Home Care Agencies in Connecticut

The first kind is the homemaker-companion agency, registered with the Department of Consumer Protection under Connecticut General Statutes sections 20-670 to 20-681. The statute defines the agency as a public or private organization that employs one or more people and is in the business of providing companion or homemaker services, or a registry. Operating without a registration is a crime in Connecticut.

The statute also says what the two services are. Companion services are basic supervision "to ensure the safety and well-being of a person in the person's home." Homemaker services are supportive services, "including assistance with cooking, household cleaning, laundry, personal hygiene and other household chores, that ensure a healthy and safe environment for a person in the person's home." The law describes both as services that are not medical.

The Department of Consumer Protection lists what a registered agency may do: cooking, laundry, light cleaning, organizing, grocery shopping, personal hygiene, going for walks, playing cards, conversing, watching television, and going to a movie. It lists what is off limits: any medical services, directing physical therapy or creating special diets, administering medications or shots, and nursing services like assessing blood pressure or providing wound care.

The second kind is licensed by the Department of Public Health. A home health care agency provides professional nursing plus other services, such as home health aide services, physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy or medical social services, and must be available twenty-four hours a day. A home health aide agency provides aide services under the supervision of a registered nurse. The law does not count either one as a homemaker-companion agency. Which one your family needs depends on whether a doctor has ordered skilled care.

The Department of Consumer Protection tells families to verify an agency or registry registration at CT eLicense (elicense.ct.gov). Search by the agency's name or registration number, and compare the name, the number and the expiry date to what the agency gave you. Registrations expire every year on October 31st, so a date that has passed is a question to ask.

Registered agencies must say in their advertising that they are registered and include their registration number, so you should see it on the agency's website and brochures. One registration covers all of an agency's locations. Licensed home health agencies are also found through eLicense.

Be clear about what the registration means. It shows that the agency has met the state's requirements to operate. Connecticut's law bars an agency from presenting its registration as an endorsement by the commissioner of the quality of its services. It is the start of your checking, not the end of it. If something goes wrong, you can file a complaint with the Department of Consumer Protection at dcp.complaints@ct.gov.

Connecticut counts a registry as a kind of homemaker-companion agency, so a registry has to register too. The difference is who the caregiver works for. An agency places its own employees in homes. A registry matches you with a caregiver who is paid at least partly by you, or who is treated as an independent contractor.

That difference lands on you at tax time. A registry must give you a signed notice that you may be considered an employer, responsible for federal and state taxes, Social Security, overtime and minimum wage, unemployment, workers' compensation insurance payments and other payments the law requires. And an agency that places an independent contractor with a consumer is treated as a registry.

Ask any agency one plain question: are the caregivers who come to my home your employees? If the answer is yes, ask who handles payroll and the replacement when someone is out.

In Fairfield and New Haven counties, Endurance arranges care by the hour, overnight and around the clock with 24-hour care. In every Connecticut county, including Fairfield and New Haven, live-in care is available. Care is arranged from our Stamford office.

Start with your county. Each page covers the towns, the hospitals and the local help around them.

CareScout's 2025 Cost of Care Survey (formerly published by Genworth) puts the Connecticut median for in-home caregiver services at $36 an hour. At the survey's standard of 44 hours a week for 52 weeks, that is $82,368 a year. CareScout notes that the cost for any particular provider may differ significantly from the median. That is a market figure, not Endurance's price.

Endurance does not publish prices. Rates depend on the schedule and the kind of help, so we talk through what your family needs first and explain the cost from there. Medicare does not pay for this kind of care. A long-term care insurance policy may, depending on its terms, and we help with the paperwork.