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Georgia · Private home care provider license · Free checklist

Georgia home care license checklist

Every step to a Georgia private home care license, from the RN on your application to your first re-licensure survey, each with the rule it comes from. Answer six questions to tailor it, tick steps off as you go and email it to yourself.

Tailor my checklistGeorgia guide
  • Rule-verified September 30, 2026
  • 27 steps, each cited
  • Free, no account
A whiteboard reading Provisional license: 3 months, with clients 1 and 2 admitted ticked, client 3 to go, and Email DCH to request initial survey underlined, above a CareRulebook binder

Quick answer

To run a home care agency in Georgia, even companion-only, you need a private home care provider license from DCH. Before you apply you appoint an administrator, line up a Georgia RN (DCH requires one on every initial application), run fingerprint checks for the administrator and owners, and write every policy the rules require, because a notarized affidavit with your application confirms they are in place. You apply in GAHLES with DCH’s $300 application fee plus $250 for each service category.

If approved you get a three-month provisional license: admit at least three clients and email DCH to request your initial survey before it runs out, or it is voided.

Rule-verified, checked against official sources on September 30, 2026

Tailor your checklist

Six quick questions

Your answers stay in this browser. The checklist below updates as you answer.

Will anyone besides you provide care?
Which services will you offer?

Georgia licenses three categories. Tick all you plan to offer.

How will your personal care aides qualify?
Who have you lined up?

Tick any that apply.

What have you already done?

Tick any that apply.

Will you use contracted nurses?

Your checklist

Showing the steps for a new agency offering personal care and companion or sitter services, training its own aides. Answer the questions above to tailor it.

Before you apply

  1. Application Checklist, item 4

  2. 111-8-65-.10(1)Which license do you need? →

  3. Application Checklist, item 10

  4. Application Checklist, p. 2The RN requirement →

  5. Application Checklist, item 7

  6. Application Checklist, p. 1Which policies the rules require →

  7. 111-8-65-.09(5)(c)2

  8. 111-8-65-.09(5)(d)2

Apply in GAHLES

  1. 111-8-25-.03(8)The application, step by step →

  2. Application Checklist, Affidavit of Compliance

  3. Application Checklist, p. 1

Your three-month provisional license

  1. Application Checklist, p. 2The provisional license →

  2. Application Checklist, p. 2

  3. 111-8-12-.04(1)

  4. 111-8-65-.09(6)

  5. 111-8-65-.09(4)(c)4

  6. 111-8-65-.09(2)(b)

  7. 111-8-65-.11(2)

Every year and at every survey

  1. 111-8-65-.10(2)(b)2

  2. 111-8-65-.10(2)(c)2

  3. 111-8-65-.09(6)(b)

  4. Annual License Fee Payments, p. 1

  5. Application Checklist, pp. 2-3

  6. Board summary, July 9, 2026What the amendment changes →

Email me this checklist

We send the checklist with your answers and a link back to it. Nothing else unless you tick the box.

See our privacy notice. Reply to any email to stop them.

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Answer a few questions about your agency and CareRulebook writes every policy Georgia’s rules require, for the services you offer, with your details filled in and the rule quoted under every policy.

  • 25 policies, 52 rule requirements mapped
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  • 12 months of updates when the rules change
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$199CareRulebook founding price for the first 50 Georgia agencies, then $249. Not a DCH fee.

Frequently asked questions

What do I need to get a home care license in Georgia?

A private home care provider license from the Department of Community Health, even for companion-only care. You need an administrator, a Georgia registered nurse on the application, fingerprint checks for the administrator and owners of 10% or more, a local business license, and every policy the rules require written before you apply. You apply online in GAHLES with a $300 application fee plus $250 for each service category.

How long does a Georgia home care license take?

DCH says the initial review takes about 30 business days. If approved, you get a provisional license for three months, in which you must admit at least three clients and email DCH to request your initial survey. After you pass the survey, DCH issues the permanent permit.

