New Jersey · Step-by-step licensing guide
How to start a home care agency in New Jersey
To start a home care agency in New Jersey, you register as a Health Care Service Firm with the Division of Consumer Affairs under N.J.S.A. 34:8-45.1, not the Department of Health. The path: form the entity, line up the bond, insurance, and RN supervisor, write the policy manual, register with the $500 annual fee, then obtain accreditation within 12 months.
Informational summary of New Jersey regulations, not legal advice. We are not affiliated with any state agency. Verify current requirements with the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Regulated Business Section.
Step 1: What legal entity do you need to form?
Form the business with the New Jersey Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services: the certificate of formation is $100 for for-profit entities per the Division's registry fee schedule, filed online. The formation documents go into the registration, and each officer, director, principal, and 10%-or-greater owner must certify their criminal-conviction history (N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.3(a)).
- File the certificate of formation online with the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services; the fee is $100 for for-profit entities per the Division's registry fee schedule.
- Registration runs through the Division of Consumer Affairs, not the Department of Health; DOH licenses skilled home health agencies and hospices, which the HCSF statute expressly excludes. Half the guides you find describe the wrong agency.
- Collect the conviction-history certifications early; every officer, director, principal, and 10%+ owner signs one (N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.3(a)).
Step 2: What financial and supervision prerequisites come before you register?
Three items on the Division's application checklist take real lead time: a $10,000 surety bond, waivable if you document net worth above $100,000 with CPA-verified financials (N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.3(a)3), a $1 million general and professional liability insurance certificate, and a designated health care practitioner supervisor, a New Jersey-licensed RN or physician whose license copy goes in the application.
- The bond waiver requires CPA-verified financials showing $100,000+ net worth; a startup without them buys the bond (N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.3(a)3).
- If you will provide hands-on personal care, staffing runs through Board of Nursing certified homemaker-home health aides working under RN delegation (N.J.A.C. 13:37-14.3); companion-only services may use uncertified staff with the 24-hour written disclosure packet of N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.8.
- Do not recruit staff or advertise before the registration issues; pre-registration operation is itself a prohibited practice (N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.6(a)1).
Step 3: What goes in the written policy and procedure manual?
New Jersey's written-policy requirement arrives through mandatory accreditation: the recognized accreditors survey against a three-part policy manual, administrative, personnel, and clinical sections with roughly 35 named policies, alongside the consumer-disclosure rules of N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13. The state supplies no adoptable manual, and the accreditation clock starts the day you register, so the manual needs to exist before the surveyor does. Every mandated policy, with its citation:
The accreditation policy manual itself: administrative, personnel and clinical sections with roughly 35 named policies (intake, admission, plan of care, case monitoring, companion service, infection control, exposure control, performance improvement, grievance, discharge and more), each with implementation dates and annual review
N.J.S.A. 34:8-45.1(c) via the recognized accreditors’ standards (e.g. CAHC Standards I-V)
Uncertified/companion caregiver disclosure packet, given at least 24 hours before service: written non-certification notice, letterhead training statement, work-authorization certification, and employment-history verification or two character references, with signed waivers retained 2 years
N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.8
Consumer Guide to Homemaker-Home Health Aides delivered to each client at least 24 hours pre-service, with any written waiver retained 2 years
N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.7(b)-(d)
Photo ID tags for aides and licensed staff showing name and credential level while providing care
N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.7(a)
RN delegation and direction of certified homemaker-home health aide tasks, including medication-administration delegation documentation and per-administration records
N.J.A.C. 13:37-14.3 (applied to HCSFs via N.J.S.A. 34:8-45.1(c))
Aide credentialing: CHHA certification through the Board of Nursing with the individual criminal-history record check that certification carries
N.J.A.C. 13:37-14.9
Prohibited-practices compliance: no operating before registration, no charging caregivers fees, no restraining a caregiver’s future employment, no strike-replacement staffing
N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.6(a)
Ownership, management and conviction-history records: notice of material changes within 30 days, and certification of any new conviction within 30 days
N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.3(b)-(d)
Accreditation maintenance: evidence at every renewal and 10-day written notice if accreditation is lost
N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.5(b)-(d)
Annual financial statement filed with renewal (first due July 1, 2026); CPA audit or report tiers apply only above $250,000 in NJ Medicaid PCA revenue or $1M+ gross income
N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.5A (57 N.J.R. 1160(a), eff. June 2, 2025)
RN in-home case-monitoring evaluations at least once every 60 days for personal-care clients (COVID-era waiver terminated effective February 16, 2026)
Division of Consumer Affairs HCSF notice; accreditor case-monitoring standards
Every policy above, written out to N.J.S.A. 34:8-45.1 and N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13 with the citation beside it:
Step 4: How do you register?
Apply through the Division of Consumer Affairs Regulated Business online portal with the $500 registration fee, per year, per primary location, attaching the entity documents, conviction-history certifications, bond or waiver financials, insurance certificate, and the RN or physician supervisor's license. The Division publishes no processing deadline for the registration itself; the binding clock is what starts after it.
- Operating before registration carries a $500-per-day penalty (N.J.S.A. 34:8-45.1(e)).
- Renewal is annual with evidence of accreditation (N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.5(b)-(c)), and starting July 1, 2026, an annual financial statement (N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.5A); a startup files the statement, not a CPA audit.
Step 5: How does mandatory accreditation work?
Every registered firm, including companion-only and 100% private-pay firms, must obtain accreditation within 12 months of registering (N.J.S.A. 34:8-45.1(c)). The Division's current accrediting-bodies list names ACHC, CAHC, CHAP, The Joint Commission, NIHCA, and NAHC. The accreditor's document review plus on-site survey commonly consumes a large share of that year, and the survey is built around your written policy manual, personnel files, and clinical records.
