Tu-Via New Mexico waiver guide for families

The one big choice

Mi Via or the DD Waiver?

You make this choice on the Primary Freedom of Choice form after an allocation. Both draw on the same funding and both are person-centered. The difference is who carries the work.

Side by side

Mi Via (self-directed)DD Waiver (traditional)
Who hires and directs staff You, as Employer of Record. Unpaid role. Contracted provider agencies.
Your main guide A consultant. A case manager.
The plan Service and Support Plan (SSP), written with you. Individual Service Plan (ISP), compiled by the case manager.
How money is set Individual Budgetary Allotment by age and level of care, then an Authorized Annual Budget after TPA approval. Budget built from the ISP by the case manager, then prior authorization.
Payroll and taxes The Financial Management Agency handles them for you. The agency employs the staff. Not your problem.
Choosing individual workers Yours, including some relatives with extra paperwork. The agency picks its own staff. You can change agencies.
Buying goods, not just hours Yes, through related goods and services in the plan. Narrower: assistive technology, environmental modifications, and similar named services.
Admin load on the family Real and ongoing: timesheets, budget tracking, coverage. Light. Meetings and monitoring, not payroll.
Coverage when a worker quits You find the replacement. The agency is responsible, though in practice this varies a lot.
Works better in rural New Mexico when You have people locally you can hire directly. A solid agency actually serves your county.

The honest version

Mi Via trades your time for control. The DD Waiver trades control for someone else's time. Neither is the smart choice or the lazy choice, and families switch when life changes: a parent goes back to work, a good worker moves away, a teenager's needs shift.

Two questions cut through most of it. Who, specifically, would you hire tomorrow if money were not the obstacle? And who in your household has three unclaimed hours a week for paperwork?

If the first answer is a real name and the second is you, Mi Via is worth looking at hard. If the first answer is "no idea" and the second is nobody, take the DD Waiver and spend that energy on the ISP instead.

You are not locked in. Moving between the waivers is allowed and there is a defined transition process. It is paperwork and it takes time, so it is not a decision to flip casually, but a wrong first choice is fixable. Ask your consultant or case manager what the transition would involve before you assume you are stuck.

Questions to ask before you sign the Freedom of Choice

  • Ask any agency

    Which of these services do you actually staff in my county today? What is your turnover? Who covers a missed shift, and how fast?

  • Ask about a consultant

    How many families do you carry? How quickly do budget revisions come back? Have you worked with a child my child's age?

  • Ask yourself

    Am I choosing self-direction because it fits us, or because someone told me the agencies here are hopeless? Both can be true. Only one is a plan.