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Adult Day Care Cost in Berks County and Who Helps Pay

A working Berks caregiver can't leave a parent alone all day. Here is what the county's adult day center charges, what a licensed center must provide, the paperwork before the first day, and the county, Medicaid and VA programs that can pay part or all of it.

Berks Connect Blog|Published November 6, 2026
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If someone you care for can't be alone during the day, adult day care in Berks costs $75 a day as of 2026 at Ageless Harmony in West Lawn, the one center on the state's directory that serves older adults here. Its day runs 8 to 4, Monday through Friday. The Pennsylvania median is $117. You may not have to pay all of it. The Berks County Area Agency on Aging runs two programs: OPTIONS can pay part or all of the cost on a sliding scale by income, and the Caregiver Support Program reimburses up to $600 a month toward it. Medicaid and the VA each have their own route, and the first call for anything the county funds is 610-478-6500.

This post is general information: which county programs will pay toward your parent's days is decided by the county's assessor, who visits the home before any county program pays, so that specific question goes to 610-478-6500. The county senior living page lists the Berks senior living communities with reviews and phone numbers, for the day a move becomes the question.

What does adult day care cost in Berks County?

Ageless Harmony Adult Day Care, at 3024 Penn Avenue in West Lawn, is open Monday through Friday from 8 to 4 and charges $75 a day. Physical, speech and occupational therapy that a doctor orders cost extra, and the center sits on a BARTA bus route. The number is 610-685-2382, and Ageless Harmony's page in our help directory has the details.

So how does $75 compare? The Pennsylvania median is $117 a day. Five days a week comes to about $1,625 a month, against about $2,535 at the state median. If what you need is someone coming to the house instead, that's home care, and our senior services guide covers it.

What does an adult day center provide?

Every licensed center has to offer or arrange the same core services. There's personal care. There's nursing: a licensed nurse on staff or under contract who reviews each client's health at least quarterly. There are social services and therapeutic activities, with a monthly calendar posted. There's nutrition, meaning a full meal if your parent is there 4 hours or more, a snack past 6 hours, menus posted and prescribed diets followed. And there's emergency care.

Staffing is set by the state too: at least one program staff person for every seven clients at all times, close enough to respond immediately.

How are adult day centers licensed in Pennsylvania?

The state's name for an adult day center is an older adult daily living center, and the Pennsylvania Department of Aging licenses any one that serves four or more unrelated clients for part of a day, with a few exceptions such as a nursing home's program for its own residents. The Department's directory lists four licensed centers in Berks County, though three are day programs for adults with intellectual disabilities. Ageless Harmony is the one that serves older adults, listed with license number 323120.

The rule is an announced inspection at least once a year, plus an inspection on a complaint at any time. A regular license lasts up to 12 months.

What happens before your parent's first day?

Who a center can take is written into the rules: people 60 and older with a functional impairment, or 18 and older with post-stroke dementia, Parkinsonism (which covers Parkinson's disease) or a dementia-related disease such as Alzheimer's. They have to be able to get to the center and to need a structured program, and a center may not admit someone who is bedfast. Whether a center is the right setting for your parent's condition is a question for their doctor, physician assistant or nurse practitioner, who also signs the physical.

Two things come first. An intake screening, done in the 60 days before the first day, decides whether the center fits. A physical exam from the 3 months before is handed in too, and repeated once a year. Then you sign an enrollment agreement that states the services, what you'll be charged per day and when it's due, the conditions for ending service and the center's rules. You get a copy, plus the name and number of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman, the state's complaint office for people in care, adult day included. If the center ever ends service, you get 30 days' oral and written notice, except for a sudden change that endangers your parent or others.

Who can help pay for an adult day center?

Six programs matter here. The first county program is OPTIONS, the county aging office's program that pays for help at home and adult day on a sliding scale. It's for residents 60 and older with unmet daily needs, under the state's rules there's no income limit to join, and income sets your share. OPTIONS is one of the county's care-at-home services, and it starts with the agency's free assessment at your parent's home.

The second is the Caregiver Support Program, built for you rather than for your parent: an adult caring for someone 60 or older with functional needs, or someone of any age with Alzheimer's or a related disorder. It reimburses respite, a break for the caregiver, and the county lists adult day care among the expenses it reimburses. At $75 a day and full reimbursement, the $600 monthly cap covers eight days a month.

