In California, a Regional Center is a nonprofit agency that helps people with developmental disabilities, like autism, at every age. The state pays for it. It checks who qualifies, gives each person a service coordinator, and pays for the services in their plan. The evaluation is free, and so are most services.
If your child has autism or a similar condition, this is where help at home starts. It keeps going after 18, and after school ends at 22.
What does a Regional Center do?
For your family, a Regional Center comes down to four things:
- A free evaluation that decides whether your child qualifies.
- A service coordinator, one person at the center who plans services with you and gets them approved.
- A plan called the IPP (Individual Program Plan). It lists your child's goals and every service the Regional Center will pay for.
- The services themselves, from providers the Regional Center pays.
Regional Centers are private nonprofits. The state pays for them and keeps watch over them, under a law called the Lanterman Act. Our piece on what the Lanterman Act promises your family explains the rules your Regional Center has to follow.
Each one serves its own part of the state, and your family belongs to the one where you live.
What services does the Regional Center provide?
A Regional Center pays for help with daily life. Each service has to be written into the IPP first. Common ones:
- Adaptive skills training. A professional comes to your home. They teach the daily skills your child is stuck on, like getting dressed, cooking, or handling money.
- Respite. Someone stays with your child for a few hours while you take a break.
- Behavior services. Help with behavior that gets in the way of daily life.
- Social recreation and camps. Classes, sports teams, summer camps, and social groups.
- Rides. Transportation to programs and services.
- Diapers and supplies. For children 3 and older who aren't toilet trained yet.
- Therapy and equipment. Like speech therapy or a communication device, when health coverage won't pay for it.
The Regional Center also pays last. If a school, Medi-Cal, your health plan, or IHSS should cover something, the Regional Center sends you there first. That's state law, and it's why your coordinator asks about insurance and school before saying yes.
Most services cost your family nothing, whatever your income. Adaptive skills training is one of them: when your child is a Regional Center client, it costs $0.
One worry we hear from parents again and again is that a new service will cost them IHSS or respite hours. It won't, and the state's letter saying so is linked in the questions below.
What does the Regional Center provide for adults?
The Regional Center keeps serving adults, with no upper age limit. It can serve your child at 8, at 28, and at 58.
After school ends, the IPP can turn toward a life of their own. Services for adults include:
- Independent living skills. Teaching on cooking, paying bills, and running a home.
- Supported living. Staff who help an adult live in their own place, up to 24 hours a day.
- Day programs. Places to learn, spend time with others, and get daily care.
- Work. Help finding a job and doing well at it.
- Getting around. Lessons on riding the bus alone, or rides when that won't work.
Adaptive skills training works for adults too. A 30-year-old can still learn to cook a meal or use a bank card, and home is where they'll do it.
If the IPP hasn't changed since high school, ask for a meeting. The plan can grow at any age.
Who qualifies for Regional Center services?
A person qualifies for Regional Center services when they have a developmental disability that passes three tests. It started before age 18. It will likely last. And it makes daily life much harder. The law names these conditions:
- Autism
- Intellectual disability
- Cerebral palsy
- Epilepsy
- A condition close to intellectual disability, or one that needs the same kind of help
"Much harder" means big limits in at least three parts of daily life, for their age. The parts are self-care, talking and understanding, learning, moving around, making choices, living on their own, and earning a living.
Young children have two more ways in. Babies and toddlers under 3 can get help through Early Start, the Regional Center's program for the first three years. Children under 5 can qualify for now without a diagnosis. They need big delays in at least two of those parts of life.
You don't need a diagnosis to apply. The Regional Center does its own evaluation, and it's free.
California Department of Developmental Services: Eligibility The state's page on who qualifies and what Regional Centers do →Does ADHD qualify for Regional Center services?
No. ADHD on its own doesn't qualify for Regional Center services. It isn't one of the conditions the law names.
ADHD often comes with something that does count, though. Plenty of autistic kids also have ADHD. Here is how to tell whether to apply:
| If your child has | Should you apply? |
|---|---|
| ADHD and nothing else | No. Help for ADHD alone comes through the school and your health plan. |
| ADHD plus autism, intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, or epilepsy | Yes. The other condition is what qualifies. |
| ADHD and big delays, under age 5 | Yes. A young child can qualify for now without a diagnosis. |
| Something you're not sure about yet | Yes. The Regional Center's evaluation is free. |
How do you get Regional Center services?
Start by finding your Regional Center. Our Regional Center lookup finds yours by ZIP code and shows its number.
Not a client yet? Call that center and ask to apply. The Regional Center has 15 working days to take your information and decide on next steps. If it needs to evaluate your child, it has up to 120 days after that. Our guides to the North Los Angeles County, Westside, and Eastern Los Angeles Regional Centers walk through each one's steps.
Already a client? Email your service coordinator and name the service you want. The Regional Center has to hold an IPP meeting within 30 days of your request. If your coordinator is slow to write back, here's how to reach your service coordinator. Our guide to the IPP covers what to ask for at that meeting.
Approval is the paperwork half. The other half happens at home, where someone has to teach the skill the same way every day until it sticks. Until now, that someone has probably been you.
That second half is the work we do. One of our caring professionals comes to your home, with a master's degree and 9.3 years of experience on average. They're matched to your child because they've already helped others learn that same skill. Your family pays $0 through your Regional Center. Tell us what's hard at home, and see if adaptive skills training fits.
Questions parents actually ask
Is a Regional Center a government agency?
Not quite. It's a private nonprofit. The state pays for it and checks that it follows the law.
Do we have to pay for anything?
Usually not. The evaluation is free, and most services cost nothing at any income.
Is there an age limit?
No upper limit. A Regional Center can serve someone from birth for the rest of their life.
Does the Regional Center diagnose autism?
It can. Its free evaluation decides whether your child qualifies. If a doctor or the school already tested your child, bring those reports, because the Regional Center can use them too.
Will adaptive skills training use up our IHSS or respite hours?
No. Adding it takes nothing from either one. Your county runs IHSS. The state told it to ignore Regional Center help when it works out your hours. Read the letter.
