And understand what other options may be available to you.
Self-direction gave your family real choice — over caregivers, wages, scheduling, and how services are delivered. Clairo Care is a provider agency built to support those same values, not to talk you out of them.
Start with what worked
Clairo is not anti-SDS. Families chose self-direction for real reasons, and any conversation about options should start by naming them.
Choice
Deciding who provides support, not being assigned someone.
Caregiver control
Building a team of people the participant already knows and trusts.
Wage flexibility
Influence over what caregivers are paid within the budget.
Scheduling flexibility
Support that fits the participant's actual week.
Involvement in services
A real say in how services are designed and delivered.
Family and friends
The ability, where permitted, to employ people close to the participant.
What families are asking about now
We can't predict how Maryland's rules will evolve. What we can do is be transparent about how Clairo works so families can weigh their options with real information.
Caregiver wages
Whether the wages that keep a trusted caregiver in the role can be sustained going forward.
The 60/40 framework
What the split means in practice for a participant’s budget and care team.
Evolving rules
Changes to budget methodology and requirements that are still taking shape.
Administrative burden
Employer responsibilities, timekeeping, payroll, and paperwork sitting with the family.
Keeping caregivers
Whether the people the participant depends on can stay in the role.
Uncertainty ahead
Planning a care team when the next set of changes is not yet known.
Three conceptual paths
Which path makes sense depends entirely on the participant's plan, authorizations, services, caregivers, and priorities. Here is how each one tends to work.
Path one
You keep the employer role and continue directing all services as you do today. For many families this is the right answer, and nothing here suggests otherwise.
Path two
Depending on the plan and authorizations, some services may be delivered by Clairo while other applicable services remain self-directed.
Path three
Some families eventually prefer to have more of their services delivered by a provider agency and step back from employer responsibilities.
Every participant's plan, authorizations, services, and circumstances are different. Whether any service can move to a provider agency — and what happens to the rest — depends on DDA requirements and the individual plan. Clairo is funded as a provider agency for the services Clairo delivers and does not control a participant's self-directed employer budget. Nothing on this page is regulatory guidance.
Your care team
The hardest part of self-direction to replace isn't the paperwork — it's the caregivers you spent years finding. For services Clairo delivers, those caregivers can often apply to work through us.
Let's talk
Talk with someone at Clairo about the participant's services and caregivers. If staying fully self-directed is the better answer for your family, we'll tell you that too.
No pressure. Just a conversation about your options.