Participant-directed services: for some regional center services, you choose who provides them, such as a worker you hire or a class or camp in your community. A company called a financial management service (FMS) pays them. Start of this guide
If you hire a worker, what you take on
Hiring a worker is one part of participant-directed services. For a class, a camp or another community program, there is no worker, and this page does not apply. How classes, camp and activities are paid for
When you hire a worker, you are in charge of that worker. That means you:
- Find the person you want to hire.
- Make sure they can do the job.
- Decide what they do and when.
- Show them how you want things done.
- Supervise their work.
- Check and approve their timesheets.
Who is in charge depends on the service. It can be a family member, the adult who gets the services, or for some services a conservator (a person a court has appointed). Ask your service coordinator who it would be for you.
Ask your regional center to explain what you would be responsible for before you decide.
What the financial management service does
A financial management service, or FMS, is a company that pays your worker for the regional center. Your regional center connects you with one. Some regional centers use one FMS for this, and others have a few. The FMS:
- Collects your worker's paperwork and helps check that they can legally work.
- Takes in the timesheets you approve and pays the worker.
- Runs payroll and pays the payroll taxes.
- Sends you and your regional center a report each month.
- Makes sure the hours and pay stay within what your regional center approved.
Your regional center pays the FMS its monthly fee.
Who is the employer
It depends on the FMS. With some, you are the employer and the FMS runs the payroll for you. With others, you share the role: the FMS is the legal employer, and you choose, schedule and supervise the worker. Your regional center or the FMS can tell you which one applies to you.
How the ways compare
For the same service, such as respite. None of these is the better one. Each asks more or less of your time and gives you more or less say.
| Way | Who chooses the worker | Who is the employer | Do you have employer duties |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional services, through an agency your regional center works with | The agency, and you can ask for someone you prefer | The agency | No |
| Employer of record | You. The agency hires the person you pick. | The agency | No |
| Participant-directed services | You | You, or the FMS with you | Yes |
| Self-Determination Program | You | It depends on how you set it up with your FMS | Only if you hire your own workers. You also have an individual budget and a spending plan. |
What people weigh
Why some people choose this
- They already know someone they trust who is willing to do the work.
- Workers are hard to find where they live, or in their language.
- They want more say over who comes into their home and when.
Why some people stick with traditional services
- They do not want the work of being an employer.
- They want the agency to find someone else when a worker is sick or away.
- They do not have a person in mind to hire.
What does not change
- Your services and hours are what your IPP (Individual Program Plan) says.
- You do not set the hourly rate. For most of these services the state sets it. The rates, by regional center
- You can ask to go back to getting the service the traditional way. California's agreement with the federal government says the people it covers can switch back at any time, with a planning meeting to arrange the change without a break in services.