Regional Center

What is Regional Center?

California is the ONLY state in the U.S. which has, what is termed: "entitlement". This means that we are the only state which has a state run agency (Regional Center) which serves the needs of the developmentally disabled. Other states have services, but families usually have to be placed on long wait lists to receive those services (sometimes years).

In addition, the Lanterman Act, was written to protect the rights of the developmentally disabled. The Lanterman Act was developed to give consumers the tools they would need to appeal decisions, if services are they were applying for were denied, in the event the program rendered was inappropriate to the consumer's needs, or if the service fails to adequately provide what was promised.

Once a consumer is deemed eligible (please see the link titled "Eligibilty Guidelines")  services start (usually three to six months after eligibity is determined) and last until the consumer's death.

Who oversee's Regional Center? Area Board is the state's agency which serves as a safeguard to make sure that RC's provide appropriate servies to the consumer's needs. The Area Board which serves the Bay Area, is Area Board 5.  (for a complete list of Area Boards, click on Resources and then click on Legal).

In addition, each RC has a Office of Client's Rights Advocacy, which helps consumers and their families, if they have a dispute with their Regional Center.

There are twenty one RC's in the state. However, each RC has different guidelines as to who is eligible and who is not. That is one of the reasons that ARCA (Association for the Retarded Of California) has been working with DDS, to streamline the RC's so that they are all working using the same criteria.

Who is eligible?

RC's accept those with: Mental Retardation, Cerebral Palsy, Epilepsy, and Autism.

Once an individual is going to be assessed for services, an Assessment Counselor makes an appointment to evaluate your child (or adult). This interview should last two hours.

If your child or adult is accepted, then they are assigned a case manager. (if they are denied acceptance, you also have the right to appeal this decision).

It is important to know that case managers have about 70 consumers on their caseload. Therefore, it can take case managers time to return calls or answer emails. (However, if an inordinate amount of time passes and you still receive no response, you may need to call your case manager's supervisor.)  Developing a good working relationship and an understanding of the demands on everyone, will go along way towards meeting the needs of your child/adult consumer.

There are five different kinds of case managers, and they are divided up according to your child's age, and individual needs. The five types are:

Infant/Children's Group

Children/Adolescent

Adult

Residential 

Medicare Wavier

The first "Infants",  is for very young children; as your child ages they will then be reassigned to someone in the next age bracket. Children/Adolescent case managers take care of  children before transition and then as transition issues  arise (for more information on that click on "resources" and then "transition"). An ITP or Individual Transition Plan is developed for your child as they enter that phase of life.

Consumers who are placed in licensed care facilities are assigned a Residential Case Manager. Consumers in Group homes/Residential facilities have a case manager who manages all the children who are placed into that one facility. For more information on out of home care, click on "Residential/ Group Homes".

What can a case manager do for you?

They can attend IEP's, visit school placements with you, advocate for the needs of your child/adult. If your child is an adult, it is good to have them know who their case manager is, so that if possible, they can learn to relate their wants and needs to them. This will help them foster self-help skills and a sense of independence.

Once you have a case manager, they will work with you on creating an IPP for your child. An IPP stands for Individual Program Plan. IPP's are done annually as a rule.

An IPP asks you to write out goals for your child. These are a list of hopes and dreams, a plan to help them come to fruition and a schedule to help you outline how to implement them.

The next section of the IPP is where ,you the caregiver, or parent, consent to the IPP and sign that you have been notified of your rights. By Rights they are refering to the Lanterman Act  and your child's  (infant, youth or adult) rights as a consumer.

The last section is where you sign stating that you agree to the plan, you have agreed to its' implementation and have been notified of your rights.

The case manager then signs as well, that she/he is your case manager, and that he/she will then act as your case manager.

To review your child's rights under the Lanterman Act, you can click onto RCEB's website : www.rceb.org/

What kind of services can your child receive from RCEB? First, remember that RCEB is always the payor of last resort. Typically though, they fund things like:

Respite (you can use a respite service such as Bay Area Respite, which contracts out respite providers, although sometimes families have been on long wait lists to get a respite worker, or you can ask a family member/friend to provide the respite).

Adult Day Service Options

Community Living in Licensed Facilities

Counseling Services

Day Care Services

Assistive Technology

Early Intervention Programs

Genetic Counseling and Diagnostic Testing

Independent Living Training and Support

Mobility Training

Nursing Services

Parent Skills Training

Diapers/ Adult/ Supplies for Incontinence (after the age of 5 yrs)

Behavioral Management Services: Such as a behaviorist, or other company which is vendored and specializes in behavior treatments.

Social//Recreational programs: summer camps, day camps, afterschool care programs to name a few.

Specialized Medical and Dental Care

Supported Living Services

Supported Employment Services

Therapies-Speech, Physical and Occupational

Transportation Services

In addition, RCEB is working with the County of Mental Health in Alameda County, to provide wrap around team services which address the needs of those with a dual diagnosis. This is extremely important, because 85% of those with a developmental disability, have a mental health diagnosis.

RCEB helps fund out of home placements for those who require care outside of the family home. See the link entitled: Residential/Group Homes for more on this.

If the family has a dispute or difficulty with their current case manager, it is important to note that they can then contact the case manager's supervisor and request a new case manager. However, it is important to make an effort to establish a good working relationship with your case manager, so that this is not necessary.

PAYMENT:

There is a share of cost to families who make $70,000 or more a year. You will need to contact your case manager to discuss how this is implemented.

If your child/Adult is on Medi-Cal, this will not apply to them.

You can also apply for Medi-Cal by doing what is called "Institution Deeming" or a Medi-Caid Waiver. You will need to ask your Case Manager how to go about doing this.

What is  a POS? A POS is a Purchase of Service. Anytime you receive a service through RCEB, a Purchase of Service is required. This means that RCEB has bought the program for you, and states how much they are paying for it, the length of the service, what the purpose of the program is for your child, and what the desired effect of the service will be on your child. (i.e. does it help to meet one of the goals in your child's IPP?).

An example of this would be: camp. It would state the name of the camp, its' location, the dates your child will attend, how attending the camp will help them meet one of their IPP goals (they will increase their socialization skills could be one goal) and the cost. You will receive a copy of the POS (It will be a yellow copy) in the mail.

It is a good idea to create a binder for Regional Center, so that you can then have all the copies of IPP's, POS's, Behavior Plans and other items from them, in that binder. This will be helpful in referring to your case manager and others who work with your child, what services they have received through RCEB, what their current IPP goals are and what other items that are pertinent to your child's needs.

This is a brief outline of what RC's do. If you have concerns or questions, you can call RCEB at 510-383-1200 Their Oakland office is located at: 7677 Oakport St., Suite 300, Oakland, CA 94621.

If you are in Central Contra Costa/ East or West Contra Costa Counties, then you will need to contact the Salvio office. Their number is 925-798-3001.  Their address is 2151 Salvio Street, Suite 365. Concord, CA 94520

You can also attend their monthly board meetings. These meetings, the times, dates and directions on how to get there, are posted in our EVENTS link.