Local Intellectual & Developmental Disability Authority (LIDDA)

As the Local Intellectual and Developmental Disability Authority for Dallas County, Metrocare helps individuals and families access IDD services through eligibility determination, service coordination, and connection to available programs and long‑term supports.

Local Intellectual & Developmental Disability Authority (LIDDA)

As the Local Intellectual and Developmental Disability Authority for Dallas County, Metrocare helps individuals and families access IDD services through eligibility determination, service coordination, and connection to available programs and long‑term supports.

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IDD services in Dallas County.

Metrocare is Dallas County’s Local Intellectual & Developmental Disability Authority (LIDDA). We serve as the front-door to coordinate all publicly funded Intellectual and Developmental Disability (IDD) programs.

Our goal is to help your loved one access the services needed to live in the community and achieve the highest quality of life. First, our team determines if your loved one is eligible to receive Texas IDD Services. Then, we help connect you to the right resources and supports across our extensive provider network and beyond.

LIDDA PAGE

We also help enroll your child on the State waitlists for Medicaid waiver programs, known as the “interest lists” Tip! Don’t wait to enroll.

Waitlists for these programs are often 10+ years. While the wait is long, receiving these services can make a huge long-term difference.

Learn more about how we’re educating our local leaders through a first-of-its-kind training in Texas

Who We Serve

To qualify for LIDDA services, the person must be a resident of Dallas County, at least three years of age and have either a:

  • diagnosis of an intellectual and / or developmental disability (IDD) or other related condition
  • pervasive developmental disorder, like Autism Spectrum Disorder
  • nursing facility resident who is eligible for specialized services for IDD or a related condition.

Eligibility to receive services is determined by Metrocare’s Eligibility Determination Unit.

FUNCTIONS OF THE LIDDA

  • Provides or contracts to provide an array of services and supports for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities;
  • Is responsible for enrolling eligible individuals into the following Medicaid programs:
    • ICF/IID, which includes state supported living centers
    • Home and Community-based Services
    • (HCS) Texas Home Living (TxHmL)
  • Is responsible for Permanency Planning for consumers under 22 years of age who live in an ICF/IID, state supported living center or a residential setting of the HCS Program.

IS YOUR LOVED ONE IN CRISIS?

Call us now and a team member will connect you to needed services ASAP

214-333-7000

Metrocare’s crisis team is here to help 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Getting Started

Step 1:

Call or email the EDU to set up initial eligibility determination assessment

Metrocare will first set up an assessment to determine if a person has an intellectual or developmental disability and is eligible to receive LIDDA services. Assessments are completed through Metrocare’s Eligibility Determination Unit (EDU), the central intake site for individuals in Dallas County with IDD, a Pervasive Development Disorder, or a related condition.

At Metrocare, we take a personalized and individualized approach to each person we serve. The EDU Assessment is the first step in the process of determining what services are right for your loved one.

Once determined eligible for services, you and your loved one are assigned a Metrocare Service Coordinator. Your Service Coordinator helps you access medical, social, educational and other services and supports so that your loved one can achieve the highest possible quality of life and community participation.

Contact us:
214-333-7000
IDDReferrals@metrocareservices.org

Gather and fax all documentation in preparation for your initial visit
Click here for documentation requirements 

  • Special Education Services: If the individual has received Special Education services, send copies of their Full Individual Evaluations (FIE’s) and Comprehensive Individual Assessments (CIA’s) ahead of time for review. Please send both the FIE’s and CIA’s. If you do not have copies of these evaluations, contact your school district to obtain. Reference helpful tips about obtaining school records here.
  • All Other Evaluations: Including psychological evaluations by private psychologists and other medical and developmental evaluations.
  • Fax: 214-333-7073
  • Email: IDDReferrals@metrocareservices.org

Financial review scheduled with a Metrocare Financial Counselor

After reviewing submitted financial documentation (Step 2), if further clarification is needed, your intake specialist may arrange a telephone or face-to-face consultation meeting with a Metrocare financial counselor. Metrocare is here to guide you and your family every step of the way, and your ability to pay will not disqualify you from receiving services.

Schedule the Assessment

Once the Eligibility Determination Unit has received all the necessary documents, the intake specialist will contact the individual to schedule the assessment.

Determination of Intellectual Disability (DID) assessment

A Licensed Psychologist conducts the Initial Eligibility Determination assessment, also known as the Determination of Intellectual Disability (DID) assessment

Review of Past Testing: The psychologist will review previous evaluation reports and past testing to help understand the individual’s historic levels of functioning and changes in functioning over time. In an interview setting with the client and client’s caregiver, the psychologist will usually ask about developmental history, family history, educational history, physical/medical problems, psychiatric history, problem behaviors, services needed, and any other concerns of the family and client.

