Illinois · Checked October 22, 2026
Your license is the Home Services Agency License, issued by Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH).
| Item | Illinois |
|---|---|
| License / registration | Home Services Agency License |
| Issued by | Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) — official page |
| Application / initial fee | $1,500 — 77 Ill. Adm. Code 245.95(b): a home services agency pays a licensure fee not to exceed $1,500 annually; IDPH's licensure application collects $1,500. The state does not return the fee. (A separate Home Services Placement Agency license — placement model only — is capped at $500 annually under §245.95(c).) |
| Renewal | $1,500 |
| Surety bond | No state bond minimum found in the published rules |
| Liability insurance | State sets no minimum |
| Timeline | Two-stage: IDPH acts on a provisional license first (the Code as amended by Public Act 103-0257 sets a 240-day provisional period, with a 90-day provisional renewal window), and the agency operates provisionally while IDPH surveys it before full licensure. |
| Administrator | The agency must have a designated agency manager/supervisor responsible for day-to-day operations whose qualifications and work history IDPH reviews with the application; Part 245 sets no single degree or hour-count credential for the home services (non-medical) manager, unlike the stricter Home Health Agency Administrator definition (physician, RN, or degree + 1 year of supervisory/administrative experience in home health or a related program). |
| State extras | All home services workers must be listed on the IDPH Health Care Worker Registry (background-check based) before working with clients. Placement-model agencies need the separate $500-capped placement license and dual licensure with the Illinois Department of Labor as a private employment agency. |
| Service | Under this license |
|---|---|
| Companionship & supervision | Covered |
| Homemaker help | Covered |
| Hands-on personal care | Covered |
| Live-in / 24-hour care | Not covered by this license |
| Transportation | Covered |
| Skilled nursing or therapy | Home health license required |
Home services are defined at 210 ILCS 55/2.09 as assistance with activities of daily living, housekeeping, personal laundry and companionship — expressly focused on non-medical help such as cleaning, laundry, shopping, meal preparation, dressing and bathing. Home services do NOT include anything that must be performed by a person licensed under the Nurse Practice Act.
Skilled care is a separate license type under the same Act and Code: the Home Health Agency license (skilled nursing plus at least one other home health service). CORRECTION to older guides: a single home health agency license is no longer $25/year — under the amended §245.95(d) it is $1,500 for a two-year license. Home Nursing Agency is a further separate type ($1,500 annual cap). An applicant holding multiple license types pays the fee for each.
Public-pay in-home work runs through program certification on top of the IDPH license: the Illinois Department on Aging Community Care Program (CCP, age 60+) and the DHS Division of Rehabilitation Services Home Services Program (under-60 disability). CCP providers must certify with IDoA and enroll in HFS's IMPACT system (Illinois Medicaid Program Advance Cloud Technology) before serving CCP participants.
Illinois EVV runs on HHAeXchange for HFS/DHS Medicaid personal care and home health services. Per the state's HHAeXchange implementation guidance, IDoA CCP and DRS homemaker services (S5130) were not yet live/in scope for EVV as of the last published guidance — check current HFS EVV scope before relying on this.
The state fee above is one line of the real total. Run the true-cost calculator with Illinois selected — it adds the bond premium, insurance class, screening and the payroll runway your first hires create.
This page is information, not legal advice. Confirm before you file: the agency — not this page — decides your application.
The free checkers give you the verdict and the number. The Kit gives you the working papers: your state's application packet walked through in filing order, the policies-and-procedures binder spec (what your binder must contain — never a boilerplate binder), the administrator self-audit, the insurance & bond spec sheet, the Medicaid gate map, the franchise-vs-independent 10-year worksheets, and the payroll-runway planner.
$49 one-time payment
Included in the $49 HomeCareLicenseCheck Kit
