New Jersey health care service firm registration for home care agencies

A consumer-protection registration, not a health license

Most states license home care agencies through their health department. New Jersey does it differently. A non-medical home care agency registers with the Division of Consumer Affairs, the same office that oversees employment agencies and temp firms. The rules say outright that this is an employment-agency category. They take their authority “from N.J.S.A. 34:8-43 under the definition of ‘employment agency’”, and the Director created a separate class called the “health care service firm” so that all firms doing this work fall under one set of rules ⁠²⁰. You will deal with the Department of Health only if you decide to become a licensed home health agency, which is a different business (covered below).

This shapes the whole process. The HCSF rules in N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13 contain no pre-opening office inspection, staffing ratio or physical-plant standard ⁠⁵⁠⁶. What the Division checks is who owns and runs the firm, your money and insurance, your criminal-history disclosures and your clinical supervisor. After that, ongoing oversight comes through accreditation and annual financial filings ⁠²⁠⁶⁠⁷⁠⁸.

Who must register

The trigger is set in N.J.S.A. 34:8-45.1(a) as amended by P.L. 2014, c.29. Any “firm, company, business, agency, or other entity” must register as a health care service firm if it places or arranges for the placement of personnel to provide companion services, health care or personal care services in the personal residence of a person with a disability or a senior citizen age 60 or older. This applies “regardless of the title by which the provider of the services is known” ⁠³. Only two groups are carved out: home health care agencies licensed by the Department of Health under N.J.S.A. 26:2H, and licensed hospices ⁠³.

The statute defines the three service types ⁠³:

• Companion services: “non-medical, basic supervision and socialization services which do not include assistance with activities of daily living,” provided in the person’s home, which “may include the performance of household chores.”
• Personal care services: services “performed by licensed or certified personnel” that help with activities of daily living and may involve physical contact, such as bathing, toileting, transferring, dressing, grooming, and help with walking, exercise or personal hygiene.
• Health care services: services that maintain or restore physical or mental health and need a license or certification to perform.

The regulation’s own definition is broader in one respect. Under N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.2, a health care service firm is any firm that employs people to assign them to health care, personal care or companion work “either directly in the home or at a care-giving facility.” It also pays their wages, Social Security and unemployment taxes, carries workers’ compensation and “sustains responsibility for the action of the employed individuals” ⁠⁵. If you plan to serve only clients under 60 without disabilities, or to staff facilities, read both definitions before assuming you are outside the rules. The subchapter also reaches firms whose residence or principal place of business is outside New Jersey ⁠²⁰.

The 2016 change that pulled in companion agencies

Before P.L. 2014, c.29, the statute exempted agencies that placed workers “for the exclusive purpose of providing companion, housekeeping, meal preparation, shopping, laundry, cleaning, or transportation services.” The 2014 law deleted that exemption ⁠³. The Division’s notice explains that the amendment was signed August 1, 2014 and took effect February 1, 2016. From that date any agency providing companion services in the home has to register, and “Employment Agencies, Temporary Help Service Firms, Consulting/Temp Firms, etc., will no longer have the ability to place an individual in the home as a companion” ⁠⁴. So in New Jersey there is no lighter companion-only registration of the kind some states offer. A companion agency and a personal care agency file the same application.

Neighboring license types

A home health agency is not just a larger version of an HCSF. The Department of Health says every licensed home health agency “shall provide nursing, homemaker-home health aide, and physical therapy services” ⁠¹⁸. The Department’s July 2025 public notice postponed the certificate of need call for home health care services that had been scheduled for July 1, 2025, and set no new date ⁠¹⁹. Ask the Department whether a call is open before planning a licensed agency. The HCSF rules contain no certificate of need step ⁠⁵⁠⁶. See the New Jersey home health agency guide for the licensed route.

What the initial application contains

You apply online through the Division’s Regulated Business Online Registration (RGB) Portal. The same portal has a public “Verify a License or Registration” search that clients and referral sources can use to look you up ⁠²⁠¹⁷. The Division’s FAQ lists the following for an initial registration ⁠²:

1. Registration form

   It must show the firm’s legal name and any trade names. It also lists related health care companies (shared owners, boards, officers or principals), each primary business location by street address, and the name and home address of every officer, director and principal. Anyone owning 10 percent or more is listed with their percentage, and every managing agent is named ⁠⁶.

2. $500 application fee

   , as published by the Division on October 12, 2026 ⁠².

3. Business formation documents

   ⁠².

4. Criminal conviction certifications

   from each officer, director, principal or owner, stating whether that person has been convicted of a crime listed in N.J.S.A. 34:8-44 ⁠²⁠⁶.

5. Certificate of general professional liability insurance

   of $1,000,000 ⁠².

