About Home and Community Based Services (HCBS)
What are HCBS?
Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) are person-centered supports that are offered in the home and community. HCBS support can include health services (like therapies, durable medical equipment, and skilled nursing care) and human services (like employment support, transportation, and personal care).
How Are HCBS Different than Other Services?
HCBS can be more personal, culturally responsive, and inexpensive than traditional supports in group homes or facilities because they are created around what each person needs and wants.
The HCBS Settings Rule helps define what a “home and community based setting” is for people getting HCBS. The Rule was made to help people getting HCBS fully take part in community life. It makes sure that the services focus on the life the person wants and that people with disabilities can make their own choices and control their goals and lives. The HCBS Settings Rule also helps keep services high quality by requiring states to regularly check on HCBS using surveys, interviews, and other ways to make sure the services are working well.
Important Things to know About HCBS:
- Individualized Support: HCBS helps each person by giving them the support they need for their own goals and needs.
- Being Part of the Community: HCBS helps people with disabilities be part of their community. That means being in regular places for jobs, social activities, and other places in the community, not just places for people with disabilities.
- Choice and Control: People getting HCBS should be able to choose where they live, who they live with, and who helps them with their services and supports.
- Public Funding: HCBS are usually funded by state waivers as part of a state’s Medicaid program. There are different standards to qualify for HCBS in different states and there may be waiting lists to get funding or providers for HCBS in some states. Currently, 47 states and Washington D. C. have approved HCBS waivers.