The DHHS Office of Aging and Disability Services (OADS), the Office of Behavioral Health's Children's Behavioral Health Services, and the Office of MaineCare Services (OMS), are working together on an exciting new waiver. We are developing a new Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) option to support Maine people living with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) and/or Autism to meet their changing needs as they transition through various stages of life.
The goals of the waiver include assisting individuals with IDD and/or Autism and their families in ways that:
- Offer more flexibility to address goals and needs that naturally change across the lifespan.
- Improve transition and in-home support services to support a successful transition from childhood to adulthood.
- Use new ideas that work to support access to innovative services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.
Project Milestones
This page will be the central hub for information about the HCBS Lifespan project, including interested party engagement forums and other ways to be involved in the project’s development.
Next Steps:
- Submission and review by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
- Public Informational Lifespan Tour (Summer 2026)
- Waiver approval by CMS
Lifespan Comment Period
- Lifespan Waiver Application Submission 1915(c):
- LIfespan Waiver Fee-for-Service (FFS) Selective Contracting Program Submission 1915 b4:
Lifespan Reimbursement Rates
A rate study that has been underway since fall 2023 was released at a public hearing on April 14, 2025. For more information on the hearing, the rate structure, a recording of that hearing, rates comments and the posting of final rates, follow these instructions:
- Visit the MaineCare Rate System Reform page.
- Click the dropdown for the section “CY 2024 Rate Determination – in Progress”.
- Scroll to the table with the header: 18, 20, 21, 29, HCBS for Individuals with Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities or Autism & New Lifespan Waiver.
January 2026 Lifespan Sessions:
- Lifespan Overview and Updates: 1/21/2026
- This session provided an overview of the proposed waiver and reviewed what has changed since the last series of presentations.
- Lifespan Waiver Overview presentation (PDF)
- Webinar recording (YouTube)
- The Role of the SIS-A Assessment in the Lifespan Waiver Design: 1/23/2026
- This session described the purpose and use of the SIS-A assessment to inform levels of support needs.
- Using Assessments to Inform Support Levels, Tiered Rates, and Annual Monetary Limits presentation (PDF)
- Webinar recording (YouTube)
More About the Focus on Youth in Transition, Ages 14-21
We have consistently received feedback that youth and their families need assistance navigating from high school transition services to adult services provided by OADS.
For more information, please visit the Transition Planning webpage.
A Path for ME SIS-A™ Assessment and Person-Centered Planning
Closely linked to the Lifespan project is the implementation of a new needs assessment for Maine people living with IDD and Autism. This is expected to provide high-quality, reliable, and consistent information about the support needs of waiver members and those on the waitlist. This information will help shape how the Lifespan project is designed, along with a primary focus on identifying the strengths of individuals with IDD, their families, and their communities. This will be done through strengths-based Person-Centered Planning, which will focus on helping people with intellectual and developmental disabilities achieve the lives they want and be valued members of their communities.
Learn more about A Path for ME SIS-A™ Assessment
Learn more about the new approach to strengths-based Person-Centered Planning
Contact Us
Please send us your questions, comments, or feedback to: OADS.LifespanProject@maine.gov