Who pays for a group home? A plain answer.
July 2026
Most adults who need residential care in Minnesota do not pay for it out of pocket.
The usual path
Care is most often funded through Medical Assistance waiver programs, which in Minnesota include the DD, CADI, and BI waivers. The waiver pays the provider. The family does not receive a bill for services.
The door into all of this is your county. Every county has case managers who assess eligibility, manage waiver budgets, and help match a person to a home. If you do not have a case manager yet, call your county's human services department and ask for a MnCHOICES assessment.
Other routes
- County contracts, where the county arranges and pays for a placement directly.
- Private pay, which some families choose while waiting for a waiver or for other reasons.
Funding rules change, and every situation is different. Your county case manager has the current answer. And if you get stuck, call us. We walk families through this every week, and it costs nothing to ask.