Adaptive Behavior Assessment: The psychologist will administer an adaptive behavior assessment, which includes an interview of a person who is familiar with the client’s communication, self-help, and social skills in order to compare those skills with the expected range within that person’s age group.

Intellectual Assessment: The psychologist administers an intelligence test (IQ) to determine if the individual’s level of intellectual functioning falls within the range of an intellectual disability. The IQ test is given to the individual directly and requires solving a variety of problems that measure reasoning abilities.

Admission to Service Coordination

A Service Coordinator will follow up with the client or client’s caregiver to initiate the discussion of services, tailored to the individual’s needs. See Service Coordination below for further detail.

If not eligible

If not eligible for Developmental Disability Services, then referral is made to needed resource.

Our Services

Specialized behavior interventions to help preserve in-home, family, or community living. Supports include:

  • Developing a personalized behavior support plan from assessment findings.
  • Training and consulting with family members or other providers for comprehensive care.
  • Monitoring the success of the behavioral support plan and modifying if necessary.

Community First Choice (CFC) services are available to Medicaid recipients of specific Managed Care Organizations (MCO’s) with an institutional level of care.

Services Include:

  • Personal Assistance for daily living activities, like eating, toileting, grooming, bathing, meal planning, financial management etc.
  • Training for caregivers on how to select, manage, and dismiss attendants.
  • Emergency Response Services

Metrocare’s LIDDA team provides service coordination for qualifying individuals 22 years of age and older.

Individualized activities provided in the person’s home and in the community, such as:

  • habilitation and support of daily living activities;
  • activities for the person’s family that help preserve the family unit and in-home placement;
  • transportation between the client’s home and employment site, day habilitation, or community activities.

Crisis respite provides 24-hour supervision to a person in crisis for up to 14 days, either in the home or a facility. Crisis intervention specialists help families stabilize the individual and develop a crisis prevention plan

Assists with self-help, socialization, and adaptive skills needed to live successfully in the community. Often provided in a group setting and includes personal care by a registered nurse.

Helps individuals locate paid jobs and:

  • identify employment preferences, job skills, work requirements, and work conditions;
  • identify prospective employers who offer appropriate employment;
  • provide support services, supervision, and training to help sustain employment;
  • vocational training for industry-specific employment.

Metrocare helps you enroll. When your loved one receives a waiver slot, Metrocare provides service coordination and navigation.

Texas Health and Human Services releases waiver slots to individuals on the waitlist, also known as the “interest list.” The waitlist for these slots can be 10 to 15+ years so contact us today to ask about enrolling your child now. Funding from the waiver programs also follow the individual across any part of the state. If you have recently moved to Dallas from another part of the state, Metrocare can help you connect to local services.

HCS and TxHmL provide supports so that individuals can remain either in their home, at a family member’s home, or at a host-setting over a long period of time.

Services include:

  • Residential Support Services (HCS only)
  • Adaptive aids
  • Minor home modifications
  • Professional therapies
  • Behavioral supports
  • Dental treatment
  • Nursing
  • Respite
  • Day habilitation
  • Employment services

HCS & Texas Home Living Service Coordinators monitor services provided by HCS/TxHmL providers to ensure safety, coordination of services, and appropriate linkage to resources. Service Coordinators will assist the person in identifying and articulating personal goals and hopes for the future as well as the need for services and supports. The Service Coordinator will elicit the person’s feedback, coordinate, monitor the services for desires outcomes as identified in the Person Directed Treatment Plan (PDP).

Licensed nursing staff to provide treatment of health care procedures, prescribed by a physician.

A federally mandated program that is applied to all individuals seeking admission to a Medicaid-certified nursing facility, regardless of funding source or age. PASRR has three main goals:

  • To identify people, including adults and children, with mental illness, and/or an intellectual or developmental disability or related condition;
  • To ensure appropriate placement, whether in the community or the nursing facility;
  • To ensure people receive specialized services for mental illness, and/or IDD, if eligible.

Have a loved one entering a nursing facility?

Learn more about PASRR here.

Planned or emergency short-term relief provided by trained staff to the person’s unpaid caregiver.

Once determined eligible for services, you and your loved one are assigned a Metrocare Service Coordinator. Your Service Coordinator helps you access medical, social, educational and other services and supports so that your loved one can achieve the highest possible quality of life and community participation.

Assessment and treatment by licensed or certified professionals. Therapies include:

  • social work services
  • counseling services
  • occupational therapy
  • physical therapy
  • speech and language therapy
  • audiology services
  • dietary services
  • behavioral health services other than those
  • provided by a local mental health authority.

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