Home and Community Based Services Final Rule Illustrated Guide: The HCBS Final Rule
What is the HCBS Final Rule?
People with intellectual and developmental disabilities often receive services from the government (Medicaid dollars).
The Home and Community Based Services Final Rule—also called the HCBS Final Rule—makes sure these services are good for the people who receive them.
The goal of the HCBS Final Rule is to make sure that people with disabilities in residential and non-residential settings, day programs and work are connected with their communities.
The Rule does not apply to hospitals, nursing homes, Intermediate Care Facility for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities or Institutions for mental diseases.
The Rule makes sure people with disabilities have as many opportunities and choices as they can.
The Rule supports full access for people with disabilities to their communities so that they interact regularly with people without disabilities.
The Rule wants individuals to choose where they live, what they do, and how they work—this is called person-centered planning.
The Rule supports individuals to choose who their roommates are while also supporting each individual’s privacy in their living situation.
The Rule supports individuals to furnish and decorate their room however they want.
The Rule supports individuals to control their own activities and have the visitors they choose at any time.
The Rule requires individuals to get a lease or rental agreement to protect them from being forced to leave their home.
The HCBS Final Rule key points to remember: The Rule is about YOU and YOUR everyday life. The Rule says you get a choice about where you live, and who you live with. The Rule says you get a choice about where you spend your day, and how you spend your time during the day. If you think the Rule is not being followed, speak up! Your voice matters. For more information or help with this Rule, you can email hcbs@temple.edu.
This project is supported by a grant from the Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council; in part by grant #2001PASCDD-02, from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects with government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official ACL policy.
Panel Descriptions
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Four people of various genders, races, and abilities – one using a wheelchair – in front of a government building. Arrows and dollar signs flow from the building to the people.
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Four people of different genders, races, and abilities - two with their arm raised - are under silhouettes of courtroom gavels and the text, "Home and Community Based Services HCBS Final Rule."
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Four people of various genders, races, and abilities - one using a wheelchair - interspersed with other people figures. Background shows a shop, a church, people planting a tree, lifting weights, school bus, movie theater seats, and people talking/working at a table).
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Four people of various genders, races, and abilities - one using a wheelchair. A large "X" appears over a group of buildings labeled: Nursing Home, Hospital, Institution, and ICF (Intermediate Care Facility).
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People of various genders, races, and abilities in four everyday situations: next to a church, working out with weights, next to a school bus, and at a conference table. Text: "...Church. Gym. School. Work. And more!"
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People of various genders, races, and abilities in a line. Behind them is a scene of people doing recreational activities in a community park: exercising with weights, taking a walk, and dog walking.
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Four people of various genders, races, and abilities - one using a wheelchair - in front of flag with a zig-zag graphic that represents a Disability Flag. Under the flag, a finger points to one of three squares above the word "Choice."
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Four people of various genders, races, and abilities - one using a wheelchair, and two with raised arms – are on the edge of a large circle labeled "Person-Centered Planning." Inside the circle are icons: handshake, clock, map, gears, house, pill bottles, thinking head with gears, basketball, loudspeaker, wifi symbol, lightbulb, doctor with stethoscope, wallet, and people dancing.
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A cutaway view of a home with roommates inside two of its four rooms. The downstairs rooms are a living room and kitchen. A person is in each of the second floor bedrooms which are labeled "Private." The same two people appear together in an inset graphic.
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A cutaway view of a home shows two floors. The bedrooms are uniquely furnished and decorated. One person is in each bedroom. One sleeps in bed. The other is at the dresser.
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A cutaway view of home shows two floors. The upstairs rooms are unoccupied bedrooms. Downstairs, three people in the living room snack and watch a movie together. Two people share a meal in the kitchen.
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Three people of various genders, races, and abilities - one using a wheelchair – in front of buildings with a "For Rent" sign. A person wearing a shirt that says "Landlord." shakes hands with the wheelchair user and offers a document labeled "Lease."
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Image attributions
- 1. Building: Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
- 2. Law (gavel): Dinosoft Labs from the Noun Project
- 3. and 5. Church: Clker-Free-Vectore Images from Pixabay
Workout: Clker-Free-Vectore Images from Pixabay
School bus: Deester from Pixabay
Shop: OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay
Job interview: Tumisu from Pixabay
Movie theater: OpenIcons from Pixabay
People with plant: iconathon.org–commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Noun_project_6396.svg - 4. Building: Lars Pongrac from Pixabay
- 6. Park scene: sunil kargwal from Pixabay
- 7. Disability Pride Flag: Ann at Flicker https://www.flickr.com/photos/capriuni/
Person-centered: Christiana Mergan from Pixabay - 12. Buildings: Dsndrn-Videolar from Pixabay