How to Become a PCA in Massachusetts: Hiring, CORI, and Pay

To become a PCA in Massachusetts, you need to be at least 14½ years old with work authorization, get hired by a consumer-employer who receives MassHealth personal care services, complete a paperwork packet through the fiscal intermediary Tempus Unlimited, pass a Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) background check, and attend a four-hour New Hire Orientation within three months of your start date.¹ No degree, CNA license, or home health aide certificate is required. Once your documents are in, the process can move in as little as two weeks.²

Who Qualifies

The state sets a low bar. You need to be at least 14½ with valid working papers (18 and older, no permit needed), legally authorized to work in the United States, and able to understand and carry out the consumer-employer’s instructions about their personal care routine.¹ Individual consumer-employers may want experience or specific skills, but those are their preferences, not state rules.

Some relationships disqualify you from being paid as a PCA for a particular consumer. You cannot serve as a PCA for your spouse. You also cannot be paid if you are the consumer’s surrogate, the parent (biological, adoptive, or foster) of a minor consumer, or any legally responsible relative.³ When an adult consumer has two parents, one can act as surrogate while the other works as the PCA.

Finding a Consumer-Employer

Massachusetts PCA jobs are consumer-directed, meaning the person receiving care hires, schedules, and manages you directly rather than a home care agency doing it.⁴ So the first practical step is finding someone who wants to hire you.

The main tool is the Mass PCA Directory at masspcadirectory.org, run by the PCA Quality Home Care Workforce Council. You create a free worker profile with your location, availability, and skills, then search listings or wait for consumer-employers to contact you.⁵ A detailed, current profile improves your visibility.

A second platform, Rewarding Work at rewardingwork.org, lists respite and in-home care positions primarily tied to the Department of Developmental Services and covers a wider range of caregiving roles beyond the MassHealth PCA program.⁶ Word of mouth matters too; many consumer-employers prefer hiring someone they already know or who comes recommended.

Completing the Hiring Packet

Once a consumer-employer agrees to hire you, the paperwork runs through Tempus Unlimited, which has been the sole fiscal intermediary for the MassHealth PCA program since January 2022. Tempus handles payroll, tax withholding, workers’ compensation, and your W-2.⁷

Your packet includes:

Federal Form W-4 for income tax withholding.
Massachusetts Form M-4, filled out only if your state withholding exemptions differ from your federal ones.⁸
Form I-9, with identity and work authorization documents presented within three business days of starting work. A U.S. passport covers both, or you can pair an identity document such as a driver’s license with a work authorization document such as an unrestricted Social Security card.⁹
A PCA Signature Form linking you to the consumer-employer’s Tempus account.
A direct deposit application.

Every form needs your Social Security number and current address. Check that the consumer-employer’s name and provider identification number are correct on any form that asks; errors here delay everything.

The CORI Background Check

Before you can start, Tempus runs a Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) check through the Massachusetts Department of Criminal Justice Information Services. You sign a CORI acknowledgment form authorizing the screening.¹⁰ Results can take up to 10 business days. You cannot work or be paid until the check clears and Tempus authorizes your employment.

Massachusetts does not publish a blanket list of automatically disqualifying offenses for the PCA program. The consumer-employer sees the results and makes the final hiring decision, since they are your direct employer.

New Hire Orientation

Every new PCA must attend a four-hour New Hire Orientation administered through the PCA Quality Home Care Workforce Council. It covers wages and benefits, fraud and abuse prevention, neglect awareness, and workers’ rights.¹¹

You have three months from your hire date to complete it. Missing that deadline can affect your eligibility to receive MassHealth payments.¹² Two formats are available: a group session held virtually or in person, or a consumer-employer-led option in which your consumer-employer leads part one and you attend a group session for part two. Schedule early. This is one of the few deadlines in the process where failing to act actually costs you money.

What You’ll Earn and How Many Hours You Can Work

MassHealth sets PCA rates in 15-minute increments, with the hourly amount depending on whether you have finished orientation and how long you have worked in the program. Before the January 2026 adjustment, hourly pay ranged from roughly $21.72 for PCAs who had not completed orientation to about $24.92 at higher seniority steps, well above the Massachusetts minimum wage of $15.00.¹³ Tempus pays you by direct deposit on a regular payroll cycle.

You can work up to 50 hours per week with no special approval. Between 51 and 66 hours requires an overtime prior authorization from MassHealth. No PCA may work more than 66 hours in any week, and hours are aggregated across every consumer you work for.¹⁴ A separate prior authorization is needed for each consumer whose work pushes you into overtime. Federal law requires overtime at one and a half times your regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek.¹⁵

Clocking In With Electronic Visit Verification

Massachusetts uses an Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) system that you have to use for every shift. A phone or tablet app records your start and end times, and your consumer-employer reviews and approves the hours in a web portal before Tempus pays them.¹⁶ Tempus sends an EVV start packet with setup instructions when you are hired.

Two exemptions apply. If you and the consumer-employer live in the same home permanently, the live-in exemption applies. A safety exemption is available if using the system would create a safety concern for either of you. Otherwise, expect to use the app on every shift.

Taxes

Tempus withholds federal and state income tax based on your W-4 and M-4, deducts Social Security and Medicare at 7.65%, pays the employer match, and handles unemployment taxes, workers’ compensation, and Paid Family and Medical Leave contributions on behalf of the consumer-employer.⁷ You receive a W-2 at year-end. Your only real job on taxes is to make sure your withholding forms reflect what you actually want withheld; claiming too many exemptions means owing money in April.

1
Mass.gov. Become a PCA Today
2
Mass.gov. MassHealth Personal Care Attendant Program
3
Mass.gov. Personal Care Manual – Revised Regulations About the Definition of Family Member
4
Mass.gov. PCA Consumer-Employer Handbook Effective January 1, 2026
5
Personal Care Attendant Workforce Council. Mass PCA Directory Home Page
6
Executive Office of Health and Human Services. Rewarding Work – Respite and In-Home Care
7
Mass.gov. MassHealth Personal Care Attendant (PCA) Fiscal Intermediary – Tempus
8
Mass.gov. Form M-4 Massachusetts Employees Withholding Exemption Certificate
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Acceptable Documents for Verifying Employment Authorization and Identity
10
Mass.gov. Request CORI as an Organization
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Mass.gov. Personal Care Attendant (PCA) New Hire Orientation
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Mass.gov. PCA New Hire Orientation
13
Mass.gov. Notice of Proposed Changes – PCA Rates Published November 19, 2025
14
Mass.gov. MassHealth PCA Overtime Policy Effective January 1, 2026
15
U.S. Department of Labor. Wages and the Fair Labor Standards Act
16
Mass.gov. Electronic Visit Verification (EVV)