FAQs

Good to know

FAQs

New to Self-Determination? Here are the things people ask most.

What is the Self-Determination Program?

SDP is a California program that gives people with developmental disabilities more freedom, control and responsibility over the services and supports they receive, through an individual budget you help design. You can run it yourself, or with whoever you choose to help you.

What does an Independent Facilitator do?

An IF helps you understand SDP, build your Person-Centered Plan, develop and manage your spending plan, find and coordinate services and staff, and navigate the Regional Center, so the program works for you.

Do I have to pay out of pocket?

No. Your Person-Centered Plan (024) and SDP transition support (099) are funded through your Regional Center. Optional ongoing support is funded through your SDP budget.

How long does it take to start SDP?

Most people take about six months. Mine usually take three or four, and not typically less than three.

It comes down to where you are starting from, how many services you are asking for, and how many rounds it takes to get them approved.

Do I need ongoing support after the first year?

Completely optional. Most people work with me through the first year, then decide how much ongoing help they want, if any. Some keep me for the reconciliation and the annual review only; some want me on call. We can shape it around what you actually need.

Still have a question?

Text or call me for a free consult.

Ask it directly. After we talk, you get an email with a breakdown of what we discussed.

Call or text (714) 591-0464 Email me

Helpful terms and abbreviations

The words that come up in every meeting, in plain language. Download this list as a PDF to keep or print.

024: The service code the Regional Center uses to pay for your Person-Centered Plan before you enroll.
099: The service code the Regional Center uses to pay for independent facilitation while you move into SDP.
340: The service code for independent facilitation once your program is running, paid from your budget.
Addendum: A written add-on to your IPP that records a change or a new service without rewriting the whole plan.
Annual review: The yearly meeting where your plan, your budget and your spending are looked at and reset for the next year.
Bill payer: The FMS model where the FMS only pays vendors and you employ nobody.
CDER: Client Development Evaluation Report. The Regional Center’s assessment of your abilities and needs, updated at least every three years.
Certified budget: Your budget once you and the Regional Center have both signed it.
Co-employer: The FMS model where you choose and direct your staff and the FMS is the employer of record for payroll and taxes.
DDS: The California Department of Developmental Services, the state agency over all the regional centers.
Employer burden: What comes off the top of every wage for payroll taxes, workers’ compensation and sick leave. Each FMS publishes its own percentage.
EVV: Electronic Visit Verification. The clock-in and clock-out record some FMS providers require for in-home hours.
Fair hearing: The appeal process when the Regional Center denies, reduces or ends a service. Deadlines run from the notice date.
FMS: Financial Management Service. The agency that pays your providers and staff from your budget and handles payroll and taxes. Its fee is paid by the Regional Center, not from your budget.
Generic resources: Services you are entitled to from somewhere other than the Regional Center, which have to be used first.
HCBS: Home and Community-Based Services. The federal rules a program has to meet to be paid for with SDP funds.
IHSS: In-Home Supportive Services. County-paid hours for help at home, counted as a generic resource.
Independent facilitator: Someone you can choose to help you plan, write, and get through the process. Optional. Paid by the Regional Center before your program starts, and from your budget after. That is what I do.
Individual budget: The amount you have for the year, based on what the Regional Center would spend on your services.
IPP: Individual Program Plan. The Regional Center’s plan for you, the document every service is authorized against.
Lanterman Act: The California law that gives people with developmental disabilities the right to Regional Center services.
Natural supports: The help you get from family, friends and community that nobody is paid for.
NOA: Notice of Action. The letter the Regional Center must send when it denies, reduces or ends a service, with your appeal rights.
Participant: The person the SDP budget belongs to.
Person-Centered Plan: Your plan for your whole life, written in your words. In SDP it is where the services in your budget come from.
POS: Purchase of Service. The Regional Center’s authorization to pay for a specific service.
Regional Center: One of 21 nonprofit agencies under contract with DDS that coordinate and fund services in a region of California.
SCDD: The State Council on Developmental Disabilities, which runs the SDP Orientation.
SDP: The Self-Determination Program.
SDP Orientation: The required first step. Free, over Zoom, two parts.
Service code: The number the Regional Center attaches to each kind of service. A sub code narrows it further.
Service coordinator: Your assigned contact at the Regional Center, sometimes called a case manager.
Sole employer: The FMS model where you are the employer of record and the FMS runs payroll for you.
Spending plan: Where the budget goes: each service, who provides it, the rate or wage, and the hours.
Supported decision maker: A person the participant chooses to help them understand choices and decide, without taking the decision away.
UCI: Unique Client Identifier. Your Regional Center case number.
Utilization: How much of an authorized service has actually been used, usually shown as a percentage of the year.
Vendor: A provider the Regional Center has approved to be paid for a service.
Workers' compensation: Insurance that covers an employee hurt on the job. Some FMS burden rates include it; others do not.

Ready to start your SDP journey?

Reach out and I will walk you through the very first step. No pressure, and no cost to get started.

Call or text (714) 591-0464 oina@ef-if.com

Serving self-advocates and families across every California Regional Center.