Financial Assistance Resources for Children with Autism and Their Families

Autism treatments, like ABA therapy, are now covered by most insurance plans throughout the country. However, the extent of coverage can vary by plan and state, and insurance deductibles can be high. As a result, families can find themselves in need of financial assistance to give their children every opportunity for achieving their full potential and having the best possible life.

Over the years, our autism and ABA therapy experts have helped many families apply for and secure financial assistance through various organizations. Below is our go-to list of organizations when our clients need help. Our hope is that it can help you, too. We’ve had the most success with the first three on the list.

If you need assistance applying for a grant or scholarship and live in the North Texas or Boulder, Colorado, areas, please contact us to make an appointment. You want the best for your child, and so do we!

 

Top 3 Financial Resources That Have Helped Our Clients

#1 – Masonic Children & Family Services of Texas

For more than a century, Masonic Children & Family Services of Texas (MCFS) has partnered with charitable organizations, medical professionals, and educational facilities to help fulfill the basic needs every child and family deserves, like safety, comfort, food, shelter, healthcare, and educational services. Children’s therapies for autism, including the gold standard of ABA therapy, are a primary focus for MCFS.

The first step in applying for assistance from MCFS is make sure you meet the following criteria:

  • You must be a resident of the state of Texas.
  • Your child must be 21 or younger and living with you.
  • You must be their parent or legal guardian. 

In addition, you’ll need to:

  • Provide proof of income for each adult in your home, including:
  1. Two(2) of your most recent paycheck stubs OR most recent income tax return OR SSI benefit summary OR unemployment benefit check stub
  2. Letter from employer(s) or most recent employer to verify unemployment
  • Submit a completed Provider Referral form if treatment for your child will be provided by a doctor, therapist, dentist, or other professional.
  • Provide a copy of your child’s diagnosis from a pediatrician or specialist.
  • Provide a copy of your child’s treatment plan(s) from a doctor or therapist.
  • Provide health insurance coverage details, including the amount of the deductible you’ve met so far and/or a denial letter for treatment.

If you’re ready to apply for assistance from MCFS, complete their application in full.

#2 – UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation

 UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation (UHCCF) offers financial support in the form of grants to families, so they can focus on improving the quality of life of their children. Grants are designed to help with medical expenses not covered, or not fully covered, by a family’s commercial health insurance. (Note: You’re not required to have insurance with UnitedHealthcare to apply for a UHCCF grant.)

Here’s a look at UHCCF’s basic requirements to apply for a one-time grant that can help cover the costs of your child’s ABA therapy:

  • Your child must be 3 to 6 years of age at the time you submit a grant application.
  • Your child must have a SS number. TIN numbers are not accepted.
  • Your child must have primary coverage from a commercial health plan, either through an employer or one that has been individually purchased.
  • Your child’s care must be:
  • Administered by a licensed medical professional
  • Prescribed by an M.D., D.O. or Au.D.
  • Received or purchased in the United States
  • Your family must not exceed the maximum eligible income as documented on your IRS Tax Form 1040:
  • $65,000 or less – for a family of 2
  • $100,000 or less – for a family of 3
  • $135,000 or less – for a family of 4
  • $170,000 or less – for a family of 5 or more

You’ll also need to provide the following documents:

  • An electronic copy of your most recent submitted IRS 1040 tax form.
  • An electronic copy of the front and back of your current commercial/private insurance card.
  • A completed and signed Physician Certification of Medical Condition form.

To apply for a UHCCF grant, get started here. 

#3 – Variety of Texas 

Variety of Texas provides resources as well as empowering experiences to children with special needs and their families. Its Heart of Variety Fund offers financial assistance for life-saving surgical procedures, customized wheelchair accessible vans, service dogs, wheelchairs, or anything that might empower a child with special needs to live a fuller life.

At this time (March 2024), the Heart of Variety Fund remains paused due to the effects of the pandemic on the economy and on donations. However, you’re encouraged to complete its pre-screening application. By completing the form, you’re providing Variety of Texas critical information to present to its funders, eventually enabling them to re-start its assistance program.

