What Is CDASS in Colorado? How Self-Direction Works for Clients, Attendants, and Agencies

Short answer: CDASS — Consumer Directed Attendant Support Services — is Colorado's self-direction option for Medicaid waiver members who need attendant support. The member becomes the employer of record: they recruit, hire, train, schedule, and set pay rates for their own attendants within a monthly budget allocation, while a financial management services (FMS) partner handles payroll and tax compliance.

For a lot of Colorado families, CDASS is the difference between care that fits a life and care that a life has to be rearranged around. It is also one of the most commonly misunderstood parts of the waiver system — including by the agencies that operate alongside it.

Here is how it actually works.

The core idea: the member is the employer

In traditional agency-based care, a provider agency recruits the caregiver, employs them, schedules them, trains them, and carries the compliance burden. The member receives whoever is available.

CDASS inverts that. The member — or an authorized representative acting for them — holds the employer role. That means:

• Recruiting and hiring. The member chooses their attendants, often people they already know.
• Training. The member trains attendants on their specific needs and routines, rather than relying only on generic agency orientation.
• Scheduling. The member decides when support happens, which matters enormously for people whose needs do not follow business hours.
• Setting wages. Within the allocation and program parameters, the member decides what to pay — a real lever in a tight labor market.
• Managing performance. Including the authority to end an employment relationship that is not working.

What the member does not handle is the machinery: payroll processing, tax withholding and filing, workers' compensation, and background check administration. That is the FMS partner's job.

Who does what

Understanding this division is what keeps CDASS from feeling chaotic. Nobody is doing everything; each party has a bounded job.

Eligibility and getting started

Eligibility generally requires that the member is enrolled in a qualifying HCBS waiver, has an assessed need for attendant support, and can direct their own services — or has an authorized representative who can. Colorado also expects members to complete training in employer responsibilities before services begin, because being an employer is a genuine skill set.

The usual sequence looks like this:

1. Member expresses interest in self-direction to their case manager
2. Case manager confirms waiver enrollment and assesses attendant support needs
3. Member completes CDASS training on employer responsibilities
4. Member selects an FMS partner
5. An allocation is established based on the assessed need
6. Member recruits and hires attendants; FMS processes background checks and onboarding
7. Services begin; the member manages the allocation month to month

How the allocation works

The allocation is the budget. It is derived from the member's assessed level of need and is expressed as an amount available to spend on attendant support over a period.

Within it, the member makes tradeoffs that an agency would otherwise make for them:

• A higher hourly rate attracts and keeps a better attendant, but buys fewer hours
• A lower rate stretches hours, but risks turnover that costs more in the long run
• Overtime and holiday differentials consume the allocation faster than base hours

This is the part that surprises new participants. Self-direction is real authority, and real authority means real budget management. Members who track their spend weekly rarely run into trouble. Members who look at it once a quarter often do.

CDASS versus agency-based services

Neither is better in the abstract. The right answer depends on how much control the member wants and how much administration they are prepared to take on. Some members move between the two as their circumstances change.

What agencies need to know

Even if your agency does not deliver CDASS, it shapes your world.

You compete for the same workforce. A member setting their own rate can outbid a standard agency wage for a specific attendant. Agencies that respond only on pay lose; agencies that compete on scheduling quality, reliable hours, and respect tend to hold their staff. We wrote about that in DSP retention in 2026.

Members move between models. A member who tried self-direction and found the administrative side overwhelming becomes an agency client — and arrives with clear expectations about who works with them and when. That is a good client to have if your scheduling can honor preferences.

Coordination still lands on you. When a member receives CDASS attendant support alongside agency-delivered day services or residential support, someone has to make the picture coherent. Shared visibility through a family portal and clean documentation and outcome records is what makes that coordination possible rather than aspirational.

EVV applies here too. Consumer-directed personal care is in scope for electronic visit verification, even though the capture path runs through the FMS partner. If your agency touches any part of the member's plan, understanding Colorado EVV requirements is still your problem.

Common questions members ask

Can I hire a family member? Often yes — that is one of the main reasons people choose CDASS. Spouses and legally responsible parties are subject to specific restrictions, so confirm with your case manager and FMS partner before making an offer.

What if my attendant quits? Backup coverage is the member's responsibility, which is the strongest argument for maintaining a small bench of trained attendants rather than depending on one person.

What if I run out of allocation? Talk to your case manager early, not at the end of the month. If needs have genuinely changed, a reassessment may be appropriate.

Learn more

Our Colorado CDASS and self-direction page covers the software side in more depth, and Colorado I/DD and HCBS waiver services explains how self-direction sits alongside the rest of the waiver system.

If you run an agency that coordinates with self-directing members and needs one clear record across programs, talk to our team.