Kansas · Home Health Agency license, supportive care · Free checklist
Kansas home care license checklist
Every step to a Kansas supportive care license, from checking the license and appointing your administrators to the emailed application, KDHE’s fee, the 13 upload folders, the letter that starts KDHE’s review, your first workers and clients and what recurs, each with the rule or KDHE source it comes from. Answer a few questions to tailor it, tick steps off as you go and email it to yourself.
- Rule-verified October 2, 2026
- 58 steps, each cited
- Free, no account
Quick answer
In Kansas, "any agency, including medicare and medicaid providers, that provides one or more of the home health services, supportive care services or attendant care services specified in K.S.A. 65-5101 ... shall be licensed in accordance with the provisions of this act." (K.S.A. 65-5102). For hands-on help with daily living and nothing medical, that is KDHE’s Non-Medical Supportive Care Services license (KDHE Letter of Introduction), and "a person that applies for a license to provide only supportive care services shall not provide nursing services." (K.A.R. 28-51-105(e))
You email the application and pay KDHE’s fee, then upload your policies and personnel files into 13 folders, and "when all required documents have been reviewed and meet the requirements, KDHE will issue a license and notify you of your license approval." (KDHE application, Instructions 4) So the policies come before the license, not after.
Steps that cite K.A.R. 28-51 or K.S.A. come from the rules or the Home Health Agency Act. Steps that say "KDHE asks" or "KDHE says" come from KDHE’s application, attestation and Instruction Guide (reviewed/revised 03/2024), its license page, or its April 2026 answers to providers. Where we add a reading or advice of our own, the step says "by our reading" or "our suggestion". The application, step by step →
Tailor your checklist
Eight quick questions
Your answers stay in this browser. The checklist below updates as you answer.
Homemaker or companion work alone is a gray area in Kansas
In April 2026 KDHE told providers that tasks such as managing finances, meal preparation, housekeeping, shopping, laundry and transportation need no hands-on care and are offered by businesses that are not required to be licensed. KDHE’s 2024 letter says every agency must be licensed, and its license page lists chore and companionship services. By our reading, with no hands-on help you probably need no license, and any help with bathing, dressing, eating, medication reminders, transfers, walking or toileting needs one. Ask KDHE before you start, and change your first answer if you will give hands-on help.
Questions and Feedback, K.A.R. 28-51-117, p. 36That needs KDHE’s Skilled Services license, which this checklist does not cover
KDHE says KDADS requires the Skilled Services license for all HCBS waiver programs, and that many payers, including Veterans Affairs, require it too. Nursing of any kind is prohibited under the supportive care license. The Skilled Services license needs a registered nurse clinical manager. This checklist covers the supportive care license: change your first answer to see it.
Letter of Introduction, p. 1Your checklist
Showing the steps for a new Kansas supportive care agency set up as an LLC with an office it rents or owns, expecting fewer than 100 clients in its first year, with administrators who hold a degree, serving adults with employees only, and none of the extras that add steps. Answer the questions above to tailor it.
Set up the agency
Email the application and pay KDHE
Upload into KDHE’s 13 folders
KDHE’s review
Licensed: your first workers and clients
Every year, and when things change
Email me this checklist
We send the checklist with your answers and a link back to it. Nothing else unless you tick the box.
CareRulebook
Tick off “write and adopt your policies” from your answers
Answer a few questions about your agency and CareRulebook writes its Kansas supportive care policy and procedure manual, in the order of KDHE’s 13 upload folders, with your details filled in and the rule each policy meets quoted under it. No folder is left blank or “Not Applicable”, and no policy involves a nurse. With it come a KDHE folder index, a folder ZIP and the “Begin Review Process” letter.
- 31 policies, 130 requirements mapped
- KDHE folder index and folder ZIP
- Editable Word and PDF
- 12 months of updates: download again after a rule change
$199CareRulebook founding price for the first 50 Kansas agencies, then $249. Not a KDHE fee.
Frequently asked questions
What do I need to get a non-medical home care license in Kansas?
