OKPOLICY.ORG
Some Oklahomans with developmental disabilities qualify for Medicaid services through the state’s developmental disabilities services division (DDSD) waivers. A waiver is a mechanism that allows the state to offer community-based services as an alternative to institutional services. The state offers four DDSD waivers:
- The Community Waiver, which provides community-based supports to adults with intellectual disabilities.
- Two In-Home Supports Waivers (one for children, one for adults) to provide supports to people with intellectual disabilities living at home.
- The Homeward Bound waiver, which provides services and supports to the Plaintiff Class of the Homeward Bound vs. The Hissom Memorial Center lawsuit and meets stipulations set by federal court for serving individuals who lived at Hissom for a specific period of time.
Oklahoma struggled for decades to provide the funding and coordination needed for home and community based services. As of 2022, several thousand children and adults with physical or mental disabilities were on a waiting list to receive services and the wait time for services was over 12 years. As part of the budget approved during the 2022 session, the Legislature appropriated $32.5 million intended to serve all families on the waiting list at that time, a process that the Department of Human Services expected to complete over 18-24 months. As of August 2025, of some 6,300 individuals who had applied for services prior to October 2023, 2,603 were receiving or had been approved for services, while 560 individuals still had services pending. The remainder of the 2023 wait list population no longer needed services or had declined to receive them.
