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What is DDS, and How Do You Apply?

By Hanna Ondrasek  ·  6 min read

The Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services exists to support people with intellectual disabilities and related conditions. The application is eight pages long, split into multiple sections, and until recently only existed as a static PDF. This is a plain-English breakdown of what DDS is, who it's for, and how to get through the application.

What is DDS?

The Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services (DDS) is a state agency that funds and coordinates support services for people with intellectual disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, and closely related conditions or genetic conditions. DDS serves both children and adults, and cover a wide range of needs depending on the individual.

Services DDS can provide include residential support, day programs, employment services, family support, crisis intervention, and more. None of these services are automatic. Eligibility has to be formally determined before anything can begin, which is where the application comes in.

Who Qualifies?

DDS serves Massachusetts residents who have one of the following diagnoses:

The applicant must be a Massachusetts resident and must have documentation from a licensed qualified practitioner for whichever condition they're applying under. DDS does not serve individuals whose primary diagnosis is a mental health condition, a physical disability, or a learning disability without an accompanying intellectual disability.

There are two separate applications depending on age. Children from birth through age 4 apply using the Birth-4 application, which covers Substantial Developmental Delay only. Children 5 and older apply using the standard eligibility application, which covers ID, ASD, Prader-Willi, Smith-Magenis, and CRDC. The official Birth-4 application is available at mass.gov/lists/dds-eligibility-forms.

What to Expect from the Process

Applying for DDS is not a quick process, and approval is not guaranteed. After you submit your application, a DDS intake coordinator will review it and reach out to schedule an eligibility determination meeting. This meeting involves gathering additional information about the applicant's needs, history, and current situation. From there, DDS makes a formal eligibility determination.

The timeline varies. Some families wait several weeks; others wait months. One of the most common reasons for delays is incomplete documentation.

Note: Submitting an application does not guarantee services. It begins an eligibility determination process. If approved, services are allocated based on assessed need and available funding, which means there may be a waitlist for certain types of support even after eligibility is confirmed.

The Application, Section by Section

The DDS eligibility application is eight sections. Here is what each one covers.

Section 1 — Applicant Information

Basic identifying information: name, date of birth, Social Security Number, address, preferred language, and contact information. You'll also indicate whether interpreter services are needed for the eligibility hearing, and whether the applicant is in a residential school, homeless, hospitalized, enrolled in school, or involved with another state agency. This section also asks for the applicant's age range, which determines whether the CRDC category is available to them.

Section 2 — Guardianship

Only relevant if the applicant has a court-appointed legal guardian. If so, you'll provide the guardian's contact information and relationship to the applicant. Guardianship papers must be submitted alongside the application if this section applies.

Section 3 — Type of Application

This is where you select which condition(s) you're applying under. You can select more than one. Each condition you select requires supporting documentation — a comprehensive diagnostic report, genetic testing, or both, depending on the diagnosis.

Section 4 — Parent or Immediate Contact

Contact information for the applicant's parent or primary contact person — name, address, phone, email, and relationship to the applicant.

Section 5 — Authorized Contact

Optional. If you want to authorize an additional person — a social worker, teacher, therapist, or other advocate — to be contacted by DDS for the purpose of the eligibility determination, you fill this out. This person cannot be the legal guardian.

Sections 6 and 7 — Authorization for Release of Information

These sections authorize DDS to share or receive the applicant's records. You'll specify what type of records (psychological testing, medical history, educational records, etc.), the direction of information flow (DDS disclosing vs. receiving), the authorized recipient, and the purpose. Section 7 covers special authorizations for HIV/AIDS information and alcohol or drug treatment records, which require a separate signature.

Section 8 — Authorization and Signature

The main signature section. By signing, the applicant (or their legal guardian) authorizes DDS to conduct the eligibility determination. There is also a Privacy Practices Acknowledgment on page 8 of the physical form that requires a separate signature.

What to Include With Your Application

A completed application form is only part of what you need to submit. DDS requires supporting documents alongside it. At minimum, you should include:

Where to Submit

Applications are submitted by mail or fax only — DDS does not accept applications by email or in person. Find your region below based on the applicant's city or town, then send your completed packet to the corresponding address or fax number.

