The agency supports persons with developmental disabilities in living, learning, and working in their communities.

The agency serves Floridians with developmental disabilities as defined in Ch. 393, Florida Statutes. This includes individuals with the following disabilities:

• Autism
• Cerebral palsy
• Spina bifida
• Intellectual disabilities
• Down syndrome
• Prader-Willi syndrome
• Phelan-McDermid syndrome
• Children aged 3-5 who are at a high risk of a developmental disability

The Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) works with local communities and private providers to support people who have developmental disabilities and their families in living, learning, and working in their communities; provides assistance in identifying the service needs of people with developmental disabilities; and educates the public on disability issues while focusing attention on employment for people with disabilities.

• Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS). The HCBS waiver is the agency's largest program, providing Floridians who are eligible for Medicaid services an alternative to institutional-based care. Known as the iBudget Florida waiver, the program provides social, medical, behavioral, and therapeutic services and living arrangements in the community. For Fiscal Year 2020-21, there was a total of 35,139 individuals in the community who were active on the iBudget waiver. Some clients enroll in a self-directed program called Consumer-Directed Care Plus (CDC+). Individuals enrolled in CDC+ have maximum budget flexibility because they have fewer restrictions on who is hired to deliver services and can negotiate how much to pay for those services. People in CDC+ must have a CDC+ Consultant, who is similar to a Waiver Support Coordinator. As of July 1, 2021, 3,977 people in the HCBS program were managing their own services through the CDC+ program.
  
• Developmental Disability Centers (DDCs). The agency operates two Medicaid-funded DDCs for people who need structured residential care 24-hours a day. Tacachale in Gainesville and Sunland in Marianna are communities that offer residents opportunities to enhance their quality of life and maximize individual potential. The full-service residential facilities provide medical care, therapy, and a variety of recreation opportunities. The residents participate in social outings, team sports, community events, learning a trade, and working onsite. During Fiscal Year 2020-21, the centers provided services to an average daily population of 483 individuals.
  
• Developmental Disabilities Defendant Program (DDDP). Individuals with developmental disabilities charged with committing a felony crime may be court-ordered into the agency’s DDDP. DDDP is a 146-bed secure facility located in Chattahoochee for defendants with developmental disabilities who are deemed incompetent to participate in their own defense or stand trial. In this program, residents with a secure court order receive competency training and other services in accordance with their needs. This is not a voluntary residential setting. The agency also has 34 secure beds in the Pathways program located at Sunland. During Fiscal Year 2020-21, the average daily population to whom the DDDP provided services was 114 individuals.
  
• Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (IFC/IDD). Intermediate care facilities provide health and rehabilitative services to individuals with developmental disabilities in a protected residential setting. Services include ongoing evaluation, service planning, 24-hour supervision, coordination and integration of health/rehabilitative services to help individuals with severe disabilities function at their greatest ability. Individuals served in intermediate care facilities tend to be the most severely disabled, including, those requiring respirators and feeding tubes. These settings are designed to provide the highest level of intervention and supports funded by the federal government for people with developmental disabilities. During Fiscal Year 2020-21, Florida intermediate care facilities provided services to an average daily population of 1,912 individuals.

People who have or might have a developmental disability may apply for services by completing an application for services (available on the agency's website in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole) and hand delivering or mailing the application to the agency's local area office where the applicant lives.

The iBudget system allows the state to receive federal Medicaid matching payments for services provided to developmentally disabled persons in the community. Because there are not enough home and community-based services waiver slots to serve all eligible persons, the agency maintains a waitlist of individuals who have requested services. The agency reported that there were 22,744 individuals on the iBudget waitlist, and that during Fiscal Year 2020-21, 923 individuals had been moved from the waitlist to the iBudget waiver.

The agency tracks key performance measures in its Long Range Program Plan. In Fiscal Year 2020-21, the agency reported that 89.4% of people receiving services met key health, safety, and quality of life measures, a slight increase from the previous fiscal year (89.3%). However, the number of people served did not meet the approved standard of 92.0%. The agency also reported serving 4,684 clients via supported living, a decrease from the previous fiscal year (4,794). The number of clients supported exceeded the agency's approved standard of serving 4,000 individuals. In addition, the agency reported that 45% of clients were employed in integrated settings, an increase from the previous fiscal year (40%). The clients employed in integrated settings exceeded the approved standard of 30%.

iConnect. The implementation APD iConnect, a centralized client data management system, continues to progress. The Florida Legislature appropriated over $1.3 million in Fiscal Year 2021-22 to continue the implementation of this statewide system for management, reporting, and trending of data for all agency clients. It will include functionality comprised of client budgets, service plans, service authorizations, and Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) for personal care services. This functionality will be rolled out to APDstaff, Waiver Support Coordinators, and a segment of direct service providers with specific service authorizations (e.g., personal care services). Additionally, the agency is preparing for the next rollout of APD iConnect. According to the agency, APD iConnect will house the records of more than 58,000 client records when completed.

Other Reports
The Auditor General reports on agency operations are available on its website.
Agency Reports, Agency for Persons with Disabilities.

Websites of Interest
Agency for Persons with Disabilities
Agency for Persons with Disabilities, iBudget
Florida Family Care Council
Disability Rights Florida
Florida Association of Rehabilitation Facilities
Florida Developmental Disabilities Council, Inc.
The Arc of Florida

Performance Information

Performance measures and standards for the department may be found in its Long Range Program Plan.

Chapters 393, 400, and 916, Florida Statutes.

Agency for Persons with Disabilities, 850-488-4257 or 1-866-APD-CARES (1-866-273-2273)

Website