Texas Health and Human Services Commission
Medically Dependent Children Program · About this organization
What you get
Respite, adaptive aids, home modifications, flexible family services, employment help, money-management services for self-directed care and help moving from a nursing facility into the community.
How to start
Speak with HHSC Interest List Management to place your child on the MDCP interest list by phone, written request, or the linked benefits referral form. Have proof of income ready.
Good to know
- Every authorized service must fit within the member-specific cost limit and individual service plan.
- Full Medicaid financial eligibility is required and case-specific income, resource, trust, or copayment rules may apply.
The details, as published
The Texas Medically Dependent Children Program is a Medicaid home- and community-based waiver for a Texas resident under 21 who meets nursing-facility level-of-care, Medicaid financial, unmet-need, living-arrangement, and individual cost-limit rules. Authorized services can include respite, flexible family supports, adaptive aids, minor home modifications, employment supports, transition assistance, and financial-management services. A family first joins the state interest list by phone, written request, or the Your Texas Benefits Find Support Services tool; assessment begins only after a slot is released, so B-ALL or another cancer diagnosis alone does not establish eligibility or immediate access.
What help you may get
Camps And Retreats
Medically Dependent Children Program — camps and retreats
The Texas Medically Dependent Children Program is a Medicaid home- and community-based waiver for a Texas resident under 21 who meets nursing-facility level-of-care, Medicaid financial, unmet-need, living-arrangement, and individual cost-limit rules. Authorized services can include respite, flexible family supports, adaptive aids, minor home modifications, employment supports, transition assistance, and financial-management services. A family first joins the state interest list by phone, written request, or the Your Texas Benefits Find Support Services tool; assessment begins only after a slot is released, so B-ALL or another cancer diagnosis alone does not establish eligibility or immediate access.
Amount decided by the program
Can cover
- Adaptive aids after other Medicaid and third-party resources are exhausted
- Employment assistance and supported employment
- Financial-management services for applicable self-directed services
- Flexible family support services
- Minor home modifications
- Respite services
- Transition assistance for an eligible move from a nursing facility to the community
Does not cover
- Duplicate services already covered at the same time through another source
- Services not in the authorized individual service plan
- Unrestricted cash assistance
- Services are authorized in an individual service plan within a member-specific cost limit; MDCP does not issue an unrestricted cash grant.
- Service type, units, and frequency depend on assessment, medical necessity, the approved plan, and the annual cost limit.
Navigation Guides And Advocacy
Medically Dependent Children Program — navigation guides and advocacy
The Texas Medically Dependent Children Program is a Medicaid home- and community-based waiver for a Texas resident under 21 who meets nursing-facility level-of-care, Medicaid financial, unmet-need, living-arrangement, and individual cost-limit rules. Authorized services can include respite, flexible family supports, adaptive aids, minor home modifications, employment supports, transition assistance, and financial-management services. A family first joins the state interest list by phone, written request, or the Your Texas Benefits Find Support Services tool; assessment begins only after a slot is released, so B-ALL or another cancer diagnosis alone does not establish eligibility or immediate access.
Amount decided by the program
Can cover
- Adaptive aids after other Medicaid and third-party resources are exhausted
- Employment assistance and supported employment
- Financial-management services for applicable self-directed services
- Flexible family support services
- Minor home modifications
- Respite services
- Transition assistance for an eligible move from a nursing facility to the community
Does not cover
- Duplicate services already covered at the same time through another source
- Services not in the authorized individual service plan
- Unrestricted cash assistance
- Services are authorized in an individual service plan within a member-specific cost limit; MDCP does not issue an unrestricted cash grant.
- Service type, units, and frequency depend on assessment, medical necessity, the approved plan, and the annual cost limit.
Practical Items And Home Help
Medically Dependent Children Program — practical items and home help
The Texas Medically Dependent Children Program is a Medicaid home- and community-based waiver for a Texas resident under 21 who meets nursing-facility level-of-care, Medicaid financial, unmet-need, living-arrangement, and individual cost-limit rules. Authorized services can include respite, flexible family supports, adaptive aids, minor home modifications, employment supports, transition assistance, and financial-management services. A family first joins the state interest list by phone, written request, or the Your Texas Benefits Find Support Services tool; assessment begins only after a slot is released, so B-ALL or another cancer diagnosis alone does not establish eligibility or immediate access.
Amount decided by the program
Can cover
- Adaptive aids after other Medicaid and third-party resources are exhausted
- Employment assistance and supported employment
- Financial-management services for applicable self-directed services
- Flexible family support services
- Minor home modifications
- Respite services
- Transition assistance for an eligible move from a nursing facility to the community
Does not cover
- Duplicate services already covered at the same time through another source
- Services not in the authorized individual service plan
- Unrestricted cash assistance
- Services are authorized in an individual service plan within a member-specific cost limit; MDCP does not issue an unrestricted cash grant.
