Kansas public guide · Official sources checked August 27, 2026Sources · Report a correction
Beyond ChildhoodKansas human help

A parent-first guide to Kansas adult services

Turn Kansas’s DD waiver system into the next action you can complete.

Choose the situation that fits. Every action shows where to start, what to prepare, what happens next, what proof to save, and who to contact when progress stops.

No accountNo answers transmitted or savedOfficial sources firstNot an eligibility decision
Immediate danger? Call 911. For mental-health, suicide, substance-use, or emotional crisis support, call or text 988. Report suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an adult in the community to the Kansas Protection Report Center at 1-800-922-5330.

Human help at any point

Start with the CDDO for your county

Kansas Community Developmental Disability Organizations are the local entry point for I/DD program eligibility. Use the official county guide to find the correct CDDO, request its intake instructions, and save the received date, assigned contact, missing-item list, and written result.

Find the CDDO for your county

Build a Kansas action plan

Which situation is closest?

Your choice is used only in this page. Nothing is sent or saved.

Browse without the form

All seven Kansas starting situations

JNY-KS-02

Eligibility, Medicaid, waiting-list, or ownership is unresolved

Separate program, functional, financial, waiting-list, and owner-specific states.

Read the step-by-step guides
  1. Identify which entity owns every unresolved step and what proof would close it.
  2. Complete the Medicaid institutional-threshold assessment and KanCare financial eligibility without collapsing them into CDDO program eligibility.
  3. Obtain the person's actual I/DD waiting-list state and keep the mailing address current.

JNY-KS-03

An offer, plan, or eligibility result arrived

Respond to the actual offer, build the MCO plan, or use the eligibility review route.

Read the step-by-step guides
  1. When KDADS sends an I/DD waiver offer, follow the letter and return the completed offer within its required period.
  2. Use the MCO assessment and person-centered planning process to request the needed services, amounts, delivery choices, and safeguards.
  3. Use the route in the complete notice for a negative eligibility decision or an application delay.

JNY-KS-04

Choosing delivery, providers, payment, or a start

Compare agency and self-direction, verify providers, and close authorization-to-delivery gaps.

Read the step-by-step guides
  1. Compare employer duties, worker choice, fiscal support, and backups for each authorized service.
  2. Use the CDDO provider-choice process, then verify operational facts directly with each provider.
  3. Reconcile the current payment method with the person's authorization, provider or worker readiness, and first delivered service.

JNY-KS-05

A service decision is adverse or broader planning is needed

Use the correct appeal, grievance, Ombudsman, benefits, housing, and decision-support routes.

Read the step-by-step guides
  1. Use the MCO appeal first when required, then the state fair-hearing route in the complete appeal-resolution notice.
  2. Use a grievance for dissatisfaction that is not an adverse-benefit decision and ask the independent Ombudsman for navigation help.
  3. Open Social Security, housing, and supported-decision-making work as separate tracks.

JNY-KS-06

Urgent need, crisis, abuse concern, or service breakdown

Address immediate safety, protective reporting, reassessment, and service correction.

Read the step-by-step guides
  1. Call 911 for immediate danger and use 988 for mental-health, suicide, substance-use, or emotional crisis support.
  2. Use the Kansas Protection Report Center and emergency or law-enforcement routes as applicable, then separately correct the service failure.
  3. Document changed need, failed supports, or risk and request the specific reassessment, plan, authorization, provider, or crisis response.

Provider evidence

Listing is not availability

These examples demonstrate the evidence standard. They are not recommendations. Directly verify service, geography, license when applicable, current capacity, safeguards, staffing, quality, and individual fit.

