Florida, program by program

Getting a child onto Medicaid is what unlocks the strongest autism benefits (ABA with no dollar cap for under-21, and eventually the iBudget waiver). Florida is stricter than many states about how a disabled child qualifies. These facts were verified this week and are re-cited here as the anchor for the other Florida notes.

Early Steps (birth to 36 months)

• Florida's early intervention system for infants and toddlers birth to 36 months who have or are at risk for developmental delays.
• An autism diagnosis auto-qualifies a child for Early Steps.
• A recent state law (CS/SB 112) extended Early Steps support, easing the drop-off some families faced at age 3.
• For children roughly 3 to 5 who are not yet in school, the parallel free-screening door is FDLRS Child Find. See fdlrs-child-find-and-family-services.

Florida has NOT adopted Katie Beckett / TEFRA

• Many states use the Katie Beckett (TEFRA) option, which lets a disabled child qualify for Medicaid on the child's own income alone, ignoring the parents' income. This is how middle-income families in other states get Medicaid for a disabled child.
• Florida has not adopted the Katie Beckett/TEFRA state plan option. That means a Florida family cannot use it to bypass the parental income test.
• The nearest Florida substitute is the iBudget waiver, which does waive parental income, but it has a waitlist of more than 23,000 people and waits of 10 or more years. See ibudget-waiver-application-and-priority-categories.

SSI and income "deeming"

• SSI (Supplemental Security Income) is the other main door to Medicaid for a disabled child, because SSI recipients generally get Medicaid.
• For a child under 18 living at home, the Social Security Administration "deems" part of the parents' income to the child. That deeming makes many working families ineligible.
• As a rough guide, a family of 4 with earned income above roughly $43,000 a year often exceeds the SSI child deeming limit. This is an approximation, not a hard cutoff. UNVERIFIED: the exact deeming threshold depends on number of parents, number of children, earned vs unearned income, and the current-year SSI figures; confirm with SSA before relying on it.
• At age 18, deeming stops and the young adult is assessed on their own income, so a child who did not qualify as a minor may qualify at 18.

IDD Pilot expansions (CS/HB 1103)

• Florida has an intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) pilot with expansions authorized under CS/HB 1103, aimed at adding capacity and services outside the full iBudget waitlist. UNVERIFIED: the specific counties, slots, and services in the current pilot cycle change with each legislative session; confirm current scope with APD before counting on it.

How the pathways connect

1. Under 3 with a delay or autism: Early Steps (autism auto-qualifies).
2. Any age, if income qualifies: regular Medicaid or a KidCare track, including the CMS plan for special needs. See childrens-medical-services-cms-health-plan.
3. Income too high for regular Medicaid: SSI (if under the deeming limit) or the iBudget waiver (income-blind but long waitlist). Katie Beckett is not available in Florida.

For a child under 21 on Florida Medicaid, ABA (called "behavior analysis," or BA, in state rules) is a covered medical benefit. This is often the strongest funding path for autistic children, because unlike the private insurance mandate it has no $36,000-style annual cap. The catch is that the delivery system changed in 2025 and the access experience varies a lot by plan.

What changed in 2025

• Behavior analysis services moved into the Statewide Medicaid Managed Care (SMMC) program. Beginning February 1, 2025, claims for BA services must go to the child's SMMC managed care plan, not to fee-for-service Medicaid. Children who are NOT enrolled in a managed care plan are still paid through fee-for-service. Source: AHCA Behavior Analysis Services Information page.
• Effective February 10, 2025, AHCA adopted Rule 59G-4.125, the Behavior Analysis Services Coverage Policy. Source: same page.
• AHCA required plans to run a continuity-of-care period so that out-of-network providers could still be paid during the transition and no child lost medically necessary services. Source: same page.

Who can get Medicaid ABA

• Medicaid recipients under age 21 who need medically necessary BA services. Source: AHCA BA page.
• For people 21 and older, ABA-type support comes through the iBudget waiver instead, not the medical benefit. See ibudget-waiver-application-and-priority-categories.

