Vermont Funding Guide: ESA, Medicaid Waivers, and Homeschool Funding
Facts checked September 21, 2026 · 6-minute read · by the Brainrich Kids team
Vermont has no education savings account, and town tuitioning pays approved schools only. For families of children with developmental disabilities, Flexible Family Funding is a small, flexible grant of up to $1,000 a year that can go to assistive technology or recreational activities, and Katie Beckett gives the child Medicaid on the child's own income.
The quick answer for Vermont: Vermont has no ESA. Town tuitioning pays approved independent schools, not home study. Act 164 (signed June 18, 2026) sets up Vermont's participation in the 2027 federal scholarship tax credit, which funds scholarship organizations. For a child with a developmental disability, Flexible Family Funding pays up to $1,000 a family per year on a sliding income scale for "assistive technology, home modification, individual and household needs or recreational activities." Disabled Children's Home Care (Katie Beckett) covers children under 19 on the child's income only. A play gym is possible in part through Flexible Family Funding.
Please read this first: program rules, amounts, and waitlists change every year, sometimes mid-year, and no vendor can promise that a program will approve a purchase. Every row below was checked against the linked source on September 21, 2026. Before you spend a dollar, confirm the current rules with the program itself.
Jump to: Vermont facts table · Can this fund a Brainrich gym? · Next steps · FAQ · The full guides · Sources
Vermont funding facts at a glance
Three kinds of public money can reach a family in Vermont: an education account or scholarship, a Medicaid waiver for a child with a developmental disability, and any homeschool-specific tax benefit. Here is what each official source says.
| Question | What the official source says (Vermont) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| ESA or scholarship program | No ESA. Town tuitioning pays approved independent schools for students in towns without a public school for their grade. Act 164 (H.933, signed June 18, 2026) creates a process for Vermont taxpayers to donate to scholarship granting organizations under the federal tax credit, with Vermont-specific rules. | Vermont Act 164 summary |
| Who runs it | Not applicable. Developmental disability services are run by the Developmental Disabilities Services Division through designated agencies. | Vermont DDSD |
| Amount per student | Not applicable. Vermont has no family-directed education account. | Ask the program |
| Who qualifies | Not applicable. Vermont has no family-directed education account. | Ask the program |
| Can homeschoolers use it? | No program to use. Home study students do not receive town tuition, and there is no homeschool tax credit or deduction. Whether Vermont scholarship organizations under Act 164 can fund homeschool expenses is not stated in the act summary. | Vermont Legislature, H.933 |
| Curriculum | Not applicable. Vermont has no family-directed education account. | Ask the program |
| Therapies and therapy equipment | Not applicable. Vermont has no family-directed education account. | Ask the program |
| PE and play equipment | Not applicable. Vermont has no family-directed education account. | Ask the program |
| How purchases work | None. | Ask the program |
| Medicaid waiver for children | Developmental Disabilities Services HCBS under Vermont's Global Commitment to Health waiver, delivered through designated agencies. For children at home the main streams are Flexible Family Funding and Family Managed Respite; children with the most intensive needs may qualify for HCBS. | Vermont DDSD |
| Equipment category to ask for | Flexible Family Funding: "any legal good or activity that the family chooses such as respite, assistive technology, home modification, individual and household needs or recreational activities." Maximum $1,000 per family per fiscal year on a sliding income scale ($500 to $1,000; $0 above the income line). Families receiving HCBS are not eligible. | FFF guidelines |
| Waiver waitlist | Flexible Family Funding is limited by each agency's allocation and can involve a wait list. No statewide count is published. Confirm with your designated agency. | Vermont DDSD |
| Katie Beckett or TEFRA option | Yes: Disabled Children's Home Care (Katie Beckett), for children under 19 with long-term disabilities meeting an institutional level of care, counting only the child's income and resources. | Vermont Dept. of Health |
| Other homeschool funding | None found on official sources. | Ask the program |
A row that reads "Confirm with the program" means we could not verify that fact on an official source, so we left it open instead of guessing.
Can this fund a Brainrich gym in Vermont?
A Brainrich gym is a steel indoor climbing frame: ladders, monkey bars, rings, a rope, and a swing point, for ages 3 and up with a parent in the same room. Programs do not approve brands. They approve categories, one purchase at a time. Here is how each lane looks today.
No program to use
Vermont education funding
No account or credit reaches a home study family. Act 164 routes the federal scholarship tax credit to scholarship organizations from 2027.