The next two are Medicaid programs. Community HealthChoices is Medicaid's long-term care program in Pennsylvania, for people 21 and older on Medicaid; its long-term services go to those who need the kind of daily help a nursing home gives; adult daily living services is on its list. If your parent is already on Medicaid, the Independent Enrollment Broker decides whether they need that level of care, through an assessment at home, and starts the plan; if your parent already has a Community HealthChoices plan, its service coordinator arranges the days.

LIFE is an all-in-one program, usually through Medicaid, with its own day center, for people 55 and older who need that same level of care; the Berks provider is Senior LIFE, with its center in Reading, and it has one row in the table below. OPTIONS isn't available if your parent is enrolled in Medicaid's long-term care programs, Community HealthChoices or LIFE, and the Caregiver Support Program isn't available if either of you is.

Enrolled veterans can get Adult Day Health Care through the VA if they qualify for community care, the VA's program that pays outside providers, and the VA's clinicians decide they need it; the veteran's VA social worker arranges it. Medicare pays nothing toward adult day health care.

Here's each program side by side.

Program Who it's for What it does for adult day First call
OPTIONS (Department of Aging, run by the county's Area Agency on Aging) Residents 60 and older with unmet daily needs who aren't in Medicaid's long-term care programs; no income requirement under the state's rules Your parent's share rises with income: nothing under 133 percent of the federal poverty level, the full cost of the service above 300 percent Berks County Area Agency on Aging, 610-478-6500
Caregiver Support Program (through the Area Agency on Aging) An adult caring for someone 60 or older with functional needs, or someone of any age with Alzheimer's or a related disorder; no financial test to join; not for families already on Community HealthChoices or LIFE Reimburses respite and, on the county's own list, adult day care, up to $600 a month: within that cap, the whole cost at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level (the care receiver's household income), less as income rises, 10 percent just under 380 percent Berks County Area Agency on Aging, 610-478-6500
Community HealthChoices (Medicaid long-term care) People 21 and older on Medicaid; its long-term services go to those who need the kind of daily help a nursing home gives "Adult daily living services" is a covered service; the plan pays the center Independent Enrollment Broker, 1-877-550-4227
LIFE (Senior LIFE Reading) People 55 and older who need a nursing-home level of care, Medicaid-eligible or paying privately, in the provider's area Adult day health services at its own center are part of the all-in-one program 1-877-550-4227, or Senior LIFE Reading, 610-404-3200
VA Adult Day Health Care Enrolled veterans eligible for community care who meet the clinical criteria The VA pays, half or full days; a copay may apply, worked out on a VA form (10-10EC) The veteran's VA social worker
Medicare Everyone on Medicare Pays nothing toward adult day health care Not applicable

How do you start with the Area Agency on Aging?

The office is the Berks County Area Agency on Aging at 400 E. Wyomissing Ave. in Mohnton, open Monday through Friday from 8 to 5, at 610-478-6500. Every county-funded service starts the same way: an assessor visits the home, determines what care your parent needs and reviews finances. That visit is how OPTIONS starts, and the Caregiver Support Program goes through the same office.

Before you call, our guide to the Area Agency on Aging walks through what the visit covers and what to have ready. My advice is two calls this week: Ageless Harmony about an open spot and a visit, and the agency to get the assessment on the calendar. If your parent is on Medicaid, the third call is the Independent Enrollment Broker, whose number is in the table. If the assessment points toward a move instead, start from the county senior living page, which lists the Berks senior living communities with reviews and phone numbers.

Frequently asked questions.

Does Medicare pay for adult day care?

No. Medicare lists adult day health care among the long-term care it doesn't pay for.

Is there an income limit to join OPTIONS?

No. There's no income limit to join OPTIONS; income sets your share of the cost. For one person in 2026, yearly income up to $21,227 means no share, and $47,881 or more means paying the full cost of the service. The assessor works out your figure.

Can a center take someone who's bedfast?

No. A center may not admit someone who is bedfast.

Can you use the Caregiver Support Program if your parent is in Community HealthChoices or LIFE?

No. The Caregiver Support Program isn't available if the caregiver or the care receiver is enrolled in Community HealthChoices or LIFE, and OPTIONS isn't available to a parent who is; in that case adult day care comes through that program instead.

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