Additional Financial Resources We Recommend Trying

Autism Spectrum Disorder Foundation (ASDF) provides financial support for therapies, education, and medical treatment. ASDF programs range from autism awareness to summer camp scholarships. This year, the foundation will start taking applications for summer camp scholarships, starting on May 1, 2024 at 10:00 EST.

Oracle Health Foundation provides pediatric grants that connect children to needed care when finances stand in the way. Applications are accepted from the United States and through select international providers. For funding criteria and to apply for a grant, start here.

Health Insurance Premium Payment (HIPP) program is a Texas Medicaid program that helps families with at least one person on Medicaid pay for their employer-sponsored health insurance premiums. Premiums are the amount you pay every month for your health insurance. You can learn all about it and apply here.

Varghese Summersett Autism Scholarship awards $500 scholarships to children with autism that can be used towards camp, tutoring, education, or other tools that help students with autism progress and live a fulfilling, happy life. The deadline for applications this year is on or before April 1, 2024, so hurry if you’re interested! Click here to learn how to apply.

(For Central Texas and Houston-area families only)

Imagine A Way Foundation helps children with autism get the critical therapeutic services they need during the years they need it most, the preschool years. To see if you qualify and to apply, go here.

National Autism Association’s (NAA) Give a Voice Program provides individuals with autism who are non-verbal or minimally verbal and in dire need of financial assistance with iPads, augmentative and alternative communication (ACC) software, and access to certified practitioners. You can learn more about the program and eligibility requirements here and here.

We’ll continue to add to this list as new financial support resources become available. We sincerely hope you find the financial assistance you need for your child. Every child with autism deserves access to early intervention services that can make the future a lot brighter for them and their families.

If you need assistance with applying for financial support, the autism and ABA therapy experts at The Behavior Exchange are ready to help. All you have to do is ask.

Recent Posts

Categories

Categories

Archives

Archives

Copyright © 2022 The Behavior Exchange. All rights reserved. |   Privacy Policy

Ashvina attended University of Bombay and graduated with a Bachelors of Commerce. She got her Montessori Diploma in 1985 and taught ever since. Ashvina came to TBE in January of 2016 as Admin Assistant. During the years she got the opportunity to learn and work in different departments such as HR, Finance, Office Manager and Executive Assistant. Last summer TBE bought billing in house and her current focus area is Revenue Cycle Management. She is detail oriented and enjoys working with people. Ashvina volunteers to deliver meals to seniors and local shelters on the weekend. She loves to spend time with her family and grandkids. Ashvina loves her job because she enjoys hearing different points of view, and she feels her contributions help fuel the direction of our company.

Working with children comes naturally to Angela. Her mom was a special education teacher for 30 years and often had Angela join her for Take Your Child to Work Day. And in high school, Angela spent every summer as the nanny for a little boy with an autism spectrum disorder. It was this experience where her passion for working with children with autism started to blossom.

From there, she went on to graduate from Oklahoma State University with a Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Family Sciences. She learned about Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) in a non-normative development class and from that moment knew that ABA would be her life’s work.

Angela moved to the DFW area shortly after and began working at The Behavior Exchange as a therapist. She worked on her Master’s in Behavior Analysis at the same time. A year after graduating, she earned certification as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst.

Now, as a Clinical Director at The Behavior Exchange, she brings a life-long passion to her work, holding a special place in her heart for children with limited language skills and working closely with families to develop healthy sleep habits.

Danielle’s passion for working with families is deeply personal and from the heart. Her younger brother has an autism spectrum disorder, and through their journey as a family, she found her purpose in life as an advocate for individuals with special needs.

After graduating from the University of North Texas with a degree in Human Development and Family Studies, Danielle began volunteering at The Behavior Exchange. She saw passionate therapists, meaningful change for clients, and families with hope for the future. After a summer of volunteering, she officially joined the team as Director of Admissions and found her home with The Behavior Exchange family.