Official listing example

CDDO provider-choice route

Listed service: Obtain current affiliated choices for the exact authorized service and area

Area: Verify capacity, acceptance, safeguards, staffing, quality, schedule, and fit directly

Official listingCheckedAccepting inquiriesUnknownActual openingUnknownQuality / fitNot evaluated

Open the official source

Official listing example

Agency-directed I/DD service

Listed service: An enrolled agency carries the employer duties for an authorized service

Area: Affiliation or referral does not prove acceptance, staffing, schedule, or start

Official listingCheckedAccepting inquiriesUnknownActual openingUnknownQuality / fitNot evaluated

Open the official source

Official listing example

Self-directed I/DD service

Listed service: The member directs an eligible authorized service with FMS payroll support

Area: Choice does not prove authorization, worker availability, FMS readiness, backup, or start

Official listingCheckedAccepting inquiriesUnknownActual openingUnknownQuality / fitNot evaluated

Open the official source

Transparency

Kansas official-source register

SourceOwnerStatusCheckedReview
Start the Kansas I/DD waiver pathway Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Servicescurrent official I/DD eligibility, CDDO entry, waiting-list, offer, MCO, provider-choice, and self-direction authority2026-08-27monthly
Find the Kansas HCBS entry point for your county Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Servicescurrent official HCBS Access Guide with county-linked entry points and human-help routes2026-08-27monthly
Review Kansas I/DD program-eligibility policy Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Servicescurrent official CDDO program-eligibility policy that is separate from functional and financial eligibility2026-08-27quarterly
Apply for KanCare as an elderly or disabled applicant Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Servicescurrent official disabled-adult KanCare application, telephone, fax, and assistance route2026-08-27monthly
Review the current Kansas medical-assistance application policy Kansas Department of Health and Environmentcurrent official July 20, 2026 elderly-and-disabled medical-assistance application policy2026-08-27monthly
Review current KanCare eligibility guidance Kansas Department of Health and Environmentcurrent official KanCare eligibility guidance2026-08-27monthly
Review KanCare Medicaid and current health plans Kansas Department of Health and Environmentcurrent official KanCare Medicaid and managed-care-plan overview2026-08-27monthly
Compare Kansas self-direction and agency direction Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Servicescurrent official self-direction, participant-employer, agency-direction, and FMS guidance2026-08-27monthly
Use current KDADS I/DD and CDDO forms Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Servicescurrent official I/DD individual-choice, provisional-plan, CDDO access, and provider-affiliation form hub2026-08-27monthly
Use the KanCare appeals and fair-hearing hub KanCarecurrent official eligibility, managed-care, fee-for-service, grievance, appeal, and fair-hearing routing2026-08-27monthly
Appeal a KanCare managed-care service decision KanCarecurrent official MCO appeal, expedited review, and notice-controlled route2026-08-27monthly
Contact the independent KanCare Ombudsman Kansas Office of Public Advocatescurrent official KanCare applicant-and-member problem-resolution and application-assistance route2026-08-27monthly
Use Kansas protective and crisis hotlines Kansas Department for Children and Familiescurrent official Kansas Protection Report Center and 988 hotline directory2026-08-27monthly
Apply for Kansas Vocational Rehabilitation Kansas Department for Children and Familiescurrent official Kansas Rehabilitation Services vocational-rehabilitation application2026-08-27monthly
Find Kansas housing-assistance partners Kansas Housing Resources Corporationcurrent official Kansas housing-partner and tenant-based-rental-assistance resource route2026-08-27monthly
Apply for Social Security disability benefits Social Security Administrationcurrent official federal disability-benefit application route2026-08-27monthly
Use Kansas 988 crisis support Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Servicescurrent official Kansas 24-hour 988 call, text, and chat guidance2026-08-27monthly
Review the Kansas Supported Decision-making Agreements Act Kansas Secretary of Statecurrent official 2026 Kansas supported-decision-making law and agreement requirements2026-08-27quarterly
Review the current Kansas HCBS I/DD provider manual Kansas Medical Assistance Programcurrent official HCBS I/DD provider manual describing the July 1, 2026 reimbursement-methodology transition2026-08-27monthly
Review Kansas MFEI and interRAI planning Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Servicescurrent official Medicaid functional-eligibility and MCO care-planning transition guidance2026-08-27monthly
Kansas Community Supports Waiver approval and implementation update Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Servicescurrent official approval notice; the Community Supports Waiver is effective October 1, 2026, and implementation is still underway2026-08-27weekly