California’s 21 Regional Centers provide a wide range of free services to people with developmental disabilities, from birth through the end of life. These services include early childhood therapy, respite care for families, job placement programs, housing support, crisis intervention, and more. The specific mix of services you receive depends on your individual needs, which are mapped out in a planning document called an Individual Program Plan (IPP).
Regional Centers serve people diagnosed with intellectual disability, autism, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, or another condition that closely resembles an intellectual disability and requires similar support. To qualify, the disability must cause significant functional limitations in at least three of seven areas: self-care, language, learning, mobility, self-direction, capacity for independent living, or economic self-sufficiency.
How Services Are Planned and Updated
Every person who qualifies for Regional Center services gets an Individual Program Plan, or IPP. This document lays out your personal goals and the specific services and supports you’ll receive to reach them. You, your family, and your service coordinator develop the plan together. IPP meetings can happen as often as your needs or goals change, but an in-person meeting with your service coordinator is required at least once every 12 months. Some Regional Centers also schedule semi-annual or quarterly check-ins.
Your service coordinator is your main point of contact. They help you identify what you need, connect you with providers, and make sure services are actually being delivered. If something isn’t working or your situation changes, you can request a new IPP meeting at any time rather than waiting for the annual review.
Early Intervention for Infants and Toddlers
California’s Early Start program, coordinated through Regional Centers, serves children from birth to age three who have or are at risk of a developmental delay. Services typically include speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and specialized instruction delivered in the child’s home or another natural setting. The goal is to address delays as early as possible, when intervention tends to have the greatest impact on long-term development. Families referred through Early Start work with their Regional Center to build an individualized plan specific to the child’s needs.
Family Support and Respite Care
Respite care is one of the most commonly used Regional Center services. It provides temporary relief for family members who are the primary caregivers of someone with a developmental disability. A trained respite worker comes to your home (or cares for your family member at another location) so you can take a break, handle errands, or simply rest. The goals are straightforward: help families keep their loved one living at home, provide safe care and supervision, and relieve the constant demands of caregiving.
There is no fixed number of respite hours that everyone receives. The amount depends on your family’s situation, including the intensity of your caregiving responsibilities and what it takes to keep your family member at home. If your circumstances are particularly demanding, you may receive more hours.
Beyond respite, Regional Centers can fund other family supports like specialized training, adaptive equipment for the home, and family counseling related to the disability.
Housing and Residential Options
For adults who need support with daily living, Regional Centers offer a spectrum of residential arrangements. On one end, Independent Living Services (ILS) and Supported Living Services (SLS) help people live in their own apartments or homes with varying levels of hands-on assistance, from a few hours a week of coaching to around-the-clock support.
For those who need more structured environments, Community Care Facilities operate under a system called the Alternative Residential Model (ARM), which ranks homes by the level of care they provide. ARM Level 2 facilities have the lowest staffing ratio, serving people who need less day-to-day support. ARM Level 4 facilities have the highest staffing and often serve individuals with significant behavioral challenges. Level 4 is further divided into nine sub-levels (A through I), allowing for fine-tuned matching between a resident’s needs and the resources available in the home.
The overarching principle is that people should live in the least restrictive setting that still meets their needs. Your IPP team works with you to figure out which arrangement fits best.
Employment and Job Training
Regional Centers fund several pathways to employment. These include job coaching, vocational training, and supported employment services where a job coach helps you learn the tasks at a new workplace and gradually steps back as you become more independent.
One notable program is the Paid Internship Program (PIP). Through PIP, individuals with developmental disabilities are placed in real jobs with real employers. Interns are paid at or above minimum wage and must receive the same pay as any other employee doing similar work. Internships can last up to 1,040 hours per year. The program also incentivizes the service providers who help make placements: providers earn $750 when a person stays in an internship for 30 consecutive days, plus an additional $1,000 if the person stays for 60 days.
Before the Regional Center funds employment services directly, you may be asked to first work with the Department of Rehabilitation (DOR), which is a state agency that helps people with disabilities find and keep jobs. This ties into an important rule covered below.
Behavioral and Crisis Support
When someone is in a behavioral or psychiatric crisis, Regional Centers provide access to mobile crisis teams. These are specially trained staff who respond on-site, wherever the crisis is happening, or by phone, 24 hours a day. The primary goal is to stabilize the person in their current living arrangement and prevent unnecessary hospitalization or contact with law enforcement.
Mobile crisis teams can assess the situation, help de-escalate it, and in some cases arrange transport to a mental health facility if that’s truly needed. They also provide follow-up: training for the individual, family members, and caregivers on how to develop a personalized crisis prevention plan so future episodes are less likely or less severe.
The Self-Determination Program
The Self-Determination Program (SDP) gives you more direct control over your services and budget. Instead of having the Regional Center choose and manage your service providers, you receive an individual budget and decide how to spend it, with support from a financial management service and an independent facilitator.
Your budget is calculated based on the most recent 12 months of Regional Center spending on your services. The calculation starts with that baseline, then adds amounts for any newly identified needs and adjusts for group contracts. It subtracts one-time costs that won’t continue and services that aren’t part of the individual budget. The final number becomes your annual Self-Determination budget. You can use it creatively, hiring providers or purchasing services that wouldn’t be available through the traditional system, as long as the spending aligns with your IPP goals.
How Funding Priority Works
One critical rule surprises many families: Regional Centers are considered the “payer of last resort.” This means you must first use what are called generic resources, which are services available to the general public through other agencies. If Medi-Cal covers a therapy you need, or your school district provides a service through special education, the Regional Center will not duplicate that funding. If the Department of Rehabilitation can help you find a job, the Regional Center cannot purchase similar employment services for you.
This doesn’t mean you’re left waiting indefinitely. If a generic agency hasn’t agreed to cover a service, you can ask the Regional Center to pay in the meantime. The Regional Center steps in to fill gaps, not to replace services other agencies are responsible for providing.
Transportation
Getting to and from day programs, jobs, and medical appointments is a practical barrier for many people with disabilities. Regional Centers can fund transportation services, and the state recently introduced new rate categories for 2025, including models for transportation companies, transportation brokers, and excess mileage reimbursement. The specifics vary by Regional Center, but transportation is a fundable service when it’s necessary for you to access the other supports in your IPP.
Other Commonly Funded Services
- Day programs: Structured daytime activities focused on skill-building, socialization, and community participation.
- Adaptive equipment: Items like communication devices, modified furniture, or other tools that increase independence.
- Specialized therapies: Speech, occupational, and physical therapy beyond what insurance or schools cover.
- Camp and recreation: Social and recreational programs, including summer camps designed for people with developmental disabilities.
- Behavioral services: Ongoing behavioral assessment and intervention plans, separate from emergency crisis response.
The full list of what a Regional Center can fund is broad, and it’s driven by individual need rather than a fixed menu. If a service or support is necessary to meet the goals in your IPP and no other agency is responsible for providing it, the Regional Center can generally purchase it.