How to actually get services (the steps)

From the AHCA recipient FAQ:

1. Get a written order for BA services from the child's doctor.
2. Have a comprehensive diagnostic evaluation done by a qualified licensed practitioner.
3. Choose a BA provider (the managed care plan can help find one in network).
4. The provider sends a BA service request to the child's plan (or to Acentra, the state review vendor) for prior authorization.
5. The plan or Acentra reviews the request against medical necessity and issues a determination.
6. The family and provider are told the outcome.

The access reality families should expect

• Prior authorization is required. Hours are approved in blocks based on the evaluation and reassessed periodically, so approvals can shrink or need renewal.
• Network matters. After the 2025 move to managed care, whether a specific ABA provider is in-network depends on the plan. A family may need to switch plans (during the annual open-enrollment window or a valid change reason) to reach a preferred provider.
• Waitlists for a provider slot are common even when coverage is approved, because provider capacity, not the benefit, is the bottleneck in many metros.
• Denials and reduced-hour decisions can be appealed through the plan's grievance and appeal process and then a Medicaid fair hearing. (General Medicaid due-process right; confirm current steps with the plan.)

Which plans

Florida contracts with several managed care plans across its SMMC regions (examples families encounter include Sunshine Health, Simply Healthcare, Humana, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan, Molina, and AmeriHealth Caritas). The exact plan menu depends on the child's region under the 2025-2030 SMMC contracts. UNVERIFIED: the precise plan-by-region list changes with each procurement cycle; confirm current options at flmedicaidmanagedcare.com for the child's county before choosing.

Bottom line

Medicaid ABA for under-21 children is broad on paper (no hard dollar cap, medically-necessary standard) but gated in practice by prior authorization and provider network. The two levers a family controls are (1) picking a managed care plan whose network includes a real provider slot, and (2) keeping the doctor's order and diagnostic evaluation current so authorization does not lapse.

What it is

Children's Medical Services is a Florida Department of Health division that runs a group of programs for children with special health care needs. The CMS Health Plan is the managed care plan inside that division. It covers children who have chronic or serious medical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional conditions, including many autistic children.

The CMS Health Plan is one of the four coverage tracks inside Florida KidCare. The other three are straight Medicaid, MediKids, and Florida Healthy Kids. Which track a child lands in depends on age, family income, household size, and clinical need. Source: APD Applying for Services page and floridakidcare.org.

Big 2025 change: who runs it

As of July 1, 2025, enrollment in the CMS Managed Care Plan transferred from the Department of Health to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), the same agency that runs the rest of Florida Medicaid managed care. Source: floridahealth.gov CMS Health Plan page. The plan is operated by Sunshine Health (a Centene company). Source: sunshinehealth.com/members/cms.html.

Who qualifies

Two doors have to both open:

1. Financial eligibility. The child must qualify for a KidCare track (Medicaid, MediKids, Florida Healthy Kids, or the CMS plan). This is income and household based, decided through the KidCare application.
2. Clinical eligibility. The child must be screened and found to have a "special health care need." Providers reach the clinical eligibility hotline at 855-901-5390 (TTY 711), Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Source: floridahealth.gov CMS Health Plan page.

A family that has already been screened can ask to be rescreened at any time. Source: same page.

An autism diagnosis is a common qualifying condition for the clinical screen, but the screen looks at the child's overall needs, not the label alone. UNVERIFIED: there is no published autism-automatic-qualify rule for the CMS plan the way Early Steps auto-qualifies autism; treat CMS clinical eligibility as a case-by-case screen.

Why it matters for autism families

The CMS plan network is built around children with complex needs, so it tends to have care coordination and specialist access that a general plan may not. Behavior analysis (ABA) is a covered Medicaid benefit and, since February 2025, is delivered through the managed care plan (see medicaid-managed-care-and-aba-access).

How to start

Apply through Florida KidCare at floridakidcare.org or 1-888-540-KIDS (5437). If the child may have a developmental disability, also see the Agency for Persons with Disabilities track (ibudget-waiver-application-and-priority-categories) and, for children under 3, Early Steps.