6. A $10,000 bond

   “to secure compliance with the Act.” The Director may waive it for an entity with a net worth of $100,000 or more. To get the waiver, you submit a certified financial report from a CPA or licensed accountant showing that net worth ⁠²⁠⁶.

7. A health care practitioner supervisor

   : a New Jersey-licensed registered professional nurse or physician, with a copy of the license ⁠².

8. Out-of-state history

   List every license the firm or any officer, director, owner or principal holds in another state to provide health care services, with any actions taken against those licenses (including health or labor law violations) and any federal-law violations by the firm or its principals ⁠²⁠⁶.

The RN or physician supervisor stands out. You need one even if the business offers only companion care.

Neither the Division’s page, its FAQ nor N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13 states a review time for initial applications. Ask the Division how long a complete application takes before you commit to a start date.

Do not recruit before you are registered

N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.6 makes it a prohibited act to “recruit or advertise for health care service staff, provide or offer to provide health care services to potential employees, or contract with a health care facility to provide health care services without first obtaining registration” ⁠⁹. Job postings and facility contracts have to wait until the registration is issued.

Running the firm: worker and client rules

Fees and contracts with your workers

A registered HCSF may not charge its workers a fee or liquidated damages “in connection with employment by the firm.” It also may not use a contract to stop them from working for someone else and then charge them a fee when they do. If you charge either kind of fee, you must also hold an employment agency license under N.J.A.C. 13:45B-2 ⁠⁹. HCSFs also may not knowingly send staff to replace striking or locked-out workers at a health care facility that is not under National Labor Relations Board jurisdiction ⁠⁹.

Certified homemaker-home health aides

The Division notes that health care service firms may employ certified homemaker-home health aides (CHHAs), who are regulated by the Board of Nursing ⁠¹. Under the statute, personal care is defined as services “performed by licensed or certified personnel,” which ties hands-on care to credentialed staff ⁠³. The Board’s rules that matter most to an agency owner:

• Training. A CHHA training program runs at least 76 hours: 60 hours in the classroom and 16 hours of clinical instruction. Programs are conducted by a home care services agency or an approved educational institution. Board approval is valid for 12 months and must be obtained before the program starts ⁠¹².
• Certification. Applicants submit proof that they finished an approved program, including the competency evaluation exam, plus a Criminal History Certification of Authorization form ⁠¹³. Since May 1, 2018, initial applications are online only. The Board has also eliminated the conditional or temporary work certification, so every applicant must clear a criminal background check before starting work as a CHHA ⁠¹⁴.
• Renewal. CHHA certification renews every two years ⁠²¹.
• Nurse delegation. When a CHHA is assigned to a patient a registered nurse has already assessed, the RN reviews the nursing plan of care with the aide. A CHHA may give medications only if an RN delegates that specific medication and documents details such as dose, route, frequency, side effects and when to call the nurse ⁠¹⁵.

What clients must receive before the first visit

New Jersey requires written disclosures at least 24 hours before services begin. A client may waive the 24-hour timing in writing, and you must keep the waiver for at least two years. Even with a waiver, the documents must be delivered before services start ⁠¹⁰⁠¹¹.

• Every client gets a copy of the Board of Nursing’s Consumer Guide to Homemaker-Home Health Aides ⁠¹⁰.
• For any worker who is not a CHHA or other licensed or certified professional (for example, a companion), the client receives ⁠¹¹:
  • written notice that the worker is not a certified homemaker-home health aide or licensed or certified by the Division
  • a statement on your letterhead with the worker’s name and address and the title, date and location of any course that prepared them for the job
  • your certification that the worker can legally work in the United States
  • your certification that you verified the worker’s employment history or obtained two character references

CHHAs and Division-regulated health professionals must wear a photo ID tag showing their first name or initial, full surname and credential. The letters must be of equal size and at least one-quarter inch tall, and the tag must be at least as large as any other ID the worker wears ⁠¹⁰.

Reporting changes

You must report changes in ownership or management to the Division before they happen. Any other change to application information must be reported in writing within 30 calendar days. If an officer, director, principal or owner is convicted of a crime after filing, the firm must file a new certification from that person within 30 days of the conviction ⁠⁶.

Accreditation: due at renewal

P.L. 2014, c.29 made accreditation a condition of registration. It must come from an accrediting body that the Commissioner of Human Services recognizes for homemaker agencies in the Medicaid program, and the accreditor applies both the Board of Nursing aide rules (N.J.A.C. 13:37-14) and the HCSF rules (N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13) ⁠³. The rule sets the timing. Starting with the first renewal after May 21, 2019, each renewal must include evidence of accreditation. The one exception is a firm whose initial registration is less than 12 months old when it first renews, which is excused that one time ⁠⁷. If you lose accreditation, whether because it lapsed or because the accreditor acted against you, you must notify the Division in writing within 10 days ⁠⁷.

