HHSC Issues New Guidance on HCBS Settings Rule Compliance for Employment Readiness Providers

Texas Health and Human Services Commission, through Information Letter 2025-05 provided supplementary guidance about the implementation of Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Settings Rule requirements to employment readiness providers. Information Letter 2025-05 sent by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission addresses Financial Management Services Agencies (FMSAs), Local Intellectual and Developmental Disability Authorities (LIDDAs), Deaf Blind with Multiple Disabilities (DBMD) providers, and Home and Community-based Services (HCS) and Texas Home Living (TxHmL) program operators.

The Home and Community-Based Services Settings Rule provides requirements to guarantee service users enjoy both community support and integrated job opportunities. These providers need to follow fundamental steps that have been specified in the recently published compliance standards document. Providers must prioritize three elements, which are community integration and individual free choice together with service recipient independence.

Organizations should prioritize the alignment of their service settings with federal requirements in order to preserve funding as well as program integrity. Providers must examine their present practices while making service delivery modifications when required and guarantee that employment readiness settings provide unique opportunities rather than institutional features.