Montgomery, Ala. – The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Alabama Medicaid Agency and the Alabama Department of Mental Health (ADMH), Developmental Disabilities (DD) Division have launched a new waiver program in limited areas of the state, with a focus on serving individuals before they and/or their family members are in crisis.
The Community Waiver Program focuses on maintaining family relationships and promoting community inclusion and competitive employment, which are of utmost importance to an individual’s health, well-being and happiness, by providing the needed supports that can enable individuals with developmental disabilities to continue to live with family or in their own homes.
ADMH Commissioner Kimberly Boswell said, “This is a very exciting time for individuals, families, stakeholders, and for the Alabama Department of Mental Health. For many years, we have all worked to make the dream of independence, employment, and full inclusion a reality.”
Boswell continued, “The Community Waiver Program provides the support and structure for us to deliver on the promise of a better life for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We give special thanks to our staff, Alabama Medicaid, and many partners across the state, for their dedication and hard work.”
In its first year, the Community Program Waiver will serve 500 individuals who will come directly off the waiting list. This will reduce the waiting list by twenty-five percent. Forty-six percent of the individuals on the current waiting list reside in six of the 11 eligible counties: Baldwin, Jefferson, Madison, Mobile, Montgomery, and Tuscaloosa.
The new waiver program will be targeted to serve persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) not currently receiving services through a current Home and Community-Based Services waiver, including persons currently on the waiting list for the existing Intellectual Disabilities or Living at Home waivers.
The Community Waiver Program will be launched in a total of 11 counties: Baldwin, Elmore, Houston, Jefferson, Limestone, Madison, Mobile, Montgomery, Morgan, Tuscaloosa, and Walker.
The Community Waiver Program offers services to persons with intellectual disabilities in five enrollment groups, based on age and relative independence, each with a set of services designed particularly to serve them:
- Children (ages 3-13) with intellectual disabilities who live with family or other natural supports
- Transition-age youth with intellectual disabilities who (ages 14-22) live with family or other natural supports or who (ages 18-22) live independently
- Working age or older adults (ages 22+) with intellectual disabilities who live with family or other natural supports or who live independently
- Individuals (ages 3+) with intellectual disabilities who are unable to live with family or other natural supports or to live independently
- Individuals with intellectual disabilities, ages 22 and older, who have a minimum of one substantial functional limitation
To learn more about how to enroll on the waiting list, contact the ADMH Call Center at 1-800-361-4491 and visit https://mh.alabama.gov/community-waiver-program/.
Service providers in this new program will focus on goals of Home and Community-Based Services programs such as community integration, opportunities for employment, and developing skills for independence.]
Read the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services full release here. Read the details of the waiver here.
About Us: The Alabama Department of Mental Health serves more than 200,000 Alabama citizens with mental illnesses, developmental disabilities, and substance use disorders. Our mission is to Serve, Empower, and Support, and promote the health and well-being of Alabamians. Visit www.mh.alabama.gov for more information.