How to get a Pennsylvania home care license
What are the steps to get a home care agency license in Pennsylvania?
- Choose agency, registry, or both
- Form the business entity and register any fictitious name
- Secure a physical office address
- Run criminal history checks on owners and office staff
- Write hiring, competency and consumer-packet procedures
- Complete the online Initial Provider Application
- Pay the $100 fee for each location
- Prepare for unannounced inspections once licensed
Start by deciding which license type you are applying for
The application asks you to name the type of organization you want licensed, so settle agency, registry or both before you open the portal.
That choice fixes a lot downstream: whether your caregivers are employees, which consumer notice you give, and how you set up payroll. It is worth an hour with the agency-or-registry comparison before anything else, because changing type after licensure means notifying the Department and reworking your packet.
Most first-time owners who want to control how visits run choose the agency model. Registries suit people who want to match families with established independent caregivers and stay out of the scheduling.
A Pennsylvania home care license applicant must specify on its application the type of facility for which it is seeking a license. — 28 Pa. Code § 611.2, Pennsylvania Code, retrieved 2026-09-27
Form the entity and clear its name with the Department of State
The license is issued to a named owner, so form your LLC or corporation with the Department of State first and register any trade name before you apply.
A Pennsylvania LLC is created by filing a Certificate of Organization with a docketing statement, and the filing fee is $125. If the agency will trade under a name other than its legal one, that is a fictitious name registration, and the Department of Health's FAQ says any business name on the license application must be approved through the Department of State.
This is the step with the most choices in it, and it has its own walkthrough in the business setup guide.
$125The Pennsylvania Department of State charges $125 to file a Certificate of Organization for a domestic LLC. — Pennsylvania Department of State, Fees and Payments, retrieved 2026-09-27
The Department of Health says business names placed on a home care license application must be approved through the Department of State. — Pennsylvania Department of Health, Home Care Agency/Registry License FAQ, retrieved 2026-09-27
Secure a real office before the application goes in
You need a physical office address for the license, which can be your home but cannot be a virtual office or a mail drop.
The address prints on the license and the license has to hang there. If you start from a spare room, remember that inspectors arrive unannounced, so the space needs to hold locked personnel and client files and look like an office on a weekday morning.
Each address is its own license. If you plan two offices from day one, budget two applications and two fees, as broken out on the startup cost page.
The Department of Health requires a physical location for a home care agency and does not accept a virtual office. — Pennsylvania Department of Health, Home Care Agency/Registry License FAQ, retrieved 2026-09-27
Background checks start with the owners, not the caregivers
Owners and office staff need criminal history reports too, so run your own check early; a result older than one year will not be accepted.
The rule covers each applicant for a direct care worker job, each office staff member and the agency's owners. Two years or more of Pennsylvania residency means a State Police report; less than that means an FBI report plus a determination letter from the Department of Aging.
The Department's FAQ repeats the one-year window for administrators specifically. Order the check within a few weeks of applying so it is still current when a reviewer looks at it. The background check guide covers the fees and how to order each report.
1 yearA criminal history report must be obtained at the time of application or within the one year before it. — 28 Pa. Code § 611.52, Pennsylvania Code, retrieved 2026-09-27
2 yearsIndividuals who have not lived in Pennsylvania for the two years before the request need an FBI criminal history report and a Department of Aging determination letter. — 28 Pa. Code § 611.52, Pennsylvania Code, retrieved 2026-09-27
Write the procedures inspectors will check you against
Before you apply, have written procedures for hiring, competency, health screening and the client information packet, since those are the rules inspectors audit.
Chapter 611 is short and specific. It sets the hiring file contents, the criminal and child abuse checks, provisional hiring limits, competency standards, TB screening and the consumer packet. Your procedures should follow the same order so a surveyor can match each rule to a page in your binder.
Leave out what was not asked for. The Department's FAQ says material not requested in the application, such as a full policy manual or business plan, is discarded. Keep the manual in the office for the inspection instead.
The Department of Health says information not requested in the application, such as an entire policy manual or business plan, will be discarded. — Pennsylvania Department of Health, Home Care Agency/Registry License FAQ, retrieved 2026-09-27
once per yearPennsylvania requires a competency review of each direct care worker at least once per year after initial competency is established. — 28 Pa. Code § 611.55, Pennsylvania Code, retrieved 2026-09-27
File the online application and pay the fee
Submit the Initial Provider Application through the Department of Health's online portal with the $100 fee; paper and email submissions ended on March 31, 2026.
The fee is per location and is not refunded or prorated, so a rejected or withdrawn application costs you the fee. Complete every form the checklist asks for. The Department's guidance is that an incomplete packet goes back to you as incomplete, which puts you at the end of the line.
Questions about the portal go to the Division of Home Health's resource account listed on its home care page.
| Item | Fee | Paid to |
|---|---|---|
| Home care agency or registry license (per location) | $100 | Department of Health |
| LLC Certificate of Organization | $125 | Department of State |
| Fictitious name registration | $70 | Department of State |
| State Police criminal record check (per person) | $22 | Pennsylvania State Police |
$100The Pennsylvania home care agency application or renewal fee is $100, with no rebate, refund or prorating. — 28 Pa. Code § 611.2, Pennsylvania Code, retrieved 2026-09-27
March 31, 2026Mailed or emailed home care license submissions are no longer accepted by the Department of Health as of March 31, 2026. — Pennsylvania Department of Health, Home Care, retrieved 2026-09-27
After the license, plan for inspections and Medicaid
Once licensed, expect unannounced on-site inspections, and apply separately to the Office of Long-Term Living if you want Medicaid waiver clients.
Medicaid is not part of the home care license. The FAQ says a licensed agency applies for waiver enrollment through the Office of Long-Term Living afterwards, and warns that state enrollment does not guarantee a place in each managed care network, some of which may be closed.
Waiver participation brings its own insurance requirements, set out on the insurance page. Then diarize the renewal: the form is due at least 60 days before your license expires.
The Department of Health says a licensed home care agency may apply for Medicaid waiver enrollment through the Office of Long-Term Living. — Pennsylvania Department of Health, Home Care Agency/Registry License FAQ, retrieved 2026-09-27
60 daysA Pennsylvania home care license renewal form must be submitted at least 60 days before the license expiration date. — 28 Pa. Code § 611.2, Pennsylvania Code, retrieved 2026-09-27
Questions
Can I hire caregivers before the license is issued?
You can recruit and screen, but you cannot operate or hold yourself out as an agency without the license. Many owners collect applications, run background checks and verify competency during review so they can staff the first client quickly once licensed.
Does enrolling in Medicaid come with the home care license?
No. The Department of Health's FAQ says Medicaid waiver enrollment is a separate application through the Office of Long-Term Living after licensure, and each managed care organization decides separately whether its network is open.
What happens if my application is incomplete?
The Department's guidance is that an application missing forms or supporting documents is returned as incomplete, and the $100 fee is not refundable, so check every item on the application checklist before submitting.