Consumer Directed Services in Ferguson, Missouri

Communicare Elite provides MO HealthNet Consumer Directed Services to residents of Ferguson and the surrounding north St. Louis County area. If you are eligible, you choose your own personal care attendant — including a family member other than your spouse — and we handle payroll, program paperwork and Medicaid billing.

Why home care matters in Ferguson

Ferguson sits a short drive north of our office, and it is one of the communities where the gap between needing help and being able to afford it is widest. Household incomes here are below the county median, a substantial share of older residents live alone, and family members who would gladly provide care are often the same people who cannot afford to reduce their working hours to do it.

That is the specific problem Consumer Directed Services solves in Ferguson. It does not ask a family to find money for care — MO HealthNet funds it. What it does is convert unpaid caregiving that was already happening into paid employment, so the daughter who has been driving over every morning before her own shift can be compensated for that work rather than eventually being forced to stop. Emerson Park, Dellwood, Jennings and Berkeley are all within a few minutes, and we serve them on the same terms.

How CDS works for Ferguson residents

1. Confirm you are likely eligible. You need to be 18 or older, eligible for MO HealthNet, physically disabled, able to direct your own care, and assessed at a nursing facility level of care. Full requirements.
2. Request a state assessment. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services assesses you at home. Their referral line is 866-835-3505.
3. Receive an authorized care plan listing the tasks and hours approved for you. What can be authorized.
4. Choose Communicare Elite as your CDS vendor.
5. Hire your attendant — anyone but your spouse, subject to background screening. How to choose.
6. Work begins. You and your attendant sign biweekly timesheets; we run payroll and bill Medicaid. How pay works.

What your attendant can help with

See the full list of covered tasks →

Getting paid to care for a family member in Ferguson

If you already help a parent, an adult child, a sibling or a friend in Ferguson, that work can become paid employment. Missouri law excludes only the consumer’s spouse from being a paid personal care attendant — every other relationship is eligible.

How family caregivers get paid →

Distance from our office

Communicare Elite is at 4477 Woodson Rd, Suite 106, St. Louis, MO 63134, minutes from Lambert International Airport — roughly about 10 minutes from Ferguson. Most business is handled by phone, but you are welcome at the office; call ahead so someone is expecting you.

Questions from Ferguson families

Does my income affect whether I qualify?

Your eligibility for MO HealthNet depends on income and assets, and MO HealthNet eligibility is one of the five CDS requirements. The CDS program itself does not add a separate income test.

I already care for my father every day without pay. Can that become a job?

Yes, provided he qualifies for the program and you are not his spouse. This is one of the most common routes into CDS.

Do you serve Dellwood, Jennings and Berkeley as well?

Yes. All of North County is within our service area, and all of it is close to our office.

Does CDS cost me anything?

No. The program is funded by MO HealthNet. You do not pay Communicare Elite and you do not pay your attendant directly.

Can I switch to Communicare Elite from another vendor?

Yes, without reapplying for the program or losing your authorized hours. How switching works.

Nearby communities we also serve

St. Louis City · St. Louis County · Florissant · Hazelwood · Bridgeton · Maryland Heights · University City · Kirkwood · Chesterfield · Arnold · Festus · St. Charles · St. Peters · O’Fallon · Wentzville