Can I get paid for taking care of Miss Ella at home?

If you want to "commit" to care for this lady make sure you know what you're getting into.

The PA program isn’t what people here continue to say it is. It’s not a county program. It’s not really a program at all. And it’s something that can be done anywhere. All you have to do is get hired by the agency and then “miss Ella” can hire the agency and you can ask to be assigned to her. Alternatively if she is on Medicaid and eligible for home care, then there may be options for self-directed care in your county and she could hire you to be caregiver and you would be paid through the state. Just keep in mind, unless you are in NY, the pay is around minimum wage and she’ll only be approved for maybe 20 hours a week of home care. There are no benefits and no paid time off either.

Was someone (like a family member) ordering the home healthcare for Miss Ella? Or was it through the county? If a family member was managing it, they may be her DPoA. This is the person you should contact to create a private pay arrangement. But any payment for caring for her needs to be covered by a written contract. It makes whoever hires you an employer so taxes & SS are involved, like JoAnn posted. If you get trained and hired by agency they will control your hours and wages. If it's the county you will make close to minimum wage and it will only be part-time.

Good luck.

If she has other family, run this by them, before doing anything. If something bad should happen to her, they could blame you.

In the state of PA there are programs through Agencies that will train and hire you and then take care of a friend or loved one. You may want to check with your Office of Aging to see if these programs exist. Who was paying for her homecare before COVID? If she she was, she could pay you. But you should have a contract in place and taxes/SS taken out.