The Medicaid home care rule defines an “accreditation organization” as an agency approved by the Department of Human Services to oversee the quality of Medicaid/NJ FamilyCare home care agencies. The list of approved organizations is available from that Department ⁠¹⁶. The Division’s FAQ also links to a list ⁠². The rule says the current list can be obtained by contacting the Department of Human Services at (609) 292-3717, and it warns you to get the most recent list before acting on it ⁠¹⁶. Ask the Department, or the Division, which accreditors are recognized when you choose one.

The statute itself says to obtain accreditation within 12 months of registration ⁠³. Because renewals fall on September 30, a firm registered in October or later is likely to reach its first renewal inside 12 months and be excused once; one registered in the weeks before September 30 reaches it after 12 months and is not.

Renewal, the September 30 date, and the 2026 financial rule changes

Annual renewal

The registration is annual. As of October 12, 2026, the rule text still says to renew “on or prior to July 1 of each year” ⁠⁷. The Division has since moved the date. Registrations now expire on September 30 instead of June 30, registrations that were due to expire June 30, 2026 now expire September 30, 2026, and renewal applications must be filed before October 1 each year. Firms that had already renewed for 2026-27 were automatically extended to September 30, 2027. The Division says it intends to amend N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.5 to match ⁠¹.

A renewal must include ⁠²⁠⁷:

• all of the initial application information, updated, including a certification that no new officers, directors, principals or owners were added and an updated description of any out-of-state actions or federal or New Jersey law violations
• the $1,000,000 liability insurance certificate
• the $10,000 bond, unless you have a perpetual bond or a waiver
• the RN or physician supervisor designation and license copy
• evidence of accreditation (after your first renewal)
• a financial statement

The Division’s FAQ and N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.5 list no renewal fee; the $500 fee appears only in the initial-registration list ⁠²⁠⁷. Ask the Division whether the portal charges a renewal fee before you budget for one.

Financial statements and the suspended audits

Every HCSF must file a financial statement each year. It must match the firm’s New Jersey tax filing and show assets, liabilities, gross income, operating expenses and the amount received for New Jersey Medicaid Personal Care Assistance services. The FAQ gives the due date as September 30, 2026 and every September 30 after that ⁠². An organization that owns, or holds majority ownership of, two or more HCSFs may file one statement for all of them ⁠².

N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.5A also requires audits and CPA reports above certain revenue levels ⁠⁸:

These are on hold. Governor Sherrill signed P.L. 2026, c.45, which revises the HCSF financial registration requirements in N.J.S.A. 34:8-45.1. Until new regulations are adopted, the Division has suspended the audit and report requirements in N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.5A(b) through (e). Firms are “not required to submit a financial audit or report” with the September 2026 renewal, but the financial statement is still required ⁠¹⁠². The Division says it will issue updated guidance once more information is available ⁠². If your firm will bill Medicaid Personal Care Assistance or grow past $1 million in gross income, watch for the new rules.

Order of steps for a new New Jersey firm

1. Confirm the registration fits

   If you will place companions or aides in the homes of people 60 or older or with a disability, and you are not a DOH-licensed home health agency or hospice, you need HCSF registration ⁠³. If you want to provide skilled nursing and therapy, see the home health agency guide.

2. Form the business and set its ownership

   The application asks for formation documents and lists every officer, director, principal, managing agent and 10-percent owner ⁠²⁠⁶.

3. Line up the supervisor, insurance and bond

   Retain a New Jersey-licensed RN or physician, buy $1,000,000 in general professional liability coverage, and get a $10,000 bond or a CPA-certified financial report showing a net worth of $100,000 or more to support a waiver request ⁠²⁠⁶.

4. Collect criminal-history certifications and out-of-state history

   from every principal ⁠²⁠⁶.

5. File on the RGB Portal and pay the $500 fee

   Hold off on recruiting, advertising for staff or signing facility contracts until the registration is issued ⁠²⁠⁹⁠¹⁷.

6. Hire staff and prepare client paperwork

   Check CHHA certifications (aides must have cleared a background check before working), print the Consumer Guide to Homemaker-Home Health Aides, and set up the disclosure packet for uncertified workers ⁠¹⁰⁠¹¹⁠¹⁴.

7. Start accreditation

   with a body the Department of Human Services recognizes, so you can show it at your first renewal that falls 12 or more months after registration ⁠⁷⁠¹⁶.

8. Renew before October 1 each year

   with your annual financial statement ⁠¹⁠².

For other New Jersey care businesses, see the adult day health services facility guide, the assisted living residence guide and the adult family care caregiver guide, or the New Jersey state overview.

Sources

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   New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Health Care Service Firms Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
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