- Service type, units, and frequency depend on assessment, medical necessity, the approved plan, and the annual cost limit.
- The published monetary limit is shared across the listed benefit components.
Check the main eligibility rules
Diagnosis
B-ALL is in scope. A Texas child with B-ALL may fit only when treatment effects and functional needs meet the nursing-facility level-of-care standard and every other MDCP requirement; cancer alone is insufficient.
Age
Age 0 to age 20, measured at application.
- The applicant must be under age 21.
Treatment status
No specific treatment status is published.
- A provider must verify the patient or diagnosis.
- The STAR Kids managed-care organization completes the assessment used for the nursing-facility level-of-care determination and service plan.
- HHSC must find the applicant financially eligible for a qualifying full Medicaid type before MDCP enrollment.
- HHSC applies the Medicaid for the Elderly and People with Disabilities rules or recognizes another qualifying Medicaid type; a qualified income trust may be considered in some cases.
- HHSC, not the waiver program alone, makes the financial determination.
- The 2026 institutional-income pathway uses current Medicaid limits, but the applicable calculation depends on the applicant's existing Medicaid type and circumstances.
- Some members who qualify through an institutional-income pathway and live in an assisted-living or group-foster setting may owe room-and-board and copayment amounts calculated by SSA or HHSC.
- The cost of authorized waiver services must stay at or below the member's annual MDCP cost limit.
Where you live and where your child is treated
Where your family lives
You must live in: TX.
- The applicant must live in Texas.
- The applicant must live in the applicant's home or an eligible agency foster home; an applicant under 18 in a home setting must live with a qualifying family member.
Where your child is treated
No treatment-location restriction is published.
How to get started
Does a social worker or care team need to start it? No. A required care-team start is not published; the family can use the available route below.
Who can start: Caregiver, Parent Or Guardian, Patient
- Ask HHSC Interest List Management to place the child on the MDCP interest list by phone, written request, or Your Texas Benefits referral.
- Complete the STAR Kids assessment for nursing-facility level of care and work with the managed-care organization on an individual service plan.
- Keep contact information current and complete required annual interest-list contact while waiting.
- Select MDCP instead of nursing-facility services and complete enrollment if the medical, financial, unmet-need, living-arrangement, cost-limit, and other-waiver rules are met.
- When HHSC releases a funded slot, confirm continued interest and complete Form H1200 if a new Medicaid financial determination is required.
Ways to apply or ask
- Online Portal · Open form or page
- Online Portal · Open form or page
- Phone · Open form or page · 877-438-5658 — Call the HHSC Interest List Management unit to add the child's name to the MDCP interest list.
Documents to prepare
- Form H1200 and Medicaid financial verification if a new determination is required
- Information needed to develop the STAR Kids individual service plan
- Interest-list identifying and contact information
- Living-arrangement or guardianship documentation when requested
- Medical and functional information for the STAR Kids Screening and Assessment Instrument
- After enrollment, the managed-care organization authorizes services in the individual service plan and pays approved providers under Medicaid rules.
Availability and timing
| Program | Active |
|---|---|
| Applications | Waitlist |
| Funding or space | Limited |
| Application window | Rolling |
| Last checked | Aug 24, 2026 |
- The program and interest-list intake were active, but legislative appropriations limit slots and families are assessed only after release from the list.
- Interest-list requests are ongoing; eligibility assessment occurs only after a funded slot is released.
- HHSC does not publish a guaranteed wait time for an interest-list slot.
Limitations and things to confirm
- B-ALL, cancer, medical complexity, or disability alone does not establish MDCP eligibility; nursing-facility level of care is required.
- Every authorized service must fit within the member-specific cost limit and individual service plan.
- Full Medicaid financial eligibility is required and case-specific income, resource, trust, or copayment rules may apply.
- Joining the interest list does not start benefits, and HHSC publishes no guaranteed slot-release date.
- Services depend on managed-care authorization and provider availability and are not unrestricted cash.
- The child cannot be concurrently enrolled in specified other Texas HCBS waivers.
- The intake, Medicaid application, and assessment collect sensitive identity, financial, medical, disability, functional, and household information.
- What services, units, providers, and annual cost limit will the managed-care plan authorize?
- When will a funded MDCP slot reach this applicant's request date?
- Which Medicaid financial pathway and cost-sharing rules apply to this child?
- Will the STAR Kids assessment establish nursing-facility level of care?
Official sources
Program details were last verified Aug 24, 2026. Availability can change, so check the official program before applying.
- 1200, MDCP Eligibility · checked Aug 24, 2026
- 2000, MDCP Intake and Initial Application · checked Aug 24, 2026
- 1400, Medically Dependent Children Program · checked Aug 24, 2026
- 4200, Medically Dependent Children Program Services · checked Aug 24, 2026