Understanding the IDD Waiver Waitlist

What the IDD Waiver waitlist means for you: the four priority levels, your notice and appeal rights, and the support that is still available.

On January 1, 2026, the DC Department on Disability Services (DDS) started a waitlist for the IDD Waiver because funding is limited. The rules are not new: they come from the DDS Waiting List for the HCBS Waivers policy and procedure (effective October 20, 2022). This guide explains those rules in plain language, and what you can do while you wait.

What has not changed

Being on the IDD Waiver waitlist does not take away the DDS eligibility you already have. You keep your Service Coordinator, your ISP meetings, and your access to other DDS supports, and the Individual and Family Support (IFS) Waiver remains open when spots are available.

• You still have support. The waitlist applies to IDD Waiver enrollment. It does not affect your eligibility for other DDS services.
• The IFS Waiver is still open. The IFS Waiver continues without a waitlist when spots are available.
• Your Mercyland team is here. You will still have a Service Coordinator, ISP meetings, and guidance throughout the process.

The four priority levels

DDS sorts everyone on the waitlist into four priority levels: Priority, Emergency, Urgent, and Non-Urgent. Your level is based on your current needs and risks, assessed through the Level of Need (LON) process, and your level is what decides when you are enrolled, not how long you have been waiting.

• Priority. You have no family or other natural support system to meet an assessed need for 24-hour residential support. Identified Evans class members, and DC wards who aged out of Child and Family Services Agency care in an out-of-home placement with no family home to return to, are also in this level.
• Emergency. Health or safety is in imminent danger. This includes substantiated abuse, neglect, or exploitation, the death of your primary caregiver when there is no alternative caregiver, and homelessness as DC law defines it.
• Urgent. You are at specific, identified risk of basic needs going unmet: shelter, food, health, or safety from harm, injury, or threats.
• Non-Urgent. You are eligible for the waiver and none of the situations above apply right now.

Let’s check in. Which level best reflects your situation today? For example, “I live with my aging parents, and they are struggling to support me” would usually point to Urgent, because basic needs are at real risk of going unmet without waiver services.

How enrollment order works

Enrollment follows strict level order: everyone with a Priority need is enrolled first, then Emergency, then Urgent, then Non-Urgent. Within the same level, a Waiver Waiting List Committee decides the order based on assessed need from the LON. Time on the list is considered, but it is not what decides.

That committee is not anonymous. By procedure it includes the DDS Deputy Director for DDA, Waiver Unit and service coordination representatives, one self-advocate, and one community advocate.

Your written notice must tell you where you stand

When DDS places you on the waitlist, it must mail you a written notice within five business days. That notice must state your priority level, an estimate of how long you can expect to wait, and how to appeal. If your notice is missing any of these, ask your Service Coordinator about it.

Your priority level can change

Your level is not fixed. DDS reviews your ranking at least quarterly and again at your annual ISP review. You can also request an immediate review at any time when your circumstances change, verbally or in writing, and that request starts a review within five business days. Report changes as soon as they happen.

A few tips that help:

• Be honest during assessments and share all of your support needs, including caregiver challenges.
• Keep a record of changes: doctor letters, incident notes, school or day-program reports.
• Contact your Service Coordinator when your needs increase. You do not have to wait for a scheduled check-in.
• Explore other options, like the IFS Waiver, while you are on the IDD waitlist.
• Seek support from advocacy groups such as The Arc or the DDS Office of Rights and Advocacy.

If you disagree with a decision

You have two separate appeal paths. You can request an informal agency review in writing within 30 calendar days, plus 5 days for mailing, from the date your notice was mailed. You also have the right to a fair hearing at the DC Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH), and you may file there immediately.

• The informal review asks the DDS Deputy Director for DDA to reconsider. Say in writing why the placement, priority level, or removal is wrong. A final written decision is due within 30 days of DDS receiving your request.
• Your Service Coordinator or the DDS Rights and Advocacy Specialist can help you write the request.
• The informal review is optional and does not pause your deadline to file with OAH.

You cannot quietly disappear from the list

Removal from the waitlist requires approval by the DDS Deputy Director for DDA or their designee, and only three reasons justify it: you ask to be removed, you are no longer eligible for DDA services, or DDS cannot reach you after three documented weekly attempts by phone, email, and mail, plus a certified letter of intent.

That last reason is why current contact information matters. Tell your Service Coordinator whenever your phone number or address changes.

How long is the wait?

Nobody can honestly answer that yet. The IDD Waiver waitlist only began on January 1, 2026, so there is no DC track record to point to. What you can control is your priority level and your documentation. DDS must also publish an annual public report on the waitlist, including how long people have been waiting.

Understanding your options

Two waivers serve DC residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The IDD Waiver funds higher levels of support, including residential and 24-hour care, and now has a waitlist. The IFS Waiver supports people living with family or friends and stays open when spots are available, so ask about it while you wait.

1. IDD Waiver. Designed for people who need higher levels of support, including residential services or 24-hour care.
2. IFS Waiver. For people living with family or friends. It offers community and employment supports, but it does not cover housing and usually has an annual spending cap.

We’re here to help

Mercyland Healthcare is committed to supporting you through every step. If you have questions about the waitlist, your priority level, or the IFS Waiver, our team is here for you. Call us: 202-525-1563.  Visit: mercylandhi.com