Become a personal care attendant
Attendant work is how people with disabilities stay in their own homes instead of a facility. It is close-up, practical work — helping someone bathe, dress, eat, and get where they need to go — and for many attendants it is work they were already doing unpaid for someone they love.
Two ways people end up doing this job
You already care for someone
A parent, an adult child, a sibling, a friend. In Missouri’s CDS program, that can become a paid job — the only relationship excluded is spouse. They hire you; we employ and pay you.
You want the work
You want steady local work that matters, without needing a nursing license or a degree. We recruit attendants across St. Louis City, St. Louis County and the surrounding Missouri counties.
What the job actually involves
You work in someone’s home, on tasks their care plan authorizes. Typically:
- Bathing, dressing and grooming help
- Toileting and incontinence care
- Transfers, positioning and mobility support
- Meal preparation and help eating
- Laundry, light housekeeping, shopping
- Driving to appointments and errands
What you do not need
- A nursing license or CNA certificate.
- A college degree.
- Previous professional caregiving experience.
- Your own agency, insurance or business registration.
This is non-medical personal care. You are not a nurse and you will not be asked to perform clinical tasks.
What you do need
- To be legally able to work in the United States.
- To pass required background screening.
- To be someone other than the consumer’s spouse.
- To complete our onboarding and orientation.
- Reliability — this is someone’s daily living, not a shift you can skip.
Full requirements and screening →
How you get paid
You are an employee, not a contractor. Communicare Elite is your employer of record: we run payroll on a regular cycle, withhold taxes, and issue your W-2. You are never paid in cash by the person you care for, and you never invoice them.
Is this work right for you?
Worth being honest with yourself before you apply, because the people who leave in the first month usually knew on day three.
It probably suits you if
- You are reliable — someone’s morning depends on you arriving.
- You are comfortable with intimate care once you get used to it.
- You can take direction from the person you are helping.
- You want work that visibly matters to one specific person.
- You prefer a steady routine to a varied one.
It probably does not if
- You need a job you can skip when something comes up.
- You are uncomfortable with toileting or bathing help.
- You would find it hard not to take over decisions.
- You have a back injury that transfers would worsen.
- You want to be a nurse — this is not clinical work.
Hours and scheduling
Hours come from the consumer’s authorized care plan, and they vary a great deal. Some consumers are authorized a few hours a week for bathing and shopping; others need help several times a day. The schedule itself is agreed between you and the consumer — they are your employer and they set it, within what their plan authorizes.
Many attendants work for one consumer. Some work for two, where the schedules genuinely do not overlap. What nobody can do is bill more hours than the care plan authorizes, however much time they actually spend.
Where we are hiring
Across our whole service area — St. Louis City, St. Louis County, St. Charles County and northern Jefferson County. Demand is heaviest where our office is, in North County, and hardest to fill in the western and southern edges — Wentzville, O’Fallon, Festus — simply because fewer attendants live there. If that is your area, you are particularly welcome.
See the communities we serve →
Ready to start?
Call (314) 809-6655 for a free consultation, or text (314) 886-5902. We serve St. Louis City, St. Louis County and Missouri communities within about 40 miles of our office.