Central/West Region

Serves: Adams, Agawam, Alford, Amherst, Ashburnham, Ashby, Ashfield, Ashley Falls, Athol, Auburn, Ayer, Baldwinville, Barre, Becket, Belchertown, Bellingham, Berlin, Bernardston, Blackstone, Blandford, Bolton, Boylston, Brimfield, Brookfield, Buckland, Charlemont, Charlton, Cherry Valley, Cheshire, Chester, Chesterfield, Chicopee, Clarksburg, Clinton, Colrain, Conway, Cummington, Dalton, Deerfield, Douglas, Dudley, East Brookfield, Easthampton, East Longmeadow, Egremont, Erving, Feeding Hills, Fitchburg, Florida, Franklin, Gardner, Gill, Goshen, Grafton, Granby, Granville, Groton, Great Barrington, Greenfield, Hadley, Hancock, Hampden, Hardwick, Harvard, Hatfield, Hawley, Heath, Hinsdale, Holden, Holland, Holyoke, Hopedale, Housatonic, Hubbardston, Huntington, Indian Orchard, Lancaster, Lanesboro, Lee, Leeds, Leicester, Lenox, Leominster, Leverett, Leyden, Longmeadow, Ludlow, Lunenburg, Medway, Mendon, Middlefield, Millers Falls, Milford, Millbury, Millville, Monroe, Monson, Montague, Monterey, Montgomery, Mt. Washington, New Ashford, New Braintree, New Marlboro, New Salem, North Adams, Northampton, Northbridge, Northfield, North Brookfield, Oakham, Orange, Otis, Oxford, Palmer, Paxton, Pelham, Pepperell, Petersham, Peru, Phillipston, Pittsfield, Plainfield, Princeton, Richmond, Rowe, Royalston, Russell, Rutland, Sandisfield, Savoy, Sheffield, Shelburne, Shirley, Shrewsbury, Shutesbury, Southbridge, South Deerfield, South Hadley, Southampton, Southwick, Spencer, Springfield, Sterling, Sturbridge, Stockbridge, Sunderland, Sutton, Templeton, Tolland, Townsend, Turners Falls, Tyringham, Upton, Uxbridge, Wales, Ware, Warren, Warwick, Washington, Webster, Wendell, West Boylston, West Brookfield, Westfield, Westhampton, Westminster, West Springfield, West Stockbridge, Whately, Whitinsville, Wilbraham, Williamsburg, Williamstown, Winchendon, Windsor, Worthington, Worcester

Mail: DDS Central/West Region, One Federal Street, Bldg. 111-2, Springfield, MA 01105
Fax: (413) 205-1605
Intake Line: (413) 205-0940

Metro Region

Serves: Allston, Ashland, Beacon Hill, Belmont, Boston, Brighton, Brookline, Cambridge, Canton, Charlestown, Chelsea, Chestnut Hill, Chinatown, Dedham, Dorchester, Dover, Downtown Crossing, East Boston, Foxboro, Framingham, Holliston, Hopkinton, Hudson, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain, Marlboro, Mattapan, Medfield, Millis, Natick, Needham, Newton, Norfolk, Northborough, North Dorchester, North End, Norwood, Plainville, Revere, Roslindale, Roxbury, Sharon, Sherborn, Somerville, Southborough, South Boston, South End, Sudbury, Walpole, Waltham, Watertown, Wayland, West Roxbury, Wellesley, Westborough, Weston, Westwood, Winthrop, Wrentham

Mail: DDS Metro Region, 465 Waverley Oaks Road, Suite 120, Waltham, MA 02452
Fax: (781) 314-7539
Intake Line: (781) 314-7513

Northeast Region

Serves: Acton, Amesbury, Andover, Arlington, Bedford, Beverly, Billerica, Boxborough, Boxford, Bradford, Burlington, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Concord, Danvers, Dracut, Dunstable, Essex, Everett, Georgetown, Gloucester, Groveland, Hamilton, Haverhill, Ipswich, Lawrence, Lexington, Lincoln, Littleton, Lowell, Lynn, Lynnfield, Malden, Manchester, Marblehead, Maynard, Medford, Melrose, Merrimac, Methuen, Middleton, Nahant, Newbury, Newburyport, North Andover, North Reading, Peabody, Reading, Rockport, Rowley, Saugus, Salem, Salisbury, Stoneham, Stow, Swampscott, Tewksbury, Topsfield, Tyngsboro, Wakefield, Wenham, West Newbury, Wilmington, Winchester, Woburn, Westford

Mail: DDS Northeast Region, Hogan Regional Center, PO Box A, Hathorne, MA 01937
Fax: (978) 739-0420
Intake Line: (978) 774-5000 x850

Southeast Region

Serves: Abington, Acushnet, Assonet, Attleboro, Avon, Barnstable, Berkley, Bourne, Braintree, Brewster, Bridgewater, Brockton, Carver, Chatham, Chilmark, Cohasset, Dartmouth, Dennis, Dighton, Duxbury, East Bridgewater, Eastham, Easton, Edgartown, Fairhaven, Fall River, Falmouth, Freetown, Gay Head, Gosnold, Halifax, Hanover, Hanson, Harwich, Hingham, Holbrook, Hull, Hyannis, Kingston, Lakeville, Mansfield, Marion, Marshfield, Mashpee, Mattapoisett, Middleboro, Milton, Nantucket, New Bedford, North Attleboro, Norton, Norwell, Oak Bluffs, Orleans, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, Provincetown, Quincy, Randolph, Raynham, Rehoboth, Rochester, Rockland, Sandwich, Scituate, Seekonk, Somerset, Stoughton, Swansea, Taunton, Tisbury, Truro, Wareham, Wellfleet, West Bridgewater, Westport, West Tisbury, Weymouth, Whitman, Yarmouth

Mail: DDS Southeast Region, 151 Campanelli Drive, Suite B, Middleboro, MA 02346
Fax: (508) 866-8859
Intake Line: (508) 866-5000

The PDF Problem

Until recently, the DDS eligibility application only existed as a static, fillable PDF. For an eight-page document with dozens of fields, checkboxes, conditional sections, and multiple signature requirements, that experience is genuinely difficult. I watched people struggle with it and thought there had to be a better way.

That's why I built the EasyFill DDS application — a step-by-step guided version of the same form. It walks you through each section one at a time, skips sections that don't apply to your situation, masks your SSN while you type it, and lets you upload a signature image that gets applied to all the signature fields at once. At the end, it generates the completed official PDF, ready to submit. It's free.

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Step-by-step guidance through all eight sections. Generates the completed official PDF. Free to use.

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