The rule, plainly
Paid or unpaid, and who counts
Family members who live in the same household as the person who self-directs, and parents, may not be paid for providing Support Broker services. That is a conflict-of-interest provision in OPWDD's guidance, not a local preference.
Where a participant chooses to act as their own Support Broker, or a parent or other person fills the role unpaid, that person must still complete the Initial Broker Training Requirements.
A Self-Direction budget may be denied approval unless it is established that there is someone to fulfil the Support Broker role who has taken the required training. Naming a willing parent is not enough on its own.
Still sign a Broker Agreement
OPWDD's guidance says a Broker Agreement should be completed even where a parent or other person fills the role unpaid, so that both sides have a clear understanding of the responsibilities. It feels odd to sign an agreement with yourself or your spouse. Do it anyway — it is the document that makes the scope explicit, and it is what a Liaison will look for.
One genuine relief: because unpaid brokers generate no billing, they are not subject to the payment and service documentation requirements that bind paid brokers. No 15-minute increments, no start/stop times.
So there are two distinct questions, and families frequently merge them:
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Can a parent do the broker job? | Yes, unpaid. |
| Can a parent be paid for it? | No. |
| Can the person self-direct and broker for themselves? | Yes, unpaid, with the training. |
| Does the training requirement still apply? | Yes, in full. |
| Can a relative outside the household be paid? | The written prohibition addresses parents and same-household family. Anything outside that should be confirmed with your DDRO Self-Direction Liaison before money moves. |
What it actually costs you
The appeal is obvious: the brokerage line goes back into the budget, which in staffing terms can be a meaningful number of hours a year. Set against that:
The training
Four Initial Broker Training Requirements before you deliver anything, on the regional office's schedule rather than yours. See the training pathway.
The administration
Budget writing, justifications, amendments, Liaison correspondence, vendor quotes, records. Weeks a year, concentrated around renewal.
The lost outside voice
Nobody in the room whose job is to tell you the plan is not working. This is the cost families notice last and regret most.
The honest trade-off
Parents make excellent brokers on one axis and poor ones on another. You know the person better than any professional will. You are also the least able to see the plan from outside, most likely to build around your own anxieties, and least likely to be contradicted.
The families who do this well share one feature: somebody in their Circle of Support is willing to disagree with them, out loud, and they have deliberately arranged it that way. A sibling, a long-standing staff member, a friend who will say he does not actually want that, you want that for him.
If you take one thing from this page
Before you decide to broker for your own child, decide who is going to be the person who tells you when you are wrong. If you cannot name them, hire a broker.
Who this tends to suit
Usually workable
- A stable plan you already understand well
- You are comfortable with forms, deadlines and record-keeping
- A strong circle with at least one independent voice
- Someone else who can cover if you are ill
- You have time in the renewal window specifically
Usually a mistake
- You are still in start-up and have never seen a budget
- Complex or changing medical or behavioural needs
- A recent history of submissions being sent back
- You are already stretched to the edge
- Nobody else in the circle will challenge you
The option in between
You do not have to choose between a full-service broker and doing everything yourself. More than one broker may assist a person, with one named primary in the agreement, and the scope of paid brokerage is negotiable. Some families keep a paid broker for the technical work — the annual budget, amendments, Liaison correspondence — and take on the rest: chasing quotes, recruiting, running circle meetings, keeping records. That cuts the brokerage line without cutting the outside voice.
If you are going ahead
- Contact your regional office about the broker interest form and training schedule
- Complete the four Initial Broker Training Requirements before doing any broker work
- Sign a Broker Agreement even though you are unpaid
- Read ADM #2019-05R and the March 2022 guidance before you start, not during your first renewal
- Tell your Care Manager, your Self-Direction Liaison and your Fiscal Intermediary who is now brokering
- Recruit at least one independent voice into your Circle of Support, deliberately
- Set up your own filing from day one — budgets, amendments, quotes, correspondence
- Put the renewal date in the calendar with a two-month warning
- Agree with yourself, in advance, what would make you hand it back to a professional
Questions families actually ask
Can I be paid to be my child's Support Broker if money is tight?
No. Parents and family members residing in the same household may not be paid for broker services. The role can be filled unpaid, and the training requirement still applies.
Do I really have to do the full training if I am unpaid?
Yes — the Initial Broker Training Requirements apply to a participant acting for themselves and to an unpaid parent exactly as to a paid broker. What does not apply to you, as an unpaid broker, is the payment and service documentation regime, since you generate no billing.
Can I broker for my child and also be their paid staff?
No. OPWDD guidance states that a person's Support Broker cannot provide them any other HCBS waiver service, and cannot be their Care Manager. So you cannot act as broker and also be their paid Community Habilitation, Supported Employment or Respite staff. If being paid staff matters more to your family than brokering, hire a broker.
What if I start and find I cannot manage it?
You can hire a broker at any point. Handing over is easier if you have kept clean records, which is the main argument for setting up proper filing on day one.
Where this comes from
Written from the OPWDD source documents below and reviewed against them on 23 September 2026. OPWDD policy and figures change; confirm anything that affects a decision with your Care Manager or your DDRO Self-Direction Liaison before acting on it.
Keep reading
Not sure where you are in this process?
GRSCorp runs free sessions for New York families on OPWDD services, Self-Direction and what to ask for. We do not sell brokerage — we explain the system so you can choose well.
Talk to usOPWDD toolkit