Regional Center is a placement agency that refers consumers who are developmentally disabled to Adult Residential Care Facilities. Most people who open an Adult Residential Care facility wish to work with developmentally disabled individuals who are referred from Regional Center.
Regional Centers are governed by the CA Dept of Developmental Services.
There are 21 Regional Centers in California. To find out which Regional Center provides services in the area where your property is check this link. Each Regional Center has its own guidelines and ways of doing things. You will need to contact your Regional Center to find out what the steps are to become a vendor.
Experience Requirement
The Regional Center categorizes facilities based on a system of levels from Level 2, 3, 4a - 4i. Levels refer to facilities, not clients. Facility rates vary with each level. To become vendored with RC you need to document your experience working as a DSP in an Adult Residential Facility that is vendored with Regional Center. Experience has a medical professional such as a psychologist, LVN, RN, or MD does not count. Many regional centers require pay stubs to verify experience and do not count work as a volunteer. The experience requirement is associated with the level you will be vendored for.
Level 2: 6 months
Level 3: 9 months
Level 4: 12 months.
All of the Regional Centers require the following:
1. Attend Regional Center Service Orientation
2. Submit a Letter of Intent
3. Submit a Program Design based on the principles of normalization (program design is not your license application)
Contact Your Regional Center
There is no single protocol or answer on how to become vendored with Regional Center. Each Regional Center is different in all the steps outlined above. You will need to contact the Resource Developer of the Regional Center you wish to work with to obtain specific guidelines.
The list below links you to most of the Regional Center websites that explain their vendorization process. Links often change or go dead. Let us know if you find a bad link.
Alta California Regional Center
Central Valley Regional Center
East Los Angeles County Regional Center
Far Northern Regional Center
Frank D. Lanterman Regional Center
Golden Gate Regional Center
Harbor Regional Center
Inland Regional Center
Kern Regional Center
North Bay Regional Center
North Los Angeles County Regional Center
San Gabriel/Pomona Regional Center
Redwood Coast Regional Center
Regional Center of Orange County
Regional Center of the East Bay
San Andreas Regional Center
San Diego Regional Center
Tri-Counties Regional Center
Valley Mountain Regional Center
Westside Regional Center
The Initial Certification Course to become an administrator of an ARF covers the process of becoming a vendor as part of the Business Component of the course. The course itself has nothing to do with Regional Center. The purpose of the ICTP ARF course is to become a Certified Administrator not a Vendor with Regional Center.