Does DCH check my policies before licensing?

Not with the application. You confirm in a notarized Affidavit of Compliance that the required policies already exist, and DCH checks them at unannounced inspections. Deficient policies can bring sanctions.

Is this checklist free?

Yes. It is free to use and to email to yourself. It is guidance, not legal advice, so check each step against the rule it links to.

Keep reading

Georgia

How to start a home care agency in Georgia

The full guide behind this checklist.

Georgia

The Georgia license application

Every document DCH asks for and what happens after you submit.

Product

Build your Georgia policy manual

Every policy Chapter 111-8-65 requires, preview free.

North Carolina

North Carolina license checklist

The same tool for a DHSR home care license.

Texas

Texas license checklist

The same tool for a Texas HCSSA license.

Sources

  1. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. Chapter 111-8-65, Rules and Regulations for Private Home Care Providers · Georgia DCH (text via Cornell LII, checked against the Secretary of State text) · retrieved September 30, 2026
  2. Private Home Care Providers, Chapter 111-8-65, final adoption (2026 amendment to rules .03, .05 and .09) · Georgia Department of Community Health · retrieved September 30, 2026
  3. Board of Community Health meeting minutes and summaries, May 14 and July 9, 2026 · Georgia Department of Community Health · retrieved September 30, 2026
  4. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-25-.03, Licensure activity fees · Georgia DCH (text via Cornell LII) · retrieved September 30, 2026
  5. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. Chapter 111-8-12, Rules and Regulations for Criminal Background Checks · Georgia DCH (text via Cornell LII) · retrieved September 30, 2026
  6. GaMap2Care: Find a Facility · Georgia Department of Community Health, Healthcare Facility Regulation · retrieved September 30, 2026
  7. Healthcare Facility and Medical Service Provider Change of Ownership (CHOW): Frequently Asked Questions · Georgia Department of Community Health, Healthcare Facility Regulation · retrieved September 30, 2026
  8. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-2-2-.32, Specific Review Considerations for Home Health Services (Certificate of Need) · Georgia DCH (text via Cornell LII) · retrieved September 30, 2026
  9. Home Health and Hospice Programs · Georgia Department of Community Health, Healthcare Facility Regulation · retrieved September 30, 2026
  10. Home Health Agency Services Need Projection Summary for Horizon Year 2028 (March 27, 2026) · Georgia Department of Community Health, Office of Health Planning · retrieved September 30, 2026
  11. QSO-26-11-HHA & Hospice: Six-Month National Moratoria on Hospice and Home Health Agency Enrollment (May 20, 2026) · Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services · retrieved September 30, 2026
  12. Report Elder Abuse, Neglect, or Exploitation (Adult Protective Services) · Georgia Department of Human Services, Division of Aging Services · retrieved September 30, 2026
  13. O.C.G.A. §30-5-4, Reporting of need for protective services (unofficial copy, last modified 2016) · Georgia General Assembly (text via onecle) · retrieved September 30, 2026
  14. O.C.G.A. §§31-8-80 to 31-8-82, Reporting abuse or exploitation of long-term care facility residents (unofficial copy) · Georgia General Assembly (text via onecle) · retrieved September 30, 2026
  15. O.C.G.A. §§31-7-300 to 31-7-308, Private Home Care Providers (unofficial copy) · Georgia General Assembly (text via onecle) · retrieved September 30, 2026
  16. Private Home Care Providers Application Checklist (July 2026) · Georgia Department of Community Health · retrieved September 30, 2026
  17. Private Home Care Providers Application Packet (posted March 2022) · Georgia Department of Community Health · retrieved September 30, 2026
  18. Private Home Care Program · Georgia Department of Community Health · retrieved September 30, 2026
  19. Annual License Fee Payments and Schedule of Licensure Activity Fees (October 2024) · Georgia Department of Community Health · retrieved September 30, 2026
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