Children’s Long-Term Support: Waiver Renewal

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) is working to renew the Children’s Long-Term Support (CLTS) Program waiver applications for 2027–2031. The waiver is our permission from the federal government to run the CLTS Program, which provides children with disabilities and their families access to long-term supports and services at home and in the community. The waiver describes many different parts of the CLTS Program, including the services offered and who is eligible. Renewing the CLTS Program waiver is a chance for DHS to review all these details and make changes to improve the program for the next five years.

Every five years, DHS must submit a waiver renewal application to the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to continue running the CLTS Program. The current CLTS Program waiver expires at the end of 2026. The next waiver application, once approved by CMS, would begin on January 1, 2027, and remain in effect through 2031.

In preparation for the waiver renewal, DHS gathered input from families, counties, program providers, and advocates about possible improvements to the CLTS Program. Much of that input focused on increasing consistency across counties and strengthening supports and services for families. DHS used that input to create the first draft of the new CLTS waiver renewal application.

The public comment period has closed. DHS accepted public comments on the draft waivers from May 14 through June 13, 2026. Updates are being made to the waiver applications based on the comments that we received. DHS plans to submit a final version of the waiver application to CMS later this summer.

Get more information about the waiver renewal process:

• Concept Paper (PDF)
• Family Input Session slides
  • Slides in English (PDF)
  • Slides in Hmong (PDF)
  • Slides in Spanish (PDF)

View a recording of a family input session

View a recording of the provider input session

What are the current CLTS Program waivers?

The approved 2022–2026 CLTS Program waivers include:

• The Application for §1915(c) Home and Community-Based Services Waiver (PDF), which describes CLTS services, eligibility, and other rules for the program.
• The Application for Section 1915(b)(4) Waiver Fee-for-Service Selective Contracting Program (PDF), which describes how the program works with counties.