By Carol Meredith and Luke Wheeland

If your son or daughter receives services through the Supported Living Services (SLS) waiver or the Children’s Extensive Support (CES) waiver, they may be eligible for home and vehicle modifications.  Here is a brief explanation:

Home Modifications: Specific modifications, adaptations or improvements made to an individual’s existing home that are medically necessary to ensure the health, welfare and safety of the individual, and allow them to function with greater independence in the home to prevent institutionalization.

Home modifications may include but are not limited to the following:

• Installing or building ramps
• Widening doorways
• Modifying bathrooms
• Installing specialized electric and plumbing systems that are necessary to accommodate medically necessary equipment and supplies.

Vehicle Modifications: Adaptations, modifications or alterations made to a car or van that is the individual’s primary means of transportation to accommodate their special needs, and are necessary to include them in the community, along with ensuring their health and safety.

Not everyone who has access to these waivers needs these modifications, but if you do, now is the time to act!  There is a $10,000 cap on this benefit for the life of the waiver.  This means that during a five-year period (the life of the wavier), your son or daughter can access $10,000.  These waivers are set to renew on July 1, 2019, so if you contact your case manager immediately and get started on your project, you may be able to get $10,000 now and another $10,000 after July 1, 2019 to finish the project.

We know these modifications can be very expensive and many times cost more than $10,000.  We also know that it is really important for children and adults to have these modifications, so they can be as independent as possible in their environment.

So, make that call to your case manager today.  It never hurts to ask, and this benefit may really increase the quality of life for your child and your family!