An Advocate’s Guide to Overcoming State Barriers and Obtaining a Home- and Community-Based Waiver for Children with Mental Health Needs

Medicaid is a means-tested program that finances health and mental health services for children and adults who meet certain eligibility criteria. Although a broad array of mental health services can be covered by Medicaid, some services needed by families of children with serious mental or emotional disorders can only be covered through a waiver for home- and community-based services.

This report, released in February 2003, attempts to identify barriers to state implementation of the waiver and discusses how some states have overcome those barriers.The report is available in browser-friendly HTML (below) and printer-friendly PDF file formats. If you have not already done so, you will need to download the free Acrobat Reader to view the PDF file.

• Introduction
• Barriers
• Recommendations For Advocates And Policymakers
• Conclusion
• More Information