The iBudget waiver is Florida's main long-term home and community-based services program for people with developmental disabilities. It is run by the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD). There are more than 23,000 people waiting for it, and waits of 10 or more years are common. Source: APD Applying for Services page.

Step 1: Establish eligibility with APD

To get iBudget, a person must first be found eligible for APD services. Requirements from the APD Applying for Services page:

• A developmental disability that began before age 18 and is a substantial, lasting handicap. Qualifying conditions include severe forms of autism, intellectual disability (full-scale IQ 70 or below), cerebral palsy, spina bifida, Down syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, and Phelan-McDermid syndrome.
• Florida residency (domicile).
• At least 3 years old. Children under 3 with delays are served by Early Steps, not APD.

APD asks for proof of the diagnosis. School records, testing, or medical records can all count. APD can help arrange a comprehensive assessment if needed.

Step 2: Submit the application

Download the Application for Services (available in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole) from the APD site and mail or hand-deliver it to the APD regional office for your county. Faxed applications are returned because APD needs an original signature. For a child under 18, the parent or legal guardian signs.

Step 3: You are placed in pre-enrollment by priority category

Being found eligible does not mean services start. Almost everyone goes onto "pre-enrollment" (the waitlist) and is sorted into one of seven priority categories, set by section 393.065(5), Florida Statutes. Category 1 is highest priority; Category 7 is lowest.

What this means for a young autistic child

A young child who is not in crisis typically lands in Category 7, the lowest priority. That is the main reason waits are so long for children. Two practical points:

• If circumstances change (a caregiver becomes seriously ill, the child develops dangerous behaviors, the family faces homelessness), contact the APD regional office right away and ask to be reviewed for a higher category. Documentation drives the change.
• The crisis pathway (Category 1) exists precisely for emergencies. A regional office may provide short-term services and decide whether a crisis waiver enrollment is warranted.

What iBudget covers once enrolled

Services are grouped into 8 families. They include life skills and adult day training, supplies and equipment, personal supports, residential habilitation, support coordination, therapies, and more. Respite Care is a covered service for individuals under 21 living in the family home, used when the primary caregiver is briefly away or temporarily unable to provide care. Source: APD iBudget Services page. See respite-care-options.

While you wait

APD publishes a resources flyer for people on pre-enrollment and for those who do not qualify. Under-21 applicants may also qualify for services through the Medicaid State Plan (including behavior analysis / ABA) while on the iBudget waitlist. See medicaid-managed-care-and-aba-access.

FES-UA (Family Empowerment Scholarship for Unique Abilities) is Florida's disability scholarship. Autism qualifies. Unlike the general scholarships, the FES-UA award amount is not one flat number. It is set by the child's "matrix of services" level, assigned by the school district.

These figures were verified for the 2025-26 award table. Always confirm the current-year number for the child's own county before budgeting.

Award tiers by matrix level (2025-26)

Most children start at 251-253 unless a district matrix documents a higher level of need. The jump to 254 and 255 is large, which is why the matrix request rights below matter so much.

Matrix request rights

• A family can request a matrix (or a new matrix) at any time.
• Once requested, the school district must complete the matrix within 30 days.
• The matrix is re-evaluated every 3 years, or sooner if there was an error.
• Families whose children are in private school request the matrix through the district's Parentally Placed Private School office (not the private school itself).
• Step Up For Students administers the scholarship money but cannot change a child's matrix level. Only the school district sets the matrix.

Why this matters

The difference between a level 253 and a level 254 can be more than $10,000 a year in an ESA. If a child's needs are underdocumented, a family can and should request a fresh matrix. The 30-day deadline is a hard rule the district owes the family.

Related

• scholarship-comparison-fes-ua-fes-eo-ftc-pep for how FES-UA compares to the general scholarships and PEP.

Florida runs several K-12 scholarships. Most are administered by Step Up For Students. Families of autistic children usually choose between FES-UA (the disability scholarship, the highest value) and one of the general scholarships. A child can only be on one scholarship at a time.