With her extensive experience working as a client advocate with insurance providers, Danielle perseveres to help individuals of all ages and abilities receive the services they need to reach their full potential. She feels truly honored by each and every family who entrusts The Behavior Exchange to be part of their journey and is committed to the organization’s core values, mission, and goal of being a beacon of hope for the community.

Adam has always had a passion for helping individuals of all ages thrive and reach their full potential. He’s also an enthusiastic musician, songwriter, leader, and devoted family man, who has been helping children and team members grow with The Behavior Exchange since 2010.

Prior to joining the team at The Behavior Exchange, Adam was a mortgage loan consultant and grad student, pursuing his master’s degree in Education at the University of North Texas. He graduated in 2013 and also earned a graduate academic certificate in Autism Intervention. The following year, after years as a Behavior Therapist and seeing first-hand the power of ABA and the meaningful impact it can have on children and their families, Adam became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. He then commenced from the Stagen Leadership Academy after completing the Integral Leadership Program (ILP), a 52-week practice-based program designed to develop executives serious about transforming themselves, their teams, and their organizations.

Adam is truly grateful to be a part of a dynamic, inspiring and compassionate team, and he’s dedicated to bettering the lives of all children and their families through the delivery of the highest quality of ABA services, while supporting the amazing team at The Behavior Exchange.

Soraya is from South Africa and moved to Texas in 1996. She graduated from The University of Texas and pursued a career, at that time, in Education. Soraya taught at a Montessori school for a few years and then took on a leadership role.

During her time in the education system, Soraya realized her passion was to assist children with special needs. So she joined The Behavior Exchange as a therapist, transitioned into a supervisory role in 2017, and a year and a half later, was promoted to Clinical Operations Manager.

She quickly learned the ins and outs of ABA operations and scheduling and successfully collaborates across departments to ensure The Behavior Exchange continues to provide quality services to clients and their families. She’s thankful to be part of such an amazing organization and excited to see what the future holds.

You could say Walter’s career started when he spent hours as a young child drawing superheroes and coloring maps. This passion, along with extraordinary swimming skills, landed him a full swimming scholarship at Texas Christian University, where he graduated in 1997 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Graphics.

During the next 13 years, his design and art direction skills, conceptual-thinking abilities, and marketing-savvy know-how were honed at a few prestigious advertising and marketing agencies around the Dallas area. In the mid 2000s, he helped his wife Tammy Cline-Soza (founder and CEO of The Behavior Exchange) create a unique and concise brand for her new business. From logos and websites to uniforms, brand voice and visuals, Walter has been the main creative force for all things The Behavior Exchange.

Aside from giving birth to The Behavior Exchange brand, Walter is helping Tammy raise two amazing, beautiful children, River and Sierra. In his spare time (the two minutes he’s got per week), you can find Walter illustrating iconic landmarks of Dallas and Texas or looking around for this next open-water swim. Once he gets back in shape.

After 20 years of building The Behavior Exchange, literally from the ground up,
Tammy couldn’t be more proud of the team, culture, and organization that it has become.

As a family helping families, The Behavior Exchanges looks for opportunities that will make the biggest impact and produce life-changing outcomes – for clients, families, and even for team members. Tammy believes that if a team, a family, a community takes care of each other, the possibilities are endless and the relationships built along the way can make life more enriching and challenges easier to navigate. You could say her goal has been to build a kind of utopia full of support, love, and expertise that brings the best services possible to the community and ensures more families have access to those services.

Tammy and her family have dedicated their lives to the mission of The Behavior Exchange and continue to grow, learn, cultivate, challenge, support, and create better models for success. To that end, she is committed to her own leadership development and actively participates in advanced training, mentoring, and deep self-exploration on how to live out her purpose to love and support her family and help others reach their full potential. She takes her position very seriously and tries to serve as a channel for what the universe wants to come to fruition.

She also loves travel, gardening, being creative, MUSIC!, tennis, yoga, meditation, journaling, reading, being in nature, adventures, and more than anything, spending time with her husband Walter and their two beautiful children, River and Sierra.