The Kern Regional Center (KRC) guide

How do I reach Kern Regional Center?

How do I get an answer from my KRC service coordinator?

• Email when it matters.Ask your coordinator for their email address, and write when you want a record of what you asked. Put your family member’s full name in every message.
• No reply time is posted.KRC doesn’t say how fast coordinators answer. If a message sits, follow up in writing, so the wait is on record.
• Coordinator away? Ask who’s covering.KRC doesn’t name a duty coordinator. If yours is out and it can’t wait, call the main line, (661) 327-8531, and ask who is covering.
• Ask for the Program Manager.Coordinators at KRC report to a Program Manager, who reviews requests to pay for services. Ask your coordinator or the front desk for that person’s name. The state’s guide that KRC gives families even has a blank for it.
• Keep a simple log.Note each call and email: the date, who you talked to and what they promised.
• Want a different coordinator?You can ask for one who suits your family better; the state’s guide that KRC shares says so. By state law, a coordinator stays only if everyone agrees.

What does KRC pay for?

• Adaptive skills trainingA professional teaches daily skills at home, one step at a time, so they rely on you less.
• RespiteA caregiver steps in for a few hours so you can rest. Unused hours can roll over within the year.
• Behavior servicesHelp with hard behavior. Parents take a 16-hour group class first, unless it’s urgent.
• Day programsPrograms for adults 18 and older.
• Independent living skillsTraining for adults 18 and older who are done with school.
• Social recreation and campActivities that build social skills, and up to two weeks of camp a year.
• Getting aroundBus passes and travel training for adults.
• DiapersFrom age 4, or younger with team approval, after Medi-Cal or insurance.

KRC pays last. By law, when Medi-Cal, insurance, a school or a program like CCS covers something, they pay first.

How do I get adaptive skills training through KRC?

1. Email your coordinator.Say you’d like adaptive skills training from Levi Life Skills, and copy levi@levilifeskills.com. Use this email. Name the daily skills that are hard right now.
2. Meet within 30 days.Once you ask, the planning meeting must happen within 30 days. Ask for adaptive skills training to be added to the plan.
3. Check the plan, then sign.Services start only after the plan is signed. Before you sign, make sure adaptive skills training is written in.
4. We come to you.Once KRC approves it, we visit your home, meet your family member and set goals with you. Those first visits show how many hours fit.

You’ll get a copy of the plan in the language you ask for within 45 days. If a provider still has to be found, the plan should show an estimated start date.

How do I get a copy of my family member’s KRC file?

• Ask your coordinator in writing.Ask to see the file, or for copies of the reports you need, like the psychological evaluation and the IPP. Say if you’d like to pick them up or get them by email or mail.
• 3 business days.KRC has to let you see the file within 3 business days of your request. In Early Start, under age 3, a copy is due within 5 business days.
• Can’t pay for copies?KRC may charge for copies. Tell them if you can’t afford it, and they’re free.
• Sending them for benefits?KRC shares records only with your written OK, so sign a release that names Social Security or IHSS. IHSS can accept an IPP instead of its SOC 873 form when it has the same facts and a licensed professional’s signature.

How do I get school support in Kern County and the Eastern Sierra?

1. Ask in writing.Write a short, dated request for a special education assessment, and keep a copy. In some Kern districts, an emailed request counts as received once it’s opened.
2. A plan within 15 days.The district must send an assessment plan within 15 days of your request. You then have at least 15 days to decide.
3. 60 days after you sign.Testing and the first IEP meeting must be done within 60 days of your signed consent.
4. Bring KRC’s reports.Invite your coordinator, and bring copies of KRC reports. Kern High’s parent handbook lists Regional Center records among the things to bring.
5. Turning 3? Plan 90 days ahead.At least 90 days before the third birthday, you, your coordinator and the school meet to plan the move to school.

Special education contacts in Kern, Inyo and Mono counties

• Bakersfield City School DistrictFor a child 5 or older, ask at your child’s school. The district sends school-age children to a school support team first, but you can still ask for an assessment in writing. For birth to 5, call the Children’s Center at (661) 631-5850. Special Education: (661) 631-5863.
• Kern High School DistrictContact your principal or Special Education at (661) 827-4529, or email childfind@kernhigh.org. Coming from 8th grade with an IEP? Enroll like any student, and the district holds an IEP meeting within 30 days.
• Panama-Buena Vista UnionSend a written request through your principal; an email counts once it’s opened. Special Services: (661) 831-1906. A child turning 3 within 90 days can be referred on the district’s online Search and Serve form.
• Greenfield UnionAsk through your principal, out loud or in writing, and staff will help you put it on paper. Special Education and the preschool Search and Serve team share one number: (661) 837-6130.
• Kern County Superintendent of SchoolsMost of Kern’s smaller districts share the county’s special education office, at (661) 636-4805. To find your district by address, start at searchandserve.org.
• Inyo and Mono countiesIn Inyo, talk with the teacher, then the principal, then the county special education office at (760) 873-3262, ext. 2185. In Mono, call the county office of education at (760) 934-0031. Its Early Start program is run with KRC.

Every district follows the same state timelines. In Ridgecrest, Sierra Sands Unified’s special education office is at (760) 499-1703.

How do I become a KRC client?

Step by step

1. Call the Assessment Unit.Call (661) 852-3220. A letter or a visit works too, but most people call. KRC has no online application.
2. Fill out the packet.If an assessment makes sense, KRC mails you an application packet and may set up a clinic visit. Testing can’t start until KRC has your written consent.
3. KRC decides.It can take up to 120 days. If you qualify, your first plan is written within 60 days.

Who qualifies, in more detail: our eligibility page.

Where can parents get help and meet other parents?

• Exceptional Family Center.KRC’s family resource center, in Bakersfield. Call (661) 873-4973 or email info@kernefc.org. It also serves families in Inyo and Mono counties.
• H.E.A.R.T.S. Connection.Parent-to-parent support, training and help finding resources, in Bakersfield. Call (661) 328-9055.
• Padres Unidos de Kern.A parent group that meets with KRC every month, in English and Spanish. Call (661) 204-6214.

Quick answers