The four programs at a glance

How to choose

• If the child has a disability and you want the most funding and the most flexible spending (therapies, curriculum, tutoring, tech), FES-UA is almost always the right pick. It is the only one of the four keyed to disability and the only one whose amount rises with need level.
• If the child has a disability but you specifically want full-time private school and FES-UA has a waitlist or you do not yet have a matrix, FES-EO or FTC funds private tuition for any student now.
• PEP is the homeschool ESA. Use it when the child is learning at home or part time rather than enrolled full time in a school.

Key rules families miss

• One scholarship per child. You cannot stack FES-UA with FES-EO, FTC, or PEP.
• FES-UA and PEP are ESA-style: money goes into an account you spend on approved items through the EMA marketplace, and unused funds can roll over year to year.
• FES-EO and FTC are tuition scholarships: the money follows the child to a participating private school.
• Application window: applications for the next school year open February 1. Renewals should be in by April 30. For PEP, all applications (new and renewing) must be in by April 30, after which PEP closes for that year. Source: Step Up PEP page.

FES-UA specifics for autism

Autism is a listed qualifying disability. FES-UA does not require an IEP; a diagnosis or eligibility determination is the path. The award amount is set by the school district's "matrix of services" level. Families keep the right to request or update that matrix. See fes-ua-award-tiers-and-matrix for tiers, matrix request rights, and the 30-day district deadline.

UNVERIFIED: exact 2026-27 dollar amounts vary by county; always check the current Step Up award-amounts PDF for the child's own county before planning a budget.

Florida has a state law that requires certain health plans to cover autism treatment, including ABA. It is important to know exactly which plans it reaches, because the mandate does not cover every kind of insurance.

The law

• The mandate lives in two mirror statutes: section 627.6686 (regular insurers) and section 641.31098 (HMOs), Florida Statutes.
• Together they are named the "Steven A. Geller Autism Coverage Act." Source: 627.6686(1).
• The mandate was enacted by the 2008 Legislature as Chapter 2008-30, Laws of Florida (the bill commonly cited in this lineage is Senate Bill 2654 of the 2008 session). It has been amended several times since (2012, 2014, 2016). Source: statute history note at 627.6686.
• Coverage requirement took effect for plans issued or renewed on or after April 1, 2009. Source: 627.6686(3).

What must be covered

For an eligible individual, covered plans must pay for:

• Well-baby and well-child screening to detect autism spectrum disorder.
• Treatment of autism spectrum disorder (and Down syndrome) through speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and applied behavior analysis (ABA).

ABA must be delivered by a certified or licensed provider (certified under section 393.17, or licensed under chapter 490 or 491). Coverage cannot be denied just because a service is "habilitative." Source: 627.6686(3)-(4).

The dollar caps

• ABA and the related therapies are capped at $36,000 per year and $200,000 in total lifetime benefits. Source: 627.6686(4)(b).
• That $36,000 cap is adjusted every January 1 for the medical component of the Consumer Price Index, so the effective annual cap is higher than $36,000 today. The statute does not print the current inflated figure. UNVERIFIED: the exact current-year adjusted cap is not stated in the statute; families should confirm the current number with the plan. Source: 627.6686(8).

Who is an "eligible individual"

• A person under 18, OR
• A person 18 or older who is still in high school and was diagnosed with a developmental disability at age 8 or younger. Source: 627.6686(2)(c).

Autism spectrum disorder here means autistic disorder, Asperger's syndrome, or PDD-NOS as defined in the DSM. Source: 627.6686(2)(b).

The big limitation: which plans it reaches

This is the part families miss. The mandate applies to group health plans and the state employee group insurance program. It explicitly does NOT apply to:

• Plans sold in the individual market.
• Individually underwritten plans.
• Small-employer plans.

Source: 627.6686(2)(d).

Two more gaps to know:

• Self-funded employer plans (many large employers) are governed by federal ERISA law, not Florida law, so the state mandate does not bind them. Whether they cover ABA is up to the employer. (General ERISA principle; UNVERIFIED as to any specific plan.)
• Medicaid is a separate pathway with its own ABA benefit and no $36,000-style cap for children under 21. See medicaid-managed-care-and-aba-access.

