Coordinating care in New York

Waivers

What are New York's HCBS waivers?

OPWDD Comprehensive HCBS Waiver

New York's 1915(c) waiver funding habilitation and support services — day and community habilitation, residential habilitation, respite, supported employment, and more — for nearly 100,000 people. The current renewal runs October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2029.

Care Coordination Organizations / Health Homes (CCO/HH)

New York's care-management vehicle: seven Care Coordination Organizations staffed by care managers who build and maintain each person's Life Plan through person-centered planning, coordinating developmental-disability, health, and behavioral-health services in one plan.

Self-Direction

The option for anyone enrolled in the OPWDD waiver to control an individual budget — choosing services, hiring and scheduling staff, supported by a Circle of Support, a Support Broker, and a Fiscal Intermediary.

• Access starts at OPWDD's regional 'Front Door' office, followed by a three-step eligibility review by clinician committees. Documentation must include IQ testing, a standardized adaptive-behavior assessment, a medical report, and a social/developmental history showing onset before age 22.
• New York does not report a formal IDD waiver waiting list — KFF's state indicator lists New York as N/A for 2024–2025, and its 2023 detail showed zero people waiting in the I/DD category. KFF cautions that waiting lists are an incomplete measure of unmet need: enrollment without service capacity still means waiting in practice.

Agencies

Who runs services in New York?

NYS Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD)

Coordinates services for New Yorkers with developmental disabilities through roughly 450 nonprofit provider agencies; operates the Front Door, the Comprehensive HCBS Waiver, and CCO oversight.

NYS Department of Health — Medicaid

The state Medicaid agency underlying the OPWDD waiver and Health Home care management.

NYS Early Intervention Program (Bureau of Early Intervention)

Early intervention for children under three with disabilities or developmental delays, established in Public Health Law Article 25 and in effect since July 1, 1993.

School

What's specific about IEPs in New York?

• New York runs special education through the Committee on Special Education (CSE) and, for ages 3–5, the Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE) — established under Education Law §§4402 and 4410.
• The governing state rules are Part 200 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education, covering evaluation, IEP development, placement, due process, and the continuum of services.