Compare how states organize access, providers, funding, rates, and support for autistic adults.
Currently includes six states; more are being added.
Public comparison · sources checked July 25, 2026
What we publish
Every material factual assertion on this comparison must be supported by current official evidence and rated High confidence. Missing, stale, conflicted, or insufficient evidence is withheld or shown as Not Rated—never converted to zero or an implied negative.
Choose one evidence-defined dimension at a time. There is no overall best-state score.
Important: Scores describe official navigation infrastructure and research evidence—not service quality, eligibility, capacity, fit, or individual wait time. California and Texas provider discovery are Not Rated because the general public-directory denominator is not met.
Public source usability
How usable the official public source set is for a family trying to find the adult developmental-disability front door and the next step.
Denominator
An official, publicly accessible source set identifies the adult developmental-disability front door without requiring an account or professional intermediary.
Missing data: Use Not Rated when no official public front door can be identified or the source requires restricted access.
Freshness: Recheck direct entry and locator sources monthly; recheck supporting process sources quarterly.
0–4 anchors
0: Denominator met, but none of the four usability indicators is present.
1: One indicator is present.
2: Two indicators are present.
3: Three indicators are present.
4: All four indicators are present.
Observable indicators
A direct start action is stated.
A phone, locator, or local-routing method is provided.
At least two distinct access stages are explained in family-facing language.
The source set connects the family to eligibility, services, provider discovery, and review/status help.
Interpretation: A higher score means the official web path is easier to use. It does not mean services are easier to obtain.
Public source usability ordering; ties share a rank and Not Rated is excluded
Evidence: The Front Door supplies a direct phone route and connects families to eligibility, waiver, regional, care-coordination, and provider resources.
Exact location: OPWDD Front Door, Eligibility, HCBS Waiver, and Provider Directory pages
Evidence: The official set gives county/ZIP routing, an intake contact, interest-list explanation, enrollment guidance, and a service-specific FMSA directory.
Evidence: DDS supplies a regional-center locator and connected explanations of eligibility, entitlement, planning, services, and provider-directory limitations.
Exact location: DDS Regional Center Listings, Lanterman Act, IPP, Services, and Provider Directory status pages
Caveat: Navigation evidence does not prove eligibility, service availability, quality, fit, or time to service.
Access-process transparency
How many of the major access decisions the official source set explains distinctly.
Denominator
Official sources describe both the application or intake route and the governing adult developmental-disability eligibility process.
Missing data: Use Not Rated when either the official intake route or governing eligibility process is absent.
Freshness: Recheck entry sources monthly and policy, prioritization, and appeal sources quarterly.
0–4 anchors
0: Denominator met, but none of the four transparency indicators is present.
1: One indicator is present.
2: Two indicators are present.
3: Three indicators are present.
4: All four indicators are present.
Observable indicators
Application/intake action and eligibility criteria are distinguishable.
Medicaid, waiver, funding, or generic-resource dependencies are distinguished from program eligibility.
Prioritization, interest-list, pre-enrollment, entitlement, or service-status rules are explained.
A specific official reconsideration, review, appeal, or fair-hearing route is visible in the scored source set.
Interpretation: A higher score means more decision points are visible before a family enters the system. It does not predict eligibility or time to service.
Access-process transparency ordering; ties share a rank and Not Rated is excluded
Evidence: The sources distinguish eligibility, Medicaid/waiver enrollment, service access, and second-step, third-step, and fair-hearing review routes.
Caveat: Navigation evidence does not prove eligibility, service availability, quality, fit, or time to service.
Provider-discovery transparency
How directly a family can identify authorized providers from an official public source.
Denominator
An official public method names providers across general adult developmental services or at least two core adult-service categories. A list limited to one specialized program does not meet the denominator.
Missing data: Use Not Rated when the public method is unavailable to families or covers only one specialized program.
Freshness: Recheck public search, directory, list, or dataset status monthly.
0–4 anchors
0: Denominator met, but none of the four discovery indicators is present.
1: One indicator is present.
2: Two indicators are present.
3: Three indicators are present.
4: All four indicators are present.