Case by case
Flexible Family Funding and DDS HCBS
Flexible Family Funding is the family's to direct: any legal good or activity, including assistive technology and recreational activities, up to $1,000 a year on a sliding income scale (zero above the top income line). It will not cover a full frame, but it can cover part of one or an accessory. Children with the most intensive needs may qualify for full HCBS, and those families cannot receive Flexible Family Funding at the same time. Approval is decided case by case in your child's individual service plan, usually with an OT or PT recommendation attached, and most waivers pay only after regular Medicaid or private insurance has said no. No state approves play equipment automatically.
Needs a Letter of Medical Necessity
HSA and FSA dollars (the same in every state)
HSA and FSA rules are federal, so Vermont families follow the same path as everyone else: with a qualifying diagnosis and a Letter of Medical Necessity, a play gym may be eligible. Your plan administrator makes the final call. Start with is a play gym HSA/FSA eligible? and the Letter of Medical Necessity template.
What Brainrich does, and does not do. We never promise that a program will approve a purchase. That decision belongs to the program. Applications, service plans, and therapist letters are the family's and their professional's work.
The one document we provide is an itemized invoice or quote. Email info@brainrichkids.com with (1) your full name, (2) your address, and (3) the model and color. We send back the invoice with shipping, applicable taxes, and the full total, ready for a case worker or a program portal.
🧩 A budget does not have to cover the whole build
Every Brainrich gym is modular. A Model T3 that fits this year's budget becomes a Spider V3 the day you add the Monkey Bars, and each add-on is its own purchase with its own invoice. Families fund the frame from one budget cycle and the expansion from a later one, out of pocket, or as a gift. That means matching real purchases to real budget cycles. It never means splitting a single purchase to slip under a review threshold, which programs treat as a red flag.
Next steps for Vermont families
1. If your child has a developmental disability, apply for Flexible Family Funding through your designated agency. Check the income scale first.
2. If family income blocks Medicaid, apply for Disabled Children's Home Care (Katie Beckett), which counts only the child's income.
3. When a case worker, support broker, or program portal asks for pricing, request an itemized invoice from us: email info@brainrichkids.com with your full name, your address, and the model and color. We reply with shipping, applicable taxes, and the full total.
Frequently asked questions: Vermont
Does Vermont have an ESA (education savings account)? No. Vermont's town tuitioning pays approved independent schools for students in towns without a public school, and Act 164 (2026) sets up the state's participation in the federal scholarship tax credit, which funds scholarship organizations. Neither is a family-directed account.
What funding can Vermont homeschoolers use? No state education program applies, and there is no homeschool tax credit. Families of children with developmental disabilities can use Flexible Family Funding, up to $1,000 a year, plus HSA and FSA dollars with a Letter of Medical Necessity.
Can Vermont's Flexible Family Funding pay for a play gym? In part. The funding can go to any legal good or activity the family chooses, including assistive technology and recreational activities, but the maximum is $1,000 per family per year on a sliding income scale.
Which Vermont Medicaid program can fund sensory or adaptive equipment? Flexible Family Funding (up to $1,000 a year) for families of children with developmental disabilities, and DDS home and community-based services for children with the most intensive needs. Disabled Children's Home Care (Katie Beckett) gives children under 19 Medicaid on the child's own income.
Does Brainrich work with Vermont funding programs? We provide the itemized invoice or quote that Vermont programs and case workers ask for: email info@brainrichkids.com with your full name, your address, and the model and color, and we send it back with shipping, applicable taxes, and the full total. We do not prepare applications or service plans, and we never promise that a program will approve a purchase. That decision belongs to the program.
📚 The full funding guides
Can You Buy PE and Play Equipment With ESA Funds? · State Disability Waiver Programs: All 50 States · Homeschool Grants and Funding, State by State · Is a Play Gym HSA/FSA Eligible? · Letter of Medical Necessity Template · Financial Assistance: every door in one place · Funding guides for other states
Sources
All sources checked September 21, 2026. Vermont DDSD. Flexible Family Funding. · Vermont DDSD. Flexible Family Funding guidelines, effective July 1, 2023. · Vermont DDSD. Services. · Vermont Department of Health. DCHC (Katie Beckett) application fact sheet. · Vermont DVHA. Dr. Dynasaur and children's programs. · Vermont Legislature. H.933 / Act 164 status. · Vermont Legislature. Act 164 summary.