- The Division confirmed in its June 2025 rulemaking that the accreditation mandate covers all firms, not just Medicaid participants; any page claiming a private-pay exemption is describing a bill that never passed.
- Report any loss of accreditation in writing within 10 days (N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.5(d)), and bring evidence of accreditation to every renewal.
What it costs to start a home care agency in New Jersey
| Item | Cost | Where the figure comes from |
|---|---|---|
| HCSF registration fee | $500 per year | Per primary location, paid to the Division of Consumer Affairs; N.J. Division of Consumer Affairs HCSF materials. |
| Entity formation (certificate of formation) | $100 | Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services registry fee schedule, for-profit entities. |
| Surety bond ($10,000 bond amount) | Varies, see your surety | The required bond amount is $10,000, waivable at $100,000+ documented net worth (N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.3(a)3); the premium is set by the surety. |
| Liability insurance ($1M certificate) | Varies, see your carrier | The Division's checklist requires a $1 million general/professional liability certificate; premiums are set by your carrier. |
| Accreditation (within 12 months) | Varies, see the accreditor | Survey and application fees are set by the accrediting body (ACHC, CAHC, CHAP, The Joint Commission, NIHCA, or NAHC, per the Division's list). |
| Policy & procedure manual | $149 | Our made-to-order manual mapped to the N.J.A.C. citations and accreditation standard structure; start-up consultants charge $1,000 to $4,000 for the same document. |
Only the figures with a citation are verified; “varies” cells are set by the named program or vendor, not by the statute. Fees change, so confirm each with the Division of Consumer Affairs and the Division of Revenue before relying on it.
Common mistakes that stall New Jersey applications
Dealing with the wrong agency
Private-pay non-medical home care registers with the Division of Consumer Affairs under the employment-and-personnel-services law, not the Department of Health, which licenses skilled home health and hospice. Applications aimed at DOH, and guides describing DOH licensure, are simply describing the wrong regime.
Operating or recruiting before registration
Unregistered operation carries a $500-per-day penalty under N.J.S.A. 34:8-45.1(e), and recruiting staff or advertising before the registration issues is itself a prohibited practice under N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.6(a)1. New Jersey enforces both.
Assuming private-pay firms skip accreditation
N.J.S.A. 34:8-45.1(c) requires every registered firm to be accredited within 12 months, and the Division's June 2025 rulemaking confirmed the mandate covers all firms, companion-only and private-pay included. Pages claiming an exemption describe a bill that never passed.
Starting the policy manual after registering
The 12-month accreditation clock starts at registration, and the accreditor's document review plus on-site survey is built around a three-part policy manual with roughly 35 named policies that the accreditors do not supply. Firms that start writing at month six run out of runway.
A fraction of the start-up consultant’s price.
Start-up consultants charge $1,000–$4,000 to assemble these documents by hand, and instant template shops are instant because they sell everyone the same generic document. Every manual is made to order: built from your agency details, organized to your state's rules, and delivered within 3 business days, with a full refund anytime before delivery. Founding pricing is limited to the first 25 agencies; after that the State P&P Manual is $199.
Delivered within 3 business days, with a full refund anytime before delivery. This is a self-prepared operational document you adopt for your own agency, not legal advice, and not a guarantee of license approval.
New Jersey licensing FAQ
How much does it cost to start a home care agency in New Jersey?
HCSF registration is $500 per year per primary location, the certificate of formation is $100, and you carry a $10,000 surety bond (waivable with documented net worth above $100,000) plus a $1 million liability insurance certificate, with accreditation fees due within the first year. Operating before registration costs $500 per day.
How long does it take to start a home care agency in New Jersey?
The Division of Consumer Affairs publishes no processing deadline for the registration itself; the binding clock starts after it. Every registered firm must obtain accreditation within 12 months, and the accreditor's document review plus on-site survey commonly consumes a large share of that year, so start the policy manual before you register.
Do I need a policy and procedure manual in New Jersey?
Yes, via accreditation: every registered firm must be accredited within 12 months under N.J.S.A. 34:8-45.1(c), and the recognized accreditors survey against a written three-part policy manual, administrative, personnel, and clinical, with roughly 35 named policies. The state's own Best Practices guidance is explicitly advisory and contains no adoptable language.
Can I use a generic template manual?
You can try, but the accreditor red-lines the manual you bring against its standards, and New Jersey layers state-specific requirements on top: the 24-hour uncertified-caregiver disclosure packet of N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.8, the Consumer Guide delivery rule of 13:45B-13.7, RN delegation records under 13:37-14.3, and the prohibited-practices list of 13:45B-13.6. Generic national templates cover none of those.
Do I need a license for non-medical home care in New Jersey?
Yes: registration as a Health Care Service Firm with the Division of Consumer Affairs under N.J.S.A. 34:8-45.1 and N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13, even for companion-only services. Operating without registration carries a $500-per-day penalty, and recruiting staff or advertising before registration is itself a prohibited practice.
Comparing states? Fees, timelines, and mandated policies for every state we cover, side by side.
Home care license requirements by state →Sources
- www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/hcservice
- pub.njleg.gov/bills/2018/AL19/48_.PDF
- www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/Adoptions/diroffado_06022025.pdf
- www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/hcservice/Documents/Health-Care-Service-Firms-Accrediting-Organizations.pdf
- www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/new-jersey/N-J-A-C-13-45B-13-3
- www.nj.gov/treasury/revenue/fees.shtml
Last verified: July 15, 2026. Informational summary, not legal advice; not affiliated with any state agency. Regulations and fees change, so confirm current requirements with the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Regulated Business Section before relying on them.
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