The APD Waiting List, Explained

Plain words, no jargon.

Florida funds support for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities through the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, usually called APD, and its iBudget Waiver. Far more people need it than there is money for, so there is a waiting list, and it is long. Families routinely wait years.

That is the hard part. Here is the part most families are never told: where you sit on that list is not decided by when you applied.It is decided by category.

The priority categories

Florida law sets seven pre-enrollment categories. Category 1 is served first.

• Category 1, Crisis.Homeless, a danger to self or others, or the caregiver can no longer provide care
• Category 2, Child welfare.An open case with the Department of Children and Families, including young people aging out of foster care between 18 and 21
• Category 3, Caregiver loss and urgent need.A caregiver with a condition expected to stop them caring within 12 months, or a discharge expected within 12 months from a hospital, nursing facility or correctional facility, or behaviors putting the person or their caregiver at risk of serious harm
• Category 4, Aging caregiver.The caregiver is 60 or older and there is no one else
• Category 5, School transition.Expected to graduate from secondary school within 12 months, or accepted to a postsecondary institution
• Category 6.Adults 21 or older who do not meet categories 1 to 5
• Category 7.Children under 21 who do not meet categories 1 to 4

Why this matters more than people realize

Two things follow from that list, and both of them are worth acting on today.

Apply now, even if nothing is urgent.Being on the list costs nothing and changes nothing about your life. Not being on it when something does go wrong costs you years.

Tell APD when your situation changes.If a caregiver turns 60, if a parent gets a diagnosis, if your child is a year from graduating, that can move the category. The list does not update itself and nobody will call to ask.

How to apply

You apply directly to APD. There is an online application at apd.myflorida.com, and your local APD office for Lake County is in Wildwood.

If the form is daunting, you are not the only one. We run a free class four times a yearwhere we go through it and help you fill it in. You do not have to be a Mirrah Image family to come.

What happens after the waiver comes through

You will be assigned a Waiver Support Coordinator, who helps you choose providers for the services in the plan, things like Adult Day Training, Supported Living Coaching, Companion Services, Personal Supports, Supported Employment and Respite. You choose your providers. Nobody chooses for you.