SpectrumBeaconGeorgia gives you two real doors
Georgia gives you two doors most states do not. There is a real Katie Beckett program with its own application team. There is a long running school voucher. The hard part is the Medicaid waiver, where thousands of families wait.
This is a verified overview, not the full program by program guide we built for Florida. Every card carries its date and source, and the complete research note sits below them.
Katie Beckett has its own team here
Georgia runs the Katie Beckett Medicaid Program (TEFRA). Family income is ignored for a qualifying child age 18 or younger who lives at home. Apply through the Centralized Katie Beckett Medicaid Team at 678-248-7449, a county DFCS office, or gateway.ga.gov.
VerifiedSource: Georgia Medicaid, TEFRA/Katie Beckett · How we verify
The special needs voucher
The Georgia Special Needs Scholarship voucher averaged $7,358 in a recent year. The student needs an active IEP or 504 plan and a prior year in a Georgia public school receiving special education services.
VerifiedSource: EdChoice, Georgia Special Needs Scholarship · How we verify
The newer Promise account
The newer Georgia Promise Scholarship ESA provides $6,500 per student, prioritized for lower income families. The program is new, so confirm the current year amount and income thresholds directly.
Not yet verified as of . Treat this as unconfirmed. What this meansSource: Georgia Promise Scholarship · How we verify
The waiver planning list
Georgia's main disability Medicaid waivers, NOW and COMP, had a planning list of over 7,300 people as of January 2024. State budgets have funded only a few hundred new slots per year.
VerifiedSource: Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities · How we verify
Help before age three
Babies Can't Wait is Georgia's early intervention program under IDEA Part C, serving children from birth to age 3 with a developmental delay or an established condition.
VerifiedSource: ECTA Center Part C directory · How we verify
What Ava's Law makes insurers cover
Ava's Law (Georgia Code 33-24-59.10) requires state regulated plans to cover autism care for children age 20 or under, with ABA capped at $35,000 per year. It does not reach self funded employer plans.
VerifiedThe rest of the Georgia picture
The full research note behind the cards, straight from our vault. Anything we could not confirm is flagged in amber, not buried.
Quick read: Georgia has a long-running voucher for students with disabilities (GSNS) and a newer ESA (Promise Scholarship). It DOES have a Katie Beckett program with a central application team. Its main disability Medicaid waivers, NOW and COMP, have a planning list of thousands of people.
Georgia funds two school-choice accounts
1. Georgia Special Needs Scholarship (GSNS). A voucher for students with disabilities.
- Eligibility: the student must have an active IEP or 504 plan, and must have attended a Georgia public school the prior year receiving special education services. A parent must have been a Georgia resident for at least a year. Some rules are waived for active-duty military transfers and children adopted from foster care or in permanent guardianship. Kindergarteners can qualify if they received IDEA preschool special education services and are 5 by September 1. [EdChoice, GaDOE]
- Amount (recent year): average $7,358. The amount varies by the student's age and services and cannot exceed the private school's tuition and fees. Paid in six installments from the student's public school allocation. [EdChoice]
2. Georgia Promise Scholarship (ESA). Newer education savings account created by HB 233 (2024), first funded for 2025 to 2026. Provides $6,500 per student for approved education expenses, prioritized for lower-income families and students zoned to lower-performing schools. [mygeorgiapromise.org] UNVERIFIED: confirm the current-year amount and income thresholds directly, as the program is new.
How autism qualifies: autism is an IDEA disability category, so a student with an autism-based IEP (and the prior-year public school requirement) qualifies for GSNS.
The NOW and COMP planning list
NOW (New Options Waiver) and COMP (Comprehensive Supports Waiver Program). Both are 1915(c) waivers for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, run by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD). COMP covers more intensive needs, including residential; NOW covers people who live at home with lower support needs.
Waitlist (called the "planning list"): over 7,300 individuals as of January 2024. State budgets have funded only a few hundred new slots per year recently (513 in FY2023, 500 in FY2024), far short of demand. [GCDD]
Katie Beckett is open in Georgia
Georgia runs the Katie Beckett Medicaid Program (TEFRA). Established under the 1982 federal TEFRA law, it lets the state ignore family income for certain children age 18 or younger who qualify as disabled under Section 1614 of the Social Security Act and who live at home rather than in an institution. [GA Medicaid]
- Qualification is based on the institutional level of care the child needs, not on the specific diagnosis.
- Apply through the Centralized Katie Beckett Medicaid Team, 678-248-7449, or a county DFCS office, or online at gateway.ga.gov.
- As of a recent policy change, approved medical level-of-care determinations are authorized for at least two years. A new Katie Beckett online member portal launched April 15, 2026. [GA Medicaid]
Babies Can't Wait covers birth to three
Babies Can't Wait (BCW), Georgia's IDEA Part C program under the Department of Public Health, birth to age 3. Serves children with a developmental delay or an established condition. (Program name and structure are stable and well documented.)
Ava's Law covers care to age 20
Georgia Code Section 33-24-59.10, known as "Ava's Law." Requires state-regulated plans to cover medically necessary autism spectrum disorder care for children age 20 or under. Coverage cannot limit the number of visits, and applied behavior analysis (ABA) is capped at $35,000 per year. [NCSL] Does not reach self-funded employer (ERISA) plans.
Getting a diagnosis outside Atlanta
Atlanta has strong developmental resources (including the Marcus Autism Center), but much of rural Georgia is underserved for autism evaluations. UNVERIFIED: no current statewide wait-time figure was captured from a primary source. Babies Can't Wait (birth to 3) and school evaluations are common faster entry points.
Last verified July 18, 2026 · Sources: edchoice.org, gadoe.org, mygeorgiapromise.org, medicaid.georgia.gov, gcdd.org, ncsl.org · How we verify