Practical takeaway

If a family has a fully insured group plan through a Florida employer, ABA is a mandated benefit up to the inflation-adjusted cap. If they have an individual marketplace plan, a small-employer plan, or a self-funded plan, the state mandate may not apply, and Medicaid may be the stronger route for a child under 21.

The 7 CARD centers

Florida's Centers for Autism and Related Disabilities (CARD) are 7 university-based, nonresidential resource centers created by the Florida Legislature. Together they cover all 67 Florida counties, and their services are free to families. Source: card.ufl.edu Find Your CARD.

CARD helps with consultation, training, navigation of services, and support for families and schools. Important limits to set expectations: CARD does not itself diagnose autism and does not provide ABA therapy. It is a free support-and-navigation resource, not a clinic.

Source: card.ufl.edu Find Your CARD table (reviewed June 2026). Find contact details for every center at florida-card.org.

Diagnosis wait times by metro

These are typical waits for a diagnostic evaluation. They are long everywhere, so the practical advice is the same in every metro: get on evaluation waitlists at the first sign of concern, and pursue more than one route at once (developmental pediatrician, psychologist, and the free public screening through Early Steps or FDLRS).

Source: waits verified this week for the vault.

UNVERIFIED: wait times shift with provider capacity and season; treat these as planning ranges, not guarantees, and confirm current waits with the specific clinic.

Related

• regional-resources-miami-dade-broward
• regional-resources-orlando-tampa-jacksonville
• medicaid-managed-care-and-aba-access for the therapy path after diagnosis.

FDLRS (the Florida Diagnostic and Learning Resources System) is a free, statewide network that helps families of children with disabilities and supports the schools that serve them. It is funded through the federal IDEA law and run by the Florida Department of Education's Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services (BEESS). It works through "Associate Centers" that cover every Florida school district. Source: fdlrs.org About page.

Why parents care: free developmental screening

FDLRS is one of the main doors to getting a young child evaluated before kindergarten, at no cost and with no insurance needed.

• FDLRS Child Find identifies young children (34 months through age 5) who are not already in Head Start or public school and who may need extra help with learning, development, or behavior.
• It offers free developmental screenings and connects families to early intervention services, training, and guidance.
• "Insurance is never needed for these services." Source: fdlrs.org About page.

For children under 3, the parallel program is Early Steps (birth to 36 months), where an autism diagnosis auto-qualifies the child. FDLRS Child Find picks up the older toddler-to-preschool band. Use whichever matches the child's age.

The four FDLRS service areas

From the FDLRS About page, each Associate Center works in four areas:

1. Child Find. Free screenings and referral for young children who may need support.
2. Parent and Family Services. Information, training, and ongoing support so parents can be active partners in their child's education, and stronger school-home partnerships.
3. Human Resource Development (HRD). Professional learning for school staff on topics like specially designed instruction, accommodations, executive functioning, and Universal Design for Learning.
4. Technology. Help for families and educators choosing and using instructional and assistive technology and accessible educational materials.

How to use FDLRS as a parent

• If you suspect a delay in a child roughly 3 to 5 years old who is not yet in public school, contact your local FDLRS Associate Center (find it through fdlrs.org) and ask for a free developmental screening.
• A screen is not a diagnosis, but it is the fast, free first step that can trigger a full evaluation and connect you to services.
• FDLRS also runs the BEESS Portal to Professional Learning Alternatives, free online courses, useful if a parent wants to understand ESE topics themselves.

Related

• Early Steps for birth to 36 months.
• vpk-specialized-instructional-services for preschoolers with an IEP heading into VPK.

Florida's Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) program is free for all 4-year-olds. VPK SIS is a special version of VPK for children with disabilities. It lets a family use the child's VPK funding for one-on-one or specialized instruction from an approved provider instead of a standard classroom.

Who qualifies

A child qualifies for VPK SIS if:

• The child is age-eligible for VPK (generally turned 4 by September 1), AND
• The child has a current Individual Educational Plan (IEP) documenting a disability.

