Paying for it
Does Medicaid pay for a group home in Florida?
Yes — but only part of it, and the part it does not cover is the part families are never told about. For an adult the Agency for Persons with Disabilities has found eligible and enrolled on the iBudget Medicaid Waiver, the waiver pays the home for residential habilitation — the staffing and support. Room and board is separate, and is paid from the person's own income, most often Supplemental Security Income.
Two different things with two different payers
Florida law separates them, which is why the answer is never a single number. One definition covers the building and the food. The other covers the people who work there and what they do.
The resident pays this
Room and board
“Residential facility” means a facility providing room and board and personal care for persons who have developmental disabilities.
Section 393.063(33), F.S.
Paid from the person's own income — usually Supplemental Security Income. It is not billed to the waiver and it is not billed to you.
The waiver pays this
Residential habilitation
“Residential habilitation” means supervision and training with the acquisition, retention, or improvement in skills related to activities of daily living, such as personal hygiene skills, homemaking skills, and the social and adaptive skills necessary to enable the individual to reside in the community.
Section 393.063(34), F.S.
Billed by the home to the iBudget Medicaid Waiver at rates the state sets. An enrolled family does not pay this.
Why we will not put a monthly figure on this page
Because it would be wrong for you, and it would not look wrong. Room and board depends on that person's own income, so it genuinely differs from one resident to the next. The support rate is set by the state and changes. An “average monthly cost” from a site like this is a number a family could budget against and be badly out.
You can get the real one in two phone calls, and here is exactly who holds each half:
- Ask the home for its room and board amount. We will tell you ours for the specific house, on the phone, without you having to ask twice.
- Ask the Waiver Support Coordinator what the person's income supports and which preenrollment category they are in. That is the half that decides timing as well as money.
Eligible and funded are two different decisions
This is where families lose the most time. Being found eligible by APD is one decision. Being enrolled for waiver services is a separate one, and it runs through the preenrollment categories. Someone can be eligible and still be waiting for funding — which is not a mistake anyone made, and is not something a group home can shortcut.
Eligibility itself rests on one of eight conditions named in Florida law. Here is what each one means in the state's own words, including autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability and Prader-Willi syndrome.
Statute text read from the Florida Legislature on September 20, 2026. This explains what Florida's published law says — it is not legal or financial advice, and it cannot tell you how your family's case will be decided.
Questions families ask us
Does Medicaid pay for group homes in Florida?
For adults the Agency for Persons with Disabilities has found eligible and enrolled on the iBudget Medicaid Waiver, yes — the waiver pays for residential habilitation, which is the staffing and support in a licensed group home. It does not pay for room and board. Those are two separate things in Florida law, and families are rarely told the difference before they ask.
How much does a group home cost per month in Florida?
There is no single figure, because two different amounts are involved and only one of them is a price. The support is billed to the iBudget Medicaid Waiver at rates the state sets, so an enrolled family does not pay it. Room and board is paid from the person's own income, usually Supplemental Security Income, so the amount depends on that person's income. Ask the home for its room and board amount and ask the Waiver Support Coordinator what the person's income supports — between them you get a real number rather than an average.
Who pays for a group home for a disabled adult in Florida?
Three sources usually combine. The iBudget Medicaid Waiver pays the provider for residential habilitation. The resident pays room and board from their own income, most often Supplemental Security Income. And Medicaid itself covers medical care separately from the waiver. APD determines eligibility for all of it; the home does not.
What is residential habilitation?
It is the service the waiver actually buys. Section 393.063(34), Florida Statutes defines it as supervision and training with the acquisition, retention, or improvement in skills related to activities of daily living, such as personal hygiene skills, homemaking skills, and the social and adaptive skills necessary to enable the individual to reside in the community. In plain terms: the staff, and what the staff do.
Is being found eligible for APD the same as having the waiver pay for a group home?
No, and this is where most families lose time. Eligibility is one decision and enrollment for waiver services is a separate one, governed by the preenrollment categories. Someone can be found eligible and still be waiting for waiver funding. A Waiver Support Coordinator can tell a family which category applies to them and what that means in practice.
Do you charge families directly?
For a resident on the waiver, the support is billed to the waiver and the room and board comes from the resident's own income — not an invoice to the family. Call us on 727.254.1196 and we will walk through exactly what applies to your situation, including the room and board amount for the specific home.
Call and ask us the awkward question
Nobody finds money easy to bring up, and you will not be the first to ask. Call 727.254.1196 and we will tell you what applies to your situation and what it would actually involve.