Home Care in South Philadelphia: Services, Medicaid, and Getting Started

South Philadelphia is a neighborhood built on family. From the Italian Market to Pennsport to Whitman to the Stadium District, generations of families have lived within blocks of each other —and when a parent or grandparent needs care, the family provides it. That’s the culture. What many South Philly families don’t realize is that the same Medicaid programs available citywide can pay them for the care they’re already giving.

What’s Available

All of Philadelphia’s Medicaid home care programs serve South Philadelphia: Community HealthChoices, Participant-Directed Services, and Agency with Choice. The three MCOs
operating in the Southeast Zone all have robust networks in South Philadelphia. And the paid family caregiver pathway works exactly the same here as anywhere in the city.

What Makes South Philly Different

In our experience, South Philadelphia families have two characteristics that make them excellent fits for Participant-Directed Services.

First, the multigenerational proximity. Many South Philly families live on the same block as their parents or grandparents — or in the same row home. This physical closeness means the family caregiver is already present for morning routines, meals, medication times, and bedtime. The care is happening naturally. PDS just compensates it.

Second, the cultural preference for family care is deeply embedded. Sending a parent to a nursing home or accepting a stranger from an agency feels wrong to many South Philly families —regardless of whether they’re Italian, Vietnamese, Mexican, or part of the neighborhood’s growing Indonesian and African immigrant communities. PDS respects that preference and works with it rather than against it.

The Vietnamese community around Washington Avenue and the Hispanic community in the southern blocks of South Philly should know that language-accessible services are legally required during assessments and care planning. Request interpreters through PCA or your MCO.

Getting Started

The process is the same citywide.  COMPASS for Medicaid → PCA for referral and assessment → CHC enrollment→ PDS request → family caregiver on payroll.

CareChoice serves every neighborhood in South Philadelphia.

Contact CareChoice →Philadelphia team

Written by Shamere Dunswell, Community Relations Manager | CareChoice