#waivers

Can you explain the process of how you got into a host home?

I am thinking I want to do it. My current home isn't a good space for me. Host home, from how I've seen you describe it, seems like a good fit for me.

Good luck on your internet travels, and thank you.

Sure! This is a US system, so I don’t know what systems in other countries are like.

The things you need to start the process are:

- To have a diagnosis which impacts your ability to perform executive functioning/daily life activities to such a degree as to require support. This isn’t just autism; it can be ADHD, intellectual disability, chromosomal disorders, and a ton of other things.

- To be on Medicaid.

Once you have these things, you can apply for services through your county’s community center board. Just google “CCB for *my county*”.

The application process can take a bit of time, so keep that in mind. Like all government systems, it’s slow. I think it took at least a couple of months between when I first applied and when I began to receive services.

If you’re under the age of 21, you are still eligible for children’s services. This is important, because being in a host home requires a special waiver called the developmental disabilities (DD) waiver. There is another waiver called supported living services (SLS) but that only covers having carers come into your home during the week, not full-time round the clock care whilst living in a caregiver’s home. It varies from state to state, but in my state, people who received children’s services prior to age 21 could age into the DD waiver automatically. People who were already adults at the time of receiving services for the first time are automatically put on the SLS waiver, and have to apply and be put on a long waitlist to request a DD waiver.

The way I got around this was that I was in crisis, so my case manager applied to request an emergency DD waiver for me. I was denied the first time she applied, but the second time, I had been sent to a mental hospital for three days due to my situation, and that was enough to have the state approve the emergency DD waiver.

Even after the waiver was granted, it still took a month for it to go into effect, and it took my case manager an additional three months to find a potential placement for me, and another two months after that before we were ready to move in together (and in the end, they turned out to be a bad fit and I had to move to a different host home, but that’s a whole other story). In total, the time between being approved for the waiver and being moved into a host home was six months.

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