Protection & Advocacy, Inc.
LOS ANGELES LEGAL OFFICE
3580 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 902, Los Angeles, CA   90010-2512
Telephone: (213) 427-8747  Fax:  (213) 427-8767
Toll Free/TTY/TDD:  (800) 776-5746
http://www.pai-ca.org

State Budget Cuts Do Not Mean
that Regional Centers Can Cut Your Services

Even though California is facing a serious budget crisis, it does not automatically mean that your regional center should cut or change your services. The law still says that you have the right to services and supports that help you live a productive and independent life. The regional center must still help you find those supports and services. Who provides those services for you depends on what your Individual Program Plan (IPP) says about your needs.

Regional Centers Must Still Base
Your Service on Your

Call Protection and Advocacy, Inc., for a copy of our publication, Rights under the Lanterman Act (PAI publication # 5063.01). It gives you the details on your rights to services. So far, your rights have not changed because of the budget crisis.

Even with the budget problems, you still have the right to services that:

  • Help you stay out of institutions;
  • Train and help you to learn more living skills;
  • Help you do productive things during the day;
  • Get you to and from important activities;
  • Help you keep your children in the family home, including respite.
    •

    You need to be very specific in your IPP about what you need and why.

    Regional Centers Must Still Tell You in
    Writing of Any Changes in Your Services

    You still have the right to be told, in writing, if the regional center wants to cut or change your services.

    Your notice must be written in a way that you understand and in the language you have told the regional center you best understand.

    You still have the right to appeal.

    Protection and Advocacy, Inc. cannot represent most people who come to us for help. But we can talk to you about your case and we can give you advice on how to prepare for a hearing.

    Take Action if a Regional Center Cuts Your
    Services because of the State Budget Crisis

    It violates the Lanterman Act and case law if the regional center cuts or changes your services because of the state budget crisis. The law says regional centers must base any changes to your services on your needs. Regional centers can review your services with you to see if: (a) you aren’t using them appropriately, (b) you will agree that you can do with less, or (c) the regional center thinks you don’t need a service anymore.

    If the regional center cuts or changes your services because of the state budget crisis, we suggest that you read PAI’s publication, Rights Under the Lanterman Act and consider the following:

  • Do not let the regional center send you away by just telling you that it can’t provide services. Force the regional center to give you a written notice.
  • Make sure the regional center writes down what services it wants to change and why it wants to change them.
  • Appeal the regional center’s notice. Remember to appeal the decision within ten days of getting the written notice. If you appeal within 10 days, your current services will stay in place until an administrative law judge hears your case and rules on it.
  • Gather information that shows that you need the services that the regional center wants to change. Make sure the information you use is accurate, objective, and explains your needs in detail. Also, find people who are willing to go to your hearing and tell the administrative law judge why you need the services that the regional center wants to change. Make sure these people know your needs.
  • Ask for a copy of the regional center’s "expenditure plan." The expenditure plan is a document that your regional center wrote to the state explaining how it plans to save money because of the budget crisis. Even if the regional center mentions the service it wants to change in the expenditure plan, find or ask for the expenditure plan’s exception policy. All expenditure plans must have an exception policy to comply with the Lanterman Act. If your service is specifically mentioned in the expenditure plan as a service it is looking to cut or change, you may be able to show that the regional center is doing that based only on the budget problems and not your needs. If you think this is the case, call your clients’ rights advocate or PAI for help.
  • You should also ask for the regional center’s purchase of service policy and the exception policy that goes with that. Remember that purchase of service guidelines cannot force maximums and minimums of services either. The regional center has to meet your specific needs, even if the services go beyond what the purchase of service policy sets out.
  • At hearing, you can argue that you have the right to have your needs met to fulfill your IPP goals and objectives. The state budget crisis, the regional center’s expenditure plan, and the regional center’s purchase of service guidelines cannot be the reason for cutting or changing your services or supports as long as you can show that those services meet your needs as described in your IPP. Whether someone else can serve your needs for less money is a different question. But if a change in providers means that your needs are no longer met, you can still argue against the change.
    •

    What Can I Do about the Budget Crisis?

    The "entitlement" to services for people with developmental disabilities under the Lanterman Act is at risk during times when the state is short of money. State agencies have been asked to look at ways to save money including making changes in current law. Changes may affect the services you can get, what you have to pay for services, and even what you can appeal. But those changes have not happened yet. You should let your state representatives know that you do not favor changes to the Lanterman Act.

    Tell them that services for persons with developmental disabilities are a priority - people cannot be left without support needed to live normal lives.

    You can help by calling your state assemblyperson and state senator and telling them how these changes will hurt you. Describe any changes that you know the regional center is making and what that will mean to your life. Urge your state legislator to oppose cuts to the regional center system.

    There is even more power in acting together. We need to speak with a unified voice to maintain our rights. You can stay up-to-date on the budget and connected with people with disabilities, their families, providers, and other advocates across the state by joining:

    California Alliance For Inclusive Communities (CAIC)
    P.O. Box 8070
    Emeryville, CA 94662-8070
    Tel: 1-866-293-4701
    Email: info@caic.org
    Website: www.caic.org

    California Community Advocacy Network:
    Contact: CA Coalition of United Cerebral Palsy Associations
    1225 8th Street, Suite 480, Sacramento, CA 95814
    Tel: 916-446-0013
    Fax: 916-446-0026
    Email: martyomoto@rcip.com