on your loved one’s specific preferences.
The Wage Ladder Advantage
Asking a friend to join your team is easier when you can offer a competitive professional wage. CFC rewards experience through a Tiered Wage Ladder that starts significantly higher than the industry average. We treat caregiving as the high-level professional role it is.
The Ultimate Safety Net
If your personal circle isn't available, we are your backup. Because we pay well and reward expertise, we attract career professionals looking to supplement their hours. If you face a gap in care, we work with you to recruit, screen, and train a backup attendant who matches your schedule and your values.
Let’s Build Your Team Today
The conversation around caregiver caps is a reminder that the Medicaid landscape is always shifting. The best way to protect your loved one’s care is to be proactive. Whether it's a family member or one of our professional staff, we ensure that every hour of care is high quality and sustainable.
Are you ready to build a care team you can trust? Contact Caregivers First Choice today. Let’s talk about who is in your village and how we can support them.
While I appreciate efforts to help families adapt, the 56-hour caregiver cap disproportionately harms single-parent households and families who rely on one consistent caregiver. Many of us were already reduced to roughly 16 hours per day under prior policies, and this additional cap ignores the realities of medically complex children who require continuity and familiarity in their care.
The idea of building a “village” also assumes that extended family and friends are available, but in reality most already work full-time and cannot absorb additional caregiving hours. For families without access to multiple trusted, available caregivers, this cap creates a snowball effect that will grow into a much larger access problem. Frequent caregiver changes are not just inconvenient; for some children, they are destabilizing and unsafe. Policy discussions need to better reflect these real-world constraints.
Shannon,
Thank you so much for sharing this honest and important perspective. You are absolutely right—policy changes like this disproportionately impact single-parent households and families managing complex medical needs where continuity isn’t just a preference, but a safety requirement.
We understand that for many families, the idea of a ‘village’ effectively doesn’t exist because friends and family are working full-time or simply cannot provide the specialized level of care your child needs. We know that bringing in new caregivers is often destabilizing and that the reality of ‘Hour 57’ is far more stressful than policy discussions often reflect.
While we are bound to operate within these new state regulations, we fully see and validate the heavy burden this places on you. We are committed to advocating for flexibility wherever possible. If you are open to it, please reach out to us directly. We would value the chance to listen to your specific situation and see if there are any creative solutions or ‘safety net’ options we can offer to help you navigate this difficult transition.
Thank you for the thoughtful response and for acknowledging that continuity of care is a safety requirement, not a preference. I truly appreciate that recognition.
I do want to add that for some families of medically complex minor children, “creative solutions” such as onboarding, training, or rotating additional caregivers are not realistic options. Managing multiple therapies each week, homeschooling, and complex care routines already places a significant cognitive and emotional load on parents as is. Adding ongoing caregiver recruitment, training, and supervision often creates more stress and instability rather than support.
Additionally, the expectation that families can rely on extended family or friends to take on more paid caregiving hours on top of their own full time jobs is increasingly unrealistic and, in many cases, effectively obsolete. Most households are already working at capacity just to meet basic living needs.
This is why clear, accessible exception pathways are so important. For children who require consistent, trusted caregivers, flexibility at the policy level is not a convenience it’s necessary to prevent care disruption and harm.
I hope these realities continue to be elevated as the state considers how these caps are implemented.