Questions families ask

Long enough that you should not plan around it. New Mexico allocates DD Waiver slots as the Legislature funds them, in order of application date, and families routinely wait years rather than months.

This is exactly why the advice everywhere on this site is to apply now, before you feel ready, and to keep your contact information current the whole time you wait. The application date is the only part of this you control.

Yes. Medicaid coverage and waiver eligibility are two different determinations. You need both: the medical or developmental eligibility for the waiver, and Medicaid financial eligibility. They are decided by different people and renewed on their own schedules.

No. One application covers both. You choose the program later, on the Primary Freedom of Choice form, after your name reaches the top of the list and you get an allocation offer.

Not necessarily. A No Match means the documentation submitted did not meet the state's definition of developmental disability. You can reapply when new or additional evaluation information exists, and you should call your Pre-Service Specialist to ask specifically what was missing.

If you think the decision was wrong rather than incomplete, contact Disability Rights New Mexico (opens an outside website).

Yes, and most families do not hear about it. Ask about State General Funds, a limited set of services for people who are eligible and on the wait list, through the SGF liaison at your regional DDSD office.

Also make sure your child is enrolled in Medicaid and getting what EPSDT covers, which for anyone under 21 is a lot. School services and, for the youngest, the Family Infant Toddler program run on their own track and are available regardless of the waiver.

It matters more than almost anything else. The Letter of Interest and Primary Freedom of Choice that begin your allocation are mailed to the address DDSD has in the Central Registry. If they do not hear back within 30 days, a closure warning letter goes out, and after another 30 days the allocation can close.

Call the Central Registry at 505-630-9555 or 575-997-7980 whenever your address, phone, or email changes, and again every so often just to confirm.

Neither. They trade different things.

Mi Via gives you control and hands you the administration. The DD Waiver hands the administration to agencies and gives up some control over who shows up. See the comparison for the specifics, and be honest with yourself about the hours your household actually has.

Yes. There is a defined transition process between the DD Waiver and Mi Via, and families do move, usually because life changed rather than because they chose wrong. It is paperwork and it takes time, so ask your case manager or consultant what the transition would involve before you commit either way.

Yes, and you should treat it as a real decision. The Secondary Freedom of Choice form is where you pick your case management or consultant agency, and DDSD publishes a Provider Selection Guide to help.

Ask any agency three questions: which services do you actually staff in my county today, what is your staff turnover, and who covers a missed shift. You can also change agencies later if it is not working.

Sometimes, under specific rules, and this is one of the main reasons families choose Mi Via.

New Mexico has a defined process for services provided by legally responsible individuals, relatives, and legal guardians, with its own forms and approvals. What is allowed depends on the service, your child's age, and your relationship. Ask your consultant early and get the answer in writing before you build a plan around it. Note also that the Employer of Record role itself, the directing and scheduling, is never paid.

On Mi Via, your ceiling is the Individual Budgetary Allotment, set by your child's age and level of care. You and your consultant build a detailed budget under it, the Third Party Assessor reviews it, and what is approved becomes your Authorized Annual Budget.

On the DD Waiver, the budget follows from the ISP and is submitted by your case manager for prior authorization. Either way, the plan drives the money, which is why the planning meeting is the meeting that matters.

Yes. If your child's needs change, you ask for a revision rather than waiting for the annual meeting. Revisions take time to work through the assessor, so start the conversation as soon as you see the change coming, not after you have already gone without.

Because the waivers assume children are also being served by other systems. Only a subgroup of DD Waiver services is in the children's category: case management, behavior support consultation, individual customized community support, respite, non-medical transportation, supplemental dental, nutritional counseling, and environmental modifications.

For a child, therapy and nursing usually come through EPSDT, Medicaid school-based services, the school district, or the Family Infant Toddler program. The waiver is meant to add to those. See children and school.

Two things at once. Legally, your child becomes an adult and signs their own paperwork, which is why guardianship or its alternatives (supported decision-making, a power of attorney, a limited guardianship) need to be thought through before the birthday, not after.

Programmatically, several living and employment supports open up at 18 or 21. Ask for a plan revision at the birthday instead of waiting for the annual review.

EPSDT ends, and that is the hard landing families most often describe. Services your child received because they were medically necessary for a child may not continue for an adult.

Start asking at 19, service by service, what replaces each one. Put the answers in the plan while there is still time to argue about them.

Escalate in order, and write down dates as you go. First your case manager or consultant. Then the provider agency's director. Then your regional DDSD office (opens an outside website), which handles provider problems and technical assistance.

If the pattern continues, the Quality Management Bureau surveys agencies and publishes reports of findings, and the Health Care Authority's Office of Constituent Support (opens an outside website) takes complaints about the programs themselves. You can also change providers.

Usually yes, and the clock is short. The denial letter should state your appeal rights and the deadline. Read it the day it arrives.

For help, Disability Rights New Mexico (opens an outside website) is the state's protection and advocacy organization, and Parents Reaching Out (opens an outside website) helps families prepare for meetings and disputes.

Call the statewide Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation hotline at 866-654-3219. Reports can also be filed online through the Health Care Authority. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911 first.

For a mental health crisis, call or text 988.

DDSD moved. It used to sit inside the New Mexico Department of Health at nmhealth.org, and it is now part of the New Mexico Health Care Authority at hca.nm.gov, which also absorbed the old Human Services Department.

Old links mostly still resolve, but they land on a general division page rather than the specific page you wanted. The resources page has current links.

No. Tu-Via is written by a New Mexico parent going through these same programs, and it is built and hosted by Studio Balke. It is not the State of New Mexico, the Health Care Authority, or DDSD, it cannot decide anything about your case, and no agency pays to appear on it.

Tu-Via is not yet an incorporated organization; the plan is a nonprofit for the free information side and an LLC for anything commercial, and that structure is still being worked out. Nothing here is a tax-deductible donation and nothing is for sale. See how Tu-Via is organized.

Not yet on this site, and that is a real gap we intend to close. In the meantime, the state's own application form is published in English and Spanish, and several Mi Via participant documents and the abuse reporting guide have Spanish versions. Ask your consultant or case manager for the Spanish form by name; they exist.