Landau, Julia

Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) waivers can provide support for individuals with intellectual disability participating in postsecondary education (PSE). HCBS waiver funding has been used to pay for peer support, career services, transportation, tuition, fees, and more (Parisi & Landau 2018). This Insight Brief explains how to access information on state HCBS waiver programs, how to review those programs, how to determine what waiver services can support PSE, and more.

Given the positive outcomes of postsecondary education (PSE) that are possible for individuals with ID, more states should consider allowing Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) waiver participants the option to use waiver support to participate in PSE. Using HCBS waivers could greatly improve their likelihood of employment, as well as opportunities to experience greater community inclusion, personal satisfaction, and decreased reliance on publicly provided support services.

An increasing number of states allow students with intellectual disability (ID) to use Medicaid Home and Community Based Services waivers to support participation in postsecondary education (PSE) programs. These waiver services support access to higher education for students receiving Medicaid services who might otherwise not be able to attend postsecondary education. This Insight Brief explains what Medicaid Waivers are, what PSE services they can be used for, and how to access waiver services.

This Insight Brief #37 outlines the kind of information and suggested activities that can help parents during four stages of an inclusive college-based transition experience. The stages include introducing college-based transition services, supporting parents as students prepare for college, maintaining parent engagement through the transition to college, and engage and inform parents of adult services available once students age out of transition services.