Children’s Long-Term Support: Waiver Renewal

DHS Wants Your Feedback!

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) is planning to submit requests to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to renew the Children’s Long-Term Support (CLTS) § 1915(c) home and community-based services waiver and the § 1915(b)(4) waiver.

DHS is seeking public comment on its waiver renewal applications. By law, you have the opportunity to review and comment on the CLTS waiver renewal. This ensures that the process is transparent and based on input from relevant stakeholders.

Draft copies of each waiver are listed below. A summary document of larger changes is also available below to assist with the review. After reviewing the updated waivers, you can submit a public comment to tell DHS if any changes are missing or if there are any unintended impacts that should be addressed. Your input on the changes is important for ensuring that the CLTS Program is the best it can be for the next five years.

1915(c) Children’s Long-Term Support Waiver Application available for public comment
1915(b)(4) Children’s Long-Term Support Waiver Fee-for-Service Selective Contracting Program Application

For more information on the proposed changes, please read the summary.

You may submit your comments by email or mail. Public comments are due by June 13, 2026.

Email:

DHSCLTSWaiverRenewal@dhs.wisconsin.gov

Mail:

State of Wisconsin
Department of Health Services-DMS
Bureau of Children’s Services
Attn: CLTS Waiver Renewal
201 E. Washington Ave.
Madison, WI 53703

Background on the CLTS Waiver Renewal

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services is working to renew the 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 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.

We are currently in the 30-day public comment period for the draft waiver application. This is a chance for CLTS program partners to review the first draft and tell DHS if anything is missing or if there are any negative impacts that should be addressed. After the 30 days are up, DHS will make final updates based on the public comments and submit the final waiver application to CMS.

For more information about the waiver renewal process, see the resources below: