Federal, exists in every state
Medicaid home-care programs (waivers)
Wisconsin’s Children’s Long-Term Support program helps eligible children receive support at home and in the community.
What it is
Wisconsin’s Children’s Long-Term Support program helps eligible children receive support at home and in the community.
The county screens your child’s care needs and builds a support plan with you. Services can include respite, support workers, equipment and home changes. Nursing through ordinary Medicaid is a separate route.
Eligibility rules
- The child must be under 22 and meet an institutional level of care.
- Families receiving SSI-related Medicaid, BadgerCare Plus, FoodShare, Wisconsin Works or WIC have no parental payment. Other families may have a payment based on the state worksheet; inability to pay does not change the child’s authorized services.
What you get
- Approved support at home, respite, equipment and home changes.
If you decide to apply
- Ask the county waiver agency for a children’s functional screen.
- Describe daily care tasks and bring the care team’s records.
Your county Children’s Long-Term Support agency; Wisconsin Wayfinder can help locate it at 877-947-2929. · Official page ↗
Timing
- The current CLTS manual requires county contact within ten calendar days of referral and an eligibility determination within 45 calendar days of referral. Enrollment is due within 45 calendar days of being determined enrollable, and the individual service plan within 60 calendar days of that enrollable date. These are different starting dates and are not a promise that a particular worker is available.
- The published CLTS manual uses continuous enrollment and treats functionally eligible children as enrollable and fully funded. The county still checks full-benefit Medicaid, completes enrollment and develops the support plan; this is not a guarantee of an immediately available worker. Nonexempt families receive a calculation using the current state parental-payment worksheet, with hardship review available.
Good to know
A functional screen is required; a separate disability decision is not. A diagnosis alone does not decide eligibility.
Related Wisconsin cards: Children’s Long-Term Support and nursing at home.
Official sources
“Could the county assess our child for long-term support, and help us understand the benefits, costs and drawbacks before we decide?”
Why I’m asking: We want to be ready if home care needs change.
More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules
Who does what
The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.
You
Register the child on the list, keep the task log, and answer the assessment call when it comes.
Your social worker
Names the waiver that takes medically fragile children in this state and helps with the registration form.
The care team
Documents the nursing-level tasks and the risk if care stops.
- Who decides
- The state waiver agency after a level-of-care assessment
- Ask your social worker
- “Which home-care program fits my child, and can we register today? Can Medicaid start home-nursing hours while we wait?”
How to apply
First step: Ask the discharge team which state home-care service or waiver fits your child's assessed needs, and how to apply.
- Register on the list this week.
- Ask the Medicaid plan for EPSDT nursing hours while you wait.
- Keep a two-week task log for the assessment.
Where it starts: State application or interest list. Assessment when a slot opens
What to gather
- A two-week log of daily tasks: what, how often, how long
- Doctor's letter naming nursing, equipment or safety needs
- Medicaid ID if the child has one
How long: Application steps, assessment timing and waiting-list availability depend on the specific state program. Ask for its current process.
What a yes looks like
A service plan with approved hours and a case manager's name.
What a no looks like, and the next move
“Does not meet level of care” or “no slot”: ask for Medicaid's rule that a child under 21 gets what is medically needed nursing through the Medicaid plan instead, and stay on the list.
Watch out
- If a suitable waiver has a waiting list, ask how and when to register and how priority is determined.
- For a child already on Medicaid, Medicaid's rule that a child under 21 gets what is medically needed home nursing can start long before a waiver slot opens. Ask for both.
- The assessment considers the child's actual care needs under the specific program's rules. No diagnosis or item of equipment guarantees approval.
The numbers and the rules
The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 7, 2026.
What it is worth
Nursing hours, respite, personal care, equipment, home changes and a case manager. The value is the approved hours.
Covers: Case management · Respite · Personal care · Nursing (some waivers) · Adaptive equipment · Home and vehicle modifications · Caregiver training
What it costs the family: Medicaid-delivered. Patient liability depends on the state.
The eligibility facts, as published
- State specific
- yes
- Institutional level of care
- yes
- Target population
- medically fragile or technology-dependent children in most states
Decisions this site cannot make: Level of care · Service-plan necessity · Financial eligibility (child-only in institutional-deeming waivers)
Expect friction on: Interest lists · Provider shortages · Reassessment
The trap: Ask which waiver, if any, serves your child's needs and whether it has a waiting list. Request covered Medicaid services separately while any waiver application is reviewed.
What changes by state: Which waiver takes medically fragile children, the list length (Texas runs years), and whether parents' income is ignored.
Where I read this
- Home and Community-Based Services 1915(c) — Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, read August 27, 2026
- Full List of Medicaid Waivers and Programs — Kids’ Waivers, read August 27, 2026
- Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment — Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, read August 27, 2026