Family resource hub

GAPP is the Georgia Pediatric Program, a Georgia Medicaid program that pays for skilled nursing care in the home for medically fragile children under 21. For families who qualify, it covers RN and LPN private duty nursing hours at no out-of-pocket cost. It is not a loan, a grant application or a waiting list you buy your way onto — it is a Medicaid benefit your child either medically qualifies for or does not.

Read the complete GAPP guide

Three things have to be true. Your child must be under 21, must be a Georgia Medicaid member, and must have a documented medical need for skilled nursing signed off by their physician. Conditions we commonly see approved include ventilator dependence, tracheostomy, spina bifida, cerebral palsy, paraplegia, seizure disorders, feeding tube dependence, chronic respiratory failure and genetic or metabolic disorders.

If you are unsure, call. The eligibility review is free and it takes one conversation.

For families who qualify under GAPP, there is no out-of-pocket cost. Care is covered by Georgia Medicaid. We complete the funding paperwork on your behalf, and most families are approved within 30 days. We do not ask families for a deposit, a retainer or a fee to apply.

Authorised hours are set by medical necessity — documented by your child’s physician and reviewed by Georgia Medicaid. Not by us, and not by how well you argue. Most families we serve are approved for 25 to 40 hours per week. Children with higher acuity, such as ventilator dependence, are frequently approved for substantially more.

Hours follow the child’s condition. If the condition changes, the documentation should change, and the hours can be reassessed.

In many cases, yes. Georgia allows qualifying parents and guardians to be trained, employed and paid as their child’s caregiver for approved hours. You do not need to already be a nurse to ask. We walk you through the training and credentialing, and we handle the employment side.

Ask us during your consultation whether your family qualifies — the answer depends on your child’s approved hours and your household situation.

They do: assess and monitor your child, manage the airway, run the ventilator, suction the trach, administer medications, run tube feeds, watch for seizures, document against physician orders, respond to emergencies, and teach you so you get more confident, not less.

They do not: clean your house, mind your other children, run errands, or make medical decisions the physician has not ordered. A nurse is there for your child’s clinical care. That boundary protects your child, and it protects the nurse’s license.

Sometimes, and it is worth the call. Some private plans cover private duty nursing, though the authorised hours are usually far more limited than GAPP. Many children with private insurance also qualify for Georgia Medicaid as a secondary payer based on their disability rather than household income — the Katie Beckett pathway is the common route.

Call us and we will tell you honestly what your options look like before you spend weeks on the wrong one.

The pace is set by funding approval, which typically lands within 30 days of your consultation. Once approved, we introduce your care team and begin on your schedule.

For urgent hospital discharges we move faster. Call us and say the word “discharge” — it changes how we handle the file.

Yes. You choose your provider. Your GAPP approval belongs to your child, not to the agency currently holding it, and changing agencies does not mean reapplying from zero or losing your approved hours.

We handle the transfer paperwork and coordinate timing so there is no gap in coverage. Families switch most often for one reason: shifts that keep going unstaffed. If that is happening to you, call us.

Tell us, and tell us early. Call (201) 696-8934 — a clinician answers, day or night. Concerns about a specific nurse go to the RN supervisor on your case, and we will reassign without drama if the fit is wrong. You never have to justify wanting a different nurse in your home.

You also have the right to complain to Georgia Medicaid and the Department of Community Health independently of us, and we will not make that awkward.

If your child is in immediate danger, call 911 first. Always. Nothing on this page changes that.

Our nurses work to a written emergency plan built with you and your child’s physician, and they drill it — obstruction protocols, emergency trach tube changes, seizure rescue medication, equipment failure and back-up power. The plan stays on the wall where anyone in the house can follow it. After any event, call our 24/7 line and a clinician will pick up.

Often, yes. Children who need skilled nursing to attend school safely can have that need written into their IEP or 504 plan, and nursing hours can be coordinated to cover the school day. It takes agreement between the school system, the physician’s documentation and your approved hours.

We coordinate with school nurses and IEP teams as part of care coordination — you should not have to be the messenger between the school and the doctor.

Skilled nursing hours are authorised for your child’s medical needs, not as respite — but in practice, approved nursing hours are what finally let parents sleep, work, or take another child to a birthday party. Some families also qualify for separate respite support through Medicaid waiver programs.

Tell your care coordinator what your week actually looks like. Which hours we schedule matters enormously, and most families do not realise they can ask.

GAPP authorisations are time-limited and must be renewed with current documentation of continued medical necessity — updated physician orders, current clinical notes and an updated plan of care. Nothing about renewal is automatic.

We track your renewal dates and start the paperwork ahead of the deadline, because a lapsed authorisation means a gap in care. That is our job, not yours.

We serve families across Georgia, with our deepest coverage in metro Atlanta — including Fulton, Cobb, Gwinnett, DeKalb, Clayton, Cherokee, Forsyth, Henry and surrounding counties. If you are outside metro Atlanta, still call: we will tell you honestly whether we can staff your area well before you commit to anything.

One phone call. We confirm your child’s eligibility at no cost, we file the Medicaid paperwork, and most families are approved for funding within 30 days. Then you meet your nurses and care starts on your schedule.

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