Obtaining Access to the New York State Children's CFTSS/HCBS Designation Application

• Application is also available in Portable Document Format (PDF)

Updated: September 2025

Getting Started

Thank you for your interest in becoming a New York State (NYS) Children and Family Treatment and Support Services (CFTSS) and/or Children's Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) provider.

The purpose of this document is to give guidance to providers on how to access the Children's CFTSS/HCBS Designation Application. Prior to being granted access to the application, there is a preliminary review of provider qualifications.

Applicants that are requesting approval by NYS to become designated as a provider of HCBS must meet the following criteria:

Provider Qualifications:

1. Any child serving agency or agency with children's behavioral health and health experience that is licensed, certified, or designated by DOH, OPWDD, OMH, OASAS or OCFS to provide comparable and appropriate services.
   • Agencies not currently licensed, certified, or designated by an applicable State Agency who are applying for designation as an unlicensed/uncertified provider must meet the following alternate requirements:
     • Must be located in New York State
     • Organization must be fiscally viable
     • Must have established quality management and reporting policies and procedures
     • Must have relationships with community partners and referral sources for HCBS and letters of support from these entities.
     • Must have at least 5 years of qualifying experience serving high needs children, including children who are medically complex/fragile, have developmental disabilities, have diagnosed behavioral health needs, and/or children in foster care, providing HCBS-comparable service.
2. The provider must meet agency qualifications outlined for each individual service in the HCBS Provider Manual.
3. Providers must meet, any State licensure, certification, or credential requirements as required.
4. The provider must be in good standing as determined by the DOH, OASAS, OCFS, OPWDD and/or OMH, as applicable.

Agencies interested in obtaining designation to provide Children's HCBS and/ or, CFTSS must contact the Designation Team indicating their intent to apply for designation via email at OMH-Childrens-Designation@omh.ny.gov. The Designation Team will work with the agency to obtain the needed information to verify that the agency meets requirements. Please note the services and population(s) you would like to serve, and the appropriate agency will outreach to you with information about the designation process. Once the agency has successfully demonstrated that they meet qualifications, the provider will work with the Designation Team to gain access to the Children's CFTSS or HCBS designation application. All agencies (both OMH and non-OMH) must obtain an OMH User ID to access the Children's CFTSS/HCBS designation application. This process is outlined below.

NOTE: If you are a provider agency who already accesses OMH applications , but does not currently have access to the Children's CFTSS/HCBS designation application, contact your agency security manager to establish a user ID. The security manager will need to issue you a security token to use the HCBS application, located here.

Once a user ID has been assigned, please contact the Provider Designation Mailbox again at OMH-Childrens-Designation@omh.ny.gov and provide the user ID that needs to be associated with the agency application.

The remainder of these instructions pertain to those providers whose agencies do not use OMH applications or do not have an OMH-designated security manager.

Applying for Access to Children's CFTSS/HCBS Designation Application

STEP 1. For provider agencies that do not yet use OMH systems, first request access to the "Children's CFTSS/HCBS online designation application" by emailing OMH-Childrens-Designation@omh.ny.gov OMH program staff will email a New Agency Form to the provider.

STEP 2. The provider will receive a "New Agency Form" from the provider designation mailbox to be completed and submitted to OMH-Childrens-Designation@omh.ny.gov. Any questions about completing the form can be directed to the same email.

STEP 3. Based on information in the form, OMH starts the process of agency validation and adding the agency to the systems that support the CFTSS/HCBS application.

STEP 4. After OMH completes the review, NYS ITS will send the agency via email a Confidentiality and Non- Disclosure Agreement (CNDA) and instructions. The CNDA is completed online by the provider agency's director.

STEP 5. After the CNDA agreement is submitted, the agency's director will receive an email requesting the agency to select a "Security Manager".

STEP 6. The Security Manager will then receive an email with instructions on using the OMH Security Management System and how to grant OMH user IDs and access to OMH systems within the agency.

STEP 7. Once the Security Manager sets up the user ID and grants access for an agency provider to use the CFTSS/HCBS application, that person will receive an email with instructions on how to create a password.

STEP 8. Once Step 7 is complete, the agency must provide the user ID to OMH-Childrens-Designation@omh.ny.gov so the ID can be added to the user's application. The provider will receive confirmation when the provider can access the Children's CFTSS/HCBS Designation Application sign in to complete the application.

Completing the Application

Agencies pursuing designation as a provider of Children's HCBS and/or CFTSS must follow the steps outlined on the Instructions tab of the Designation Application.
Failure to provide complete information will delay the processing of your agency's designation application. A complete application should include detailed, up to date information about the agency's qualifications/experience, staff credentials, training, service provision and agency site information. Be advised that the designation application is a running document and therefore an entirely "new" application will not be necessary with every designation update. Any subsequent designation changes (e.g., addition of services, counties, etc.) to your agency's application can be made by revising the existing application to reflect the requested changes.

*Please note providers seeking designation for CFTSS only (no HCBS) are required to complete the agency information portion of the application only. However, providers seeking designation for HCBS or both HCBS and CFTSS must complete the application in its entirety.

Questions or requests for assistance with the designation process should be directed to OMH-Childrens-Designation@omh.ny.gov