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Structured Family Caregiving Waiver

Structured Family Caregiving Waiver allows Missouri Medicaid recipients to employ family members to provide paid home and community-based care services.

Eligibility

  • Care recipient must have a qualifying disability
  • Care recipient age: at least 21
  • Must live with care recipient
  • Relationship: parent, other relative

Questions to ask the program

These are questions to ask the program, not a verdict on your eligibility. Confirm the current rules directly with the program.

  • Does the person receiving care live in Missouri? — Residency is usually the first thing a program checks.
  • Does your relationship to the person — parent or other relative — count for this program?
  • Is the person receiving care in the covered age range (21 or older)?
  • What counts as a qualifying disability or level of care need, and what documentation shows it?
  • Do you need to live with the person receiving care, and how is that verified?
  • Is there a caregiver-specific department, coordinator, or support line? Ask for it by name. — Many agencies have one that isn’t advertised on the website.
  • What documents do you need from us to start an application?
  • Is there a waitlist right now, and how long is it?

What this record does not yet say

  • a direct application link
  • eligibility criteria

How to apply

  • DSDS staff confirm the diagnosis meets state statute 172.800 RSMo criteria by contacting the participant's physician (using the SFCW Diagnosis Verification form if the physician cannot be reached by phone), provide SFCW provider options, and submit the request through a supervisor to the Bureau of Federal Programs (BFP) for review before authorization; BFP determines slot availability and notifies the supervisor to enroll the participant.