Observable indicators
Families can access it directly without an account or service-coordinator gate.
Providers can be narrowed or grouped by service.
Providers can be narrowed or interpreted by geography or service area.
The source supplies structured provider identity/contact information and a current list, dataset, search, or vacancy signal.
Interpretation: A higher score means provider names are easier to find. A listing or vacancy signal does not prove acceptance, capacity, quality, or fit.
Provider-discovery transparency ordering; ties share a rank and Not Rated is excluded
Caveat: Directory or list presence does not prove current capacity, inquiry acceptance, quality, or fit.
Texas · Not Rated
The general-provider denominator is not met.
Checked: 2026-07-25 · Confidence: High · Indicators met: None; denominator not met
Why and supporting evidence
Evidence: The formerly referenced general HCS Vacancy Search returned HTTP 404 on July 25, 2026. The current public HCS FMSA directory covers only the specialized financial-management function.
Exact location: Texas HHS HCS FMSA directory; live HTTP check of former HCS Vacancy Search
Caveat: Directory or list presence does not prove current capacity, inquiry acceptance, quality, or fit.
California · Not Rated
The general-provider denominator is not met.
Checked: 2026-07-25 · Confidence: High · Indicators met: None; denominator not met
Why and supporting evidence
Evidence: DDS states the statewide Provider Directory is not directly accessible to families. The public FMS list is limited to one specialized Self-Determination service.
Exact location: DDS Provider Directory status page; DDS FMS contact list
Caveat: Do not compare dollar amounts until service, code, unit, geography, intensity/ratio, provider type, rate components, and effective period align.
Illinois · 3/4
Provider/staffing context is not consistently explicit across the sampled rows.
Caveat: Do not compare dollar amounts until service, code, unit, geography, intensity/ratio, provider type, rate components, and effective period align.
New York · 3/4
The sampled evidence uses a program/service label rather than a discrete procedure-code/modifier field.
Caveat: Do not compare dollar amounts until service, code, unit, geography, intensity/ratio, provider type, rate components, and effective period align.
Caveat: Do not compare dollar amounts until service, code, unit, geography, intensity/ratio, provider type, rate components, and effective period align.
Caveat: Do not compare dollar amounts until service, code, unit, geography, intensity/ratio, provider type, rate components, and effective period align.
Evidence: The workbooks preserve service code, 1:1 ratio, hourly unit, regional-center geography, and full/base/QIP components.
Exact location: DDS rates-only workbooks effective January 1, 2026; Behavior Analyst 1:1 service 612, cell range A205:G205 in four regional-center workbooks
Caveat: Do not compare dollar amounts until service, code, unit, geography, intensity/ratio, provider type, rate components, and effective period align.
Evidence freshness and confidence
How completely the research record documents current official evidence across the four core domains.
Denominator
The source set contains official evidence for front door, access/eligibility, provider discovery status, and rates, all checked on the comparison review date.
Missing data: Use Not Rated when any of the four core domains lacks official evidence checked on the comparison review date.
Freshness: A cell expires when any required monthly or quarterly review becomes overdue; expired cells become Not Rated until rechecked.
0–4 anchors
0: Denominator met, but none of the four stewardship indicators is present.
1: One indicator is present.
2: Two indicators are present.
3: Three indicators are present.
4: All four indicators are present.
Observable indicators
Every core source records an official owner and URL.
Every core source records status and a review cadence.
Rate evidence has a current official index/schedule and an exact effective period.
Every scored cell records checked date, confidence, exact location, and caveat.
Interpretation: A higher score means the research trail is easier to audit. It does not measure the underlying service system’s quality.
Evidence freshness and confidence ordering; ties share a rank and Not Rated is excluded
Evidence: All four core domains have official status evidence; the provider domain records the unavailable general search and surviving service-specific FMSA list rather than preserving a stale current claim.
Exact location: Release source register, live source-status check, and pinned September 1, 2025 HCS schedule
Evidence: The four core domains have official status evidence; provider-directory nonaccess is itself current official evidence, and exact regional rate workbooks are pinned.
Exact location: Release source register and four pinned 2026 regional-center rate workbooks