How to start a home care agency in Georgia

Updated October 16, 2026 · CensusDesk research

Georgia at a glance

Fees and forms change. Check DCH’s Licensure Forms and Applications page for the current Private Home Care Provider packet and fee schedule before you pay anything.

Step 1. Decide what kind of agency you are

Georgia’s Private Home Care Provider license covers three kinds of service: nursing, personal care tasks, and companion or sitter tasks. Most new agencies start non-medical: help with bathing, dressing, meals, light housekeeping, errands, and companionship. That’s personal care and companion or sitter work. Nursing services can only be done by a licensed RN or LPN. If you plan to offer therapy or home health aide services, that’s a home health agency instead, under separate rules. This guide covers the non-medical path.

Decide one more thing early: private pay, Medicaid, or both. Private-pay families pay you directly. Billing Medicaid is a separate enrollment with the state after you’re licensed. Many owners start private pay because the money comes in faster and the paperwork is lighter.

Step 2. Form your business

Register your business with the Georgia Secretary of State. Most owners form an LLC, get a federal EIN from the IRS, and open a business bank account before they apply. DCH’s packet asks for business documents like your incorporation papers or tax ID, so have them ready. Talk to an insurance agent about liability and workers’ compensation coverage now, too. You will want it in place before your first caregiver starts.

Step 3. Plan your caregiver training

Georgia’s rules set training by job. A personal care aide can qualify through a nurse aide program or exam, an approved credential, or a 40-hour training program run by your agency. On the 40-hour path, 20 hours come before the aide serves clients and the other 20 within six months. Companions and sitters must be trained, or show they’re competent, in things like the needs of older or disabled clients, meal prep, and escort services. Everyone gets an orientation before working with clients, and at least eight hours of training each year after the first year.

Step 4. Apply online through GAMMIS

What DCH asks for:

1. Fill out the Private Home Care Provider application in the GAMMIS web portal. DCH does not take paper applications.
2. List the services you’ll offer and the area you’ll serve.
3. Upload every required document from DCH’s current application packet.
4. Pay the application and license fees at the time you apply.
5. Complete the owner’s records check application and fingerprint background check through GCHEXS.

DCH doesn’t publish a set processing time for this license. Check with DCH. A complete application with every document uploaded is the fastest path.

Step 5. Start with a provisional license, then get surveyed

The owner’s fingerprint background check has to clear before DCH issues any new license. A new provider can then get a provisional license, which gives it a limited time to show its procedures follow Georgia’s rules. DCH inspects providers, so ask DCH how long the provisional license lasts and when to expect your survey before you plan your launch.

What it costs to get licensed

Getting your first clients

A license doesn’t bring families to you. Here’s what the research says about where clients come from, and what that means for a new Georgia agency.

• Referrals lead. Current and past clients are the top referral source for private duty home care, followed by discharge planners, home health, hospice, and rehab. A new agency has no past clients yet, so the referral engine starts slow.
• Families search first. Most families looking for senior care start with a generic search like “home care near me,” and few search an agency by name. If your agency has no website, those families find someone else.
• Directories charge per lead. Lead directories and paid search often run $50 to $150 per lead, and the family may be shopping three agencies at once.
• Speed wins. On average about a third of home care inquiries become clients. A family coming home from the hospital may have only a day or two to decide.

What one client is worth in Georgia

That’s why the first thing a new agency needs after its license is a front door that works when you can’t pick up the phone: a real website, a way for families to get answers at night, and every inquiry in your inbox the minute it happens.

Sources

• Georgia DCH, Healthcare Facility Regulation, “Private Home Care Program” (license, services, exemptions), read October 16, 2026
• Georgia DCH, “Licensure Forms & Applications” (Private Home Care Provider Application Packet, Schedule of Licensure Activity Fees), read October 16, 2026
• Georgia Rules and Regulations, Subject 111-8-65, Rules and Regulations for Private Home Care Providers (services, provisional license, applications, staff training), read October 16, 2026
• Georgia DCH, Private Home Care Provider licensure packet (GAMMIS online application, fees due at submission), read October 16, 2026
• Georgia DCH, Office of Inspector General, “Georgia Criminal History Check System (GCHEXS)” (owner records check), read October 16, 2026
• CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2025, median hourly cost of non-medical in-home care by state
• HCAOA Private Duty Benchmarking, via Activated Insights (referral sources)
• Caring.com search behavior figures, via CoreCubed (generic search)
• Home Care Pulse, via Home Health Care News (inquiry conversion benchmarks)
• Sagapixel (directory and paid search cost per lead estimates)