Source: vpkhelp.org VPK SIS page. Many autistic children who already have an IEP through the school district's ESE process meet this test.

What it is and why it matters

Standard VPK is a group preschool classroom. For a child with significant needs, that setting may not fit. VPK SIS instead delivers the instruction through a Department of Education-approved SIS provider whose services meet statutory standards. The Department maintains the approved-provider list and notifies each school district and early learning coalition. Source: vpkhelp.org.

This gives families of children with an IEP a more individualized way to use the same free VPK benefit, which can pair well with therapies the child is already getting.

How to access it

• Contact the local Early Learning Coalition, which administers VPK enrollment for the county.
• Statewide help line: Florida's Office of Early Learning at 1-866-447-1159. Source: vpkhelp.org.
• Have the child's current IEP ready; it is the qualifying document.

Related

• fdlrs-child-find-and-family-services for free screening for children not yet in school.
• The school district ESE office is where the IEP itself is written; the IEP is the key that unlocks VPK SIS.

Respite is short-term care that gives a parent or primary caregiver a planned or emergency break. For families raising an autistic child, respite is one of the most requested and hardest-to-find supports. Florida has a few distinct paths, and which one a family can use depends on eligibility.

1. iBudget waiver respite (the main formal path)

The APD iBudget waiver covers Respite Care as a named service. It provides supportive care and supervision to individuals under age 21 living in the family home when the primary caregiver is briefly away (planned or emergency) or is temporarily unable to provide care. Source: APD iBudget Services page.

The limitation: the child must be enrolled in the iBudget waiver, and most children sit on the pre-enrollment waitlist for years. So iBudget respite is real and funded but not quickly available for a young child in Category 7. See ibudget-waiver-application-and-priority-categories.

2. Crisis and short-term APD supports

If a family reaches a crisis (caregiver can no longer provide care, danger to self or others, homelessness), the APD regional office can sometimes provide short-term services and review whether a crisis waiver enrollment is warranted. Contact the regional office directly. Source: APD Applying for Services page. This is the emergency lever, not routine respite.

3. Medicaid and health-plan paths

• Children on Medicaid may have respite-type supports available through certain managed care plan care-coordination benefits or through the Children's Medical Services plan for children with special health care needs. UNVERIFIED: respite as a standing Medicaid State Plan benefit for children is limited; confirm with the specific managed care plan. See childrens-medical-services-cms-health-plan and medicaid-managed-care-and-aba-access.

4. Community and nonprofit respite

Outside the government programs, families commonly use:

• Local Arc chapters and disability nonprofits that run respite nights or camps.
• Parent-to-parent and faith-based respite programs.
• United Way 211 (dial 211) to find respite providers by county.

UNVERIFIED: specific nonprofit respite programs vary by county and change often; verify availability locally before relying on any one program.

Practical takeaway

The dependable, funded respite in Florida flows through the iBudget waiver, which means getting on the APD waitlist early even though the wait is long. In the meantime, families should ask their Medicaid managed care plan what care-coordination respite exists and use 211 and local Arc chapters to fill the gap.

South Florida (Miami-Dade, Broward, and Monroe) is served by one autism resource center and shares the statewide programs described elsewhere in this vault.

CARD center for this region

• UM-NSU CARD (the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities, a partnership of the University of Miami and Nova Southeastern University) serves Broward, Miami-Dade (Dade), and Monroe counties. Source: card.ufl.edu Find Your CARD table; card.miami.edu.
• CARD services are free and available to families in all 67 Florida counties through the 7 regional centers. UM-NSU CARD is the one assigned to this region.
• What CARD provides: consultation, training, help navigating services, and support for families and schools. CARD does not itself provide ABA therapy or a medical diagnosis; it is a support-and-navigation center.

Diagnosis wait times

Miami metro has among the longest diagnostic evaluation waits in the state, roughly 10 to 14 months. Plan early: get on evaluation waitlists as soon as a concern appears, and pursue more than one evaluation route (developmental pediatrician, psychologist, and public school/Early Steps or FDLRS screening) at the same time.

