If your child receives Washington State Medicaid, they may be eligible for the Community First Choice (CFC) Program. (All foster children receive Medicaid through Coordinated Care. Children living with kinship caregivers may receive Medicaid if the caregiver receives non-needy TANF or a foster care stipend. Children who aged out of foster care receive Medicaid until age 26, and children who are adopted may receive Medicaid with their adoption support.)

The CFC program can provide:

• Personal care hours
• Assistive Technology
• Skills Acquisition Training
• Personal Emergency Response Systems, and more

DSHS will train and pay for a qualified provider of your choice to help with daily tasks like bathing, dressing, eating, food preparation, etc.

There are funds available for Skills Acquisition Training which provides hours for training to increase independence with specific care needs. Assistive technology can be purchased through the same designated funds with the recommendation of a Speech Language Pathologist, Occupational Therapist, or other medical provider.

To assess appropriateness and eligibility for the CFC program, you can contact your Case Resource Manager with the Developmental Disability Administration (DDA). DDA eligibility is not a requirement to access these services, so if your child is not currently receiving DDA supports, you can also make a Service and Information Request by calling the Service and Information Request line, visiting https://www.dshs.wa.gov/dda/service-and-information-request, or visiting/calling your local DDA office.