Consumer Directed Services in Ferguson, Missouri

Communicare Elite serves Ferguson as a MO HealthNet Consumer Directed Services vendor. If you are eligible, you choose your own attendant, a family member other than your spouse included, and we take care of 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

The first move is the state’s, not ours: MO HealthNet eligibility, then an assessment at home arranged on 866-835-3505, then an authorized care plan listing your approved hours. All six steps.

What your attendant can be paid for

Bathing, transfers, meals, laundry, shopping and rides are among the tasks a plan can authorize. See what can be covered.

Paying a family member in Ferguson

This is the point of the program in Ferguson: the daughter already driving over each morning can be paid for it. Only a spouse is excluded. How it works.

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.

Who decides how many hours are approved?

The state does, through the in-home assessment; the authorized care plan sets the tasks and hours. How the assessment works.

Do I need to be a US citizen?

Program eligibility runs through MO HealthNet rather than a separate CDS test. The eligibility criteria.

Nearby communities we also serve

Florissant · Hazelwood · St. Louis County · University City — or see the whole service area.