What Is a 310 Board in Alabama: Developmental Disability Services Intake

What a 310 Board Is

A 310 Board is a county-level public corporation established under Act 310 of the Alabama Legislature. Each board contracts with the Alabama Department of Mental Health (ADMH), Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD), to manage intake, eligibility determination, and service coordination for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in their county.

Think of the 310 Board as the gatekeeper between your family and the state's Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waiver programs. You can't get on a waiver waiting list without going through your local board first.

Alabama has 310 Boards in every county, though some boards serve multiple counties. Each one operates semi-independently, which means the intake experience can vary — but the eligibility criteria and process structure are set at the state level through ADMH.

Why High School Families Need to Know About This

The 310 Board system matters during IEP transition because Alabama's developmental disability waiver waiting list is long. As of recent data, approximately 1,848 individuals were waiting for waiver slots statewide. Slots aren't awarded in chronological order — they're prioritized by crisis status. That means applying late or waiting until after graduation puts families at high risk of a gap in adult services.

Families should initiate 310 Board intake during the student's junior year of high school. This gives enough time to gather the required documentation, complete the eligibility assessments, and get the student placed on the waiting list before FAPE ends.

The Intake Process

The process starts with a call to the ADMH Division of Developmental Disabilities Call Center at 1-800-361-4491. This call gets your child into the system and assigns a Single Point Coordinator from your local 310 Board.

The coordinator then schedules the required assessments and helps gather documentation. Here's what the eligibility packet needs:

Psychological evaluations. For applicants 18 or older, Alabama requires two qualifying evaluations: one dated before the 18th birthday and a second dated on or after the 18th birthday. Both must document a full-scale IQ score that meets the intellectual disability threshold. This is the "two-evaluation rule" — miss the pre-18 evaluation window and you may be left without the required pre-18 evaluation.

ICAP assessment. The Inventory for Client and Agency Planning evaluates adaptive functioning across key domains and generates a standardized Compuscore. Your local 310 Board administers this.

Criticality Assessment. This determines where the applicant falls on the priority scale for waiver slot allocation. Crisis status is reserved for extreme circumstances: imminent loss of a caregiver, severe behavioral risks, homelessness, or documented caregiver burnout.

Once the eligibility packet is complete, the 310 Board uploads it to the ADMH system and the applicant is placed on the statewide waiting list.

The Three Main Waiver Programs

Alabama operates three HCBS Medicaid waivers for the I/DD population:

The Intellectual Disabilities (ID) Waiver covers the broadest range of services — residential support, day programs, respite care, personal care, and specialized therapies.

The Living at Home (LAH) Waiver serves individuals living with family or in their own home, providing community integration supports, respite, and personal care assistance.

The Community Waiver Program (CWP) is the newest option, operating as a pilot in 11 counties: Baldwin, Elmore, Houston, Jefferson, Limestone, Madison, Mobile, Montgomery, Morgan, Tuscaloosa, and Walker. The CWP emphasizes competitive employment and community integration, with five enrollment groups based on age and independence level.

If your county isn't in the CWP pilot, your options are the ID Waiver or LAH Waiver — and both have substantial wait times.

What to Do While Waiting

The waiting list can take years. Families need fallback strategies:

Integrated employment services through ADMH. Unlike other waiver supports, job coaching and supported employment services often don't have a waiting list. Contact your 310 Board about immediate employment support options.

Use the active VR case. If the student has an open case with ADRS, their Individualized Plan for Employment can fund job placement, assistive technology, and customized employment assessments while the waiver wait continues.

Update the Criticality Assessment annually. Call the ADMH Call Center each year to ensure the assessment reflects current family circumstances. Changes — like a primary caregiver's health declining — can affect priority status.

The Alabama IEP Transition to Adulthood Guide includes a 310 Board intake tracker and timeline worksheet that maps the intake process against the IEP transition calendar, so the waiver application runs in parallel with school-based transition services rather than starting from scratch after graduation.

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