A Home Health Agency license for Non-Medical Supportive Care Services from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), if your business gives hands-on help with daily living such as bathing, dressing, eating, medication reminders or transfers. Before you apply: the business registered (a corporation or LLC with the Kansas Secretary of State), an administrator and an alternate who qualify and are appointed in writing, a manager, a parent office, and your written policies. You email the application with the attestation and two release forms, pay KDHE’s fee ($250 under 100 clients a year), then upload your policies into KDHE’s 13 folders.
Do I need a nurse for a Kansas supportive care agency?
No, and you may not use one for nursing. The rule says a supportive-care-only agency shall not provide nursing services, and KDHE’s attestation form says that includes a nurse supervising, assigning, delegating, overseeing or doing assessments. A manager with at least a year of home health, HCBS or supportive care experience assesses clients, writes the plan of care and supervises the caregivers.
How much does the Kansas license cost?
KDHE’s non-refundable fee is $250 if you expect fewer than 100 unique clients in the year after you apply, or $500 for 100 or more, paid online. Renewal is $100 or $350 a year. These are KDHE’s fees, not CareRulebook prices.
How long does a Kansas license take?
KDHE does not publish a processing time. Its review starts only when it receives your "Begin Review Process" letter, after everything is uploaded, and a reviewer emails you about anything missing or unclear. We cannot give you a date.
Can I take clients while my application is pending?
No. No one may provide supportive care services before being issued a license. An agency found operating without a license is told to get one and offered a 60-day temporary license, and violating the Home Health Agency Act is a class B misdemeanor.
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 or KDHE source it links to.
Get Kansas rule-change alerts
KDHE has drafted a rewrite of K.A.R. 28-51 that would change the license types, narrow supportive care tasks and add required policies. No official text has been published yet. Leave your email and we will tell you when a Kansas change affects your checklist or your policies.
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Sources
- K.A.R. 28-51-100 to 28-51-118, Home Health Agency Licensure (as amended or adopted in Kansas Register Vol. 41, No. 18, May 5, 2022, effective May 20, 2022; 28-51-108 and 28-51-114 to -116 from the Cornell LII mirror) · Kansas Secretary of State, Kansas Register (KDHE regulations); Cornell Legal Information Institute mirror · retrieved October 2, 2026
- K.S.A. 65-5101 to 65-5117, Home Health Agency Act (65-5101 as amended by L. 2025, ch. 85) · Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes · retrieved October 2, 2026
- K.S.A. 39-1430 to 39-1434, abuse, neglect or financial exploitation of certain adults (reporting to DCF) · Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes · retrieved October 2, 2026
- K.S.A. 39-1401 and 39-1402, abuse, neglect or exploitation of residents of adult care homes and medical care facilities · Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes · retrieved October 2, 2026
- K.S.A. 38-2223, reporting of child abuse or neglect (with the 2026 amendment in House Bill 2601) · Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes; Kansas Legislature · retrieved October 2, 2026
- HHA Letter of Introduction, with Two Options for State of Kansas HHA Licensure and Packet Submission Requirements (reviewed/revised 03/2024) · Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Bureau of Facilities and Licensing · retrieved October 2, 2026
- Kansas Home Health Agency Application, Non-Medical, with instructions (reviewed/revised 03/2024) · Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Bureau of Facilities and Licensing · retrieved October 2, 2026
- Home Health Agency Non-Medical Supportive Care Services Application Submission Requirements and Instruction Guide (reviewed/revised 03/2024) · Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Bureau of Facilities and Licensing · retrieved October 2, 2026
- Home Health Agency Non-Medical Supportive Care Services Attestation Form (reviewed/revised 03/2024) · Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Bureau of Facilities and Licensing · retrieved October 2, 2026
- Authorization for Release of Information, Personal and Agency (reviewed/revised 03/2024) · Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Bureau of Facilities and Licensing · retrieved October 2, 2026
- Non-Medical Supportive Care Services (license scope, documents, renewal, criminal record check) · Kansas Department of Health and Environment · retrieved October 2, 2026
- HHA Listening Sessions Questions and Feedback (KDHE responses; PDF dated April 14, 2026) · Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Bureau of Facilities and Licensing · retrieved October 2, 2026
- Adult Protective Services, Internet Archive copy of April 21, 2026 · Kansas Department for Children and Families · retrieved October 2, 2026