Statewide programs, applied locally

• APD / iBudget: apply through the APD regional office serving Miami-Dade and Broward (Southeast/Southern region). See ibudget-waiver-application-and-priority-categories.
• Medicaid ABA: choose a managed care plan whose network includes a real provider slot in the metro. See medicaid-managed-care-and-aba-access.
• School and preschool: district ESE offices for IEPs, vpk-specialized-instructional-services for preschoolers, and fdlrs-child-find-and-family-services for free screening.
• Scholarships: scholarship-comparison-fes-ua-fes-eo-ftc-pep and fes-ua-award-tiers-and-matrix.

County-level money and free programs (Miami-Dade)

• The Children's Trust: Miami-Dade's dedicated children's services taxing district (voter-approved property tax). It does not hand families cash; it FUNDS free or subsidized programs families enroll in: after-school and summer camps (including special-populations programs), Thrive by 5 early learning, free monthly Book Club (birth to 4.5), Parent Club workshops in English/Spanish/Creole, and benefits-enrollment help. Program directory at thechildrenstrust.org/find-a-program with a Special Populations filter. Verified 2026-07-18 (thechildrenstrust.org).
• Practical read for a family paying out of pocket: Trust-funded special-needs summer camps and after-school seats replace real dollars a family would otherwise spend, even though no check is written to the parent.
• National family grants that Miami-Dade families can apply to for therapy, equipment, and supplies (Autism Speaks maintains the list at autismspeaks.org/autism-grants-families): ACT Today (act-today.org grant applications), UnitedHealthcare Children's Foundation medical grants, Small Steps in Speech (speech therapy), MyGOAL grants. Each has its own income rules and cycles; verify current windows at application time.
• UNVERIFIED (promising, confirm before citing to families): Parent to Parent of Miami (family support and trainings), Miami-Dade Parks disability/therapeutic recreation programs and fee waivers, City of Miami parks inclusion programs, Early Learning Coalition of Miami-Dade child-care subsidies for special needs.

UNVERIFIED: specific local clinic names, ABA provider capacity, and current office addresses change frequently; confirm current contacts through UM-NSU CARD (card.miami.edu) and the county APD and Early Learning Coalition offices.

Each of Florida's other major metros is served by its own university-based CARD center. All CARD services are free.

Orlando and Central Florida

• CARD center: UCF CARD (University of Central Florida) serves Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Sumter, and Volusia counties. Source: card.ufl.edu Find Your CARD table.
• Diagnosis wait: roughly 8 to 12 months in the Orlando metro. Start evaluation waitlists early and pursue more than one route.

Tampa Bay and Southwest Florida

• CARD center: USF CARD (University of South Florida) serves a large region including Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Polk, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, and Lee counties. Source: card.ufl.edu Find Your CARD table; usf.edu/autism.
• Diagnosis wait: roughly 6 to 10 months in the Tampa metro, the shortest of the big five metros in this vault, though still long.

Jacksonville and Northeast Florida

• CARD center: UF Health Jacksonville CARD serves Baker, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Nassau, and St. Johns counties. Source: card.ufl.edu Find Your CARD table.
• Diagnosis wait: roughly 9 to 12 months in the Jacksonville metro.

Statewide programs, applied locally

The same programs apply in every metro:

• APD / iBudget waiver: apply through the APD regional office for the county. See ibudget-waiver-application-and-priority-categories.
• Medicaid ABA: pick a managed care plan with a real in-network provider slot. See medicaid-managed-care-and-aba-access.
• Preschool and school: vpk-specialized-instructional-services, fdlrs-child-find-and-family-services, and the district ESE office for IEPs.
• Scholarships: scholarship-comparison-fes-ua-fes-eo-ftc-pep and fes-ua-award-tiers-and-matrix.
• Special-needs medical coverage: childrens-medical-services-cms-health-plan.

UNVERIFIED: local clinic names, provider capacity, and current office addresses change often; confirm through the region's CARD center and the county APD and Early Learning Coalition offices.