Mississippi 1915(i) Community Support Program

A Bridge Program With No Waitlist

Mississippi's ID/DD Waiver planning list runs nine to fourteen years deep, which means thousands of young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities exit the school system every year with no waiver slot in sight. That's where the IDD Community Support Program comes in.

Authorized under a 1915(i) state plan amendment to the Medicaid program, this program serves adults aged 18 and older with an intellectual or developmental disability who have completed their formal education and are awaiting an ID/DD Waiver slot. The critical advantage: the 1915(i) program operates without a cap on enrollment. There is no planning list, no waitlist, and no legislative slot allocation.

For families whose child is aging out of school-based special education services, the 1915(i) program can prevent a total services cliff.

Who Qualifies

Eligibility requires meeting two thresholds:

Clinical criteria: The applicant must have documented significant functional limitations in three or more major life activities. These include receptive and expressive language, learning, mobility, self-care, self-direction, and capacity for independent living. The clinical determination is based on standardized assessments — this isn't a self-reported questionnaire.

Income threshold: The applicant's income must be at or below 150% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). For many transition-age young adults who are just exiting school and have limited or no income, this threshold is relatively easy to meet. SSI receipt alone does not establish 1915(i) eligibility; both the clinical and income requirements still apply.

Both criteria must be satisfied. A young adult who meets the clinical standard but has income above the threshold wouldn't qualify for 1915(i) services, though they may still be eligible for the full ID/DD Waiver once a slot opens.

What the Program Covers

The 1915(i) Community Support Program is narrower than the full ID/DD Waiver — it doesn't include 24-hour residential habilitation or the comprehensive Support Coordination that the waiver provides. But it covers four service categories that address the most immediate daily-living and employment needs:

• Day Services-Adult (DSA): Community integration activities, peer socialization, and daily life skill training. This is the structured daytime support that replaces the school day once FAPE ends.

• Prevocational Services: Teaching generalized, non-job-specific work skills — motor coordination, work tolerance, following multi-step instructions, maintaining appropriate workplace behavior. These prepare a person for eventual competitive integrated employment.

• Supported Employment: Job coaches who help locate, secure, and maintain competitive integrated employment in the community. This goes beyond Pre-ETS — the coach works directly with employers, provides on-site training, and helps with job retention over time.

• Supported Living: Up to four hours per day of personal assistance with essential daily tasks — paying bills, grocery shopping, accessing medical appointments, navigating public services. This isn't residential habilitation, but it provides meaningful support for young adults living at home or in semi-independent arrangements.

How It Connects to the Transition Timeline

The 1915(i) program is designed to start when school services end. For a student who stays enrolled through age 21 on the Alternate Diploma or Certificate of Completion track, the transition plan should include a 1915(i) application timed to activate at or near the school exit date. For a student who graduates with a Traditional Diploma at 18, the need is more immediate.

Either way, the application process runs through the same DMH regional centers that handle the ID/DD Waiver. Contact your local regional center — Boswell (Magee), Ellisville, Hudspeth (Whitfield), North Mississippi (Oxford), or South Mississippi (Long Beach) — to begin the clinical eligibility assessment.

1915(i) Is Not a Replacement for the Waiver

The 1915(i) program is a bridge, not a substitute. Families should absolutely still get on the ID/DD Waiver planning list as early as possible — the waiver covers a much broader set of services, including residential habilitation and full Support Coordination. But for the years (or decade) between school exit and a waiver slot, the 1915(i) program prevents the young adult from falling into a complete support vacuum.

For the full timeline of when to apply for each program — and how the 1915(i) bridge, the ID/DD Waiver list, MDRS vocational rehabilitation, and SSI all fit together — the Mississippi IEP Transition to Adulthood Guide puts every step in chronological order.

See more Mississippi guides →