Georgia COMP Waiver: Eligibility, Services, and How It Differs from NOW

When a Family Needs More Than the NOW Waiver

The Comprehensive Supports Waiver is Georgia's intensive-care alternative to institutional placement. While the NOW waiver funds periodic, community-based supports for individuals who live at home or in a supported apartment, COMP covers 24-hour residential care — group homes, host homes, and round-the-clock staffing.

COMP exists because some individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities require a level of supervision and support that a family home or intermittent services cannot safely provide. Families typically pursue COMP when behavioral challenges, medical complexity, or the declining health of aging caregivers make home-based care unsustainable.

COMP Waiver Eligibility Requirements

COMP uses the same eligibility framework as NOW. All three criteria must be met:

Clinical: A documented intellectual or developmental disability with onset before age 18 (intellectual disability) or age 22 (related conditions like autism). The individual must meet an Intermediate Care Facility for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ICF/IID) level of care — the same standard used for institutional placement.

Financial: Individual monthly income must fall below the 2026 Medicaid Cap of $2,982 (300% of the federal SSI benefit rate). Parental income is excluded from this calculation, even if the individual lives at home.

Medicaid: Active Medicaid coverage is required. In Georgia, SSI recipients receive Medicaid automatically. Non-SSI individuals must apply for ABD Medicaid through DFCS.

What COMP Covers That NOW Doesn't

Both waivers fund community living support, day services, prevocational training, supported employment, respite, specialized equipment, environmental modifications, and transportation. The overlap is substantial.

The difference is scope and intensity. COMP authorizes residential services that NOW does not — specifically 24-hour supervision in a group home or host home setting. COMP service plans carry higher annual funding caps because the cost of round-the-clock staffing dwarfs the cost of periodic home visits.

For a family whose adult child lives at home and needs periodic community support, NOW is the appropriate waiver. For a family whose adult child needs a structured residential environment with continuous supervision, COMP is the path.

The Shared Planning List

Georgia does not maintain separate waiting lists for NOW and COMP. Both programs feed into a single Planning List managed by DBHDD. When a family applies through the IDD Connects portal, the application covers both waivers. DBHDD determines which waiver is appropriate based on the assessed level of care when a slot becomes available.

As of late 2025, approximately 7,900 people were on this combined list. Among adults, 43% had waited six years or more. The list is not chronological — DBHDD allocates slots based on a triage priority system, with Short-Term (crisis within 90 days), Medium-Term (need within 6 months), and Long-Term (need within a year or more) categories.

The FY 2027 state budget originally included 500 new waiver slots. Governor Kemp's executive budget disregards reduced that allocation by $9 million, cutting the actual number of newly funded slots to approximately 100 statewide.

How to Apply

The application process is the same as for NOW — it runs through DBHDD, not DFCS:

1. Register on the IDD Connects portal via the Georgia Collaborative ASO website
2. Upload psychological evaluations, adaptive behavior assessments, proof of citizenship, and school records
3. The assigned DBHDD regional field office schedules a pre-eligibility screening within 14 business days
4. If clinically pre-eligible, the individual is placed on the Planning List

Georgia has six DBHDD regional field offices: Cumming (Region 1, North Georgia), Augusta (Region 2, East Georgia), Decatur (Region 3, Metro Atlanta), Thomasville (Region 4, Southwest Georgia), Savannah (Region 5, Southeast Georgia), and Columbus (Region 6, West Central Georgia).

Documenting the Case for COMP vs. NOW

DBHDD determines which waiver an individual receives when a slot opens. If a family believes their adult child requires COMP-level residential supports, the documentation submitted to the regional office must clearly establish why home-based services are insufficient.

Evidence that supports a COMP determination includes: behavioral assessments showing risks to self or others that require continuous monitoring, medical records documenting conditions that require overnight supervision, functional assessments showing inability to be left alone safely, and documentation of failed prior home-based service attempts.

Families should update these records annually with their regional field office — and immediately after any crisis event, such as a hospitalization, law enforcement involvement, or loss of the primary caregiver. Updated documentation gives the regional administrator grounds to reclassify the individual's priority from Long-Term to Short-Term or Medium-Term.

Rural Georgia and the Provider Shortage

Securing a COMP slot is only half the challenge in many parts of the state. Rural areas of North and South Georgia face a severe shortage of residential providers. Even after a family receives a waiver slot, they may struggle to find a local agency with the capacity to deliver 24-hour care.

In these situations, some families turn to the self-directed services model, hiring and managing their own support staff rather than relying on a provider agency. This gives the family more control over scheduling and staffing but adds significant administrative responsibility — payroll, training, background checks, and compliance with DBHDD's provider standards.

Metro Atlanta families generally have more provider options, but even in urban areas, waitlists for specific group homes or host home placements can add months to the timeline after a waiver slot is awarded.

Building the Full Benefits Structure While Waiting

The Planning List wait is measured in years. Families who pause other transition steps while waiting for a waiver slot lose critical time. The SSI age-18 redetermination, Medicaid protection, Georgia STABLE account setup, vocational rehabilitation referral, and legal decision-making arrangements should all proceed in parallel with the waiver application.

The Georgia SSI at 18 & Adult Disability Benefits Guide maps this full parallel sequence — showing exactly how to coordinate the NOW/COMP application with every other transition milestone so nothing falls through the cracks during the multi-year wait.

See more Georgia guides →