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
What it is
Regional centers can pay for social recreation, camp and non-medical therapies, such as a swim class, a summer camp, art, dance or music. One way they do it is through a financial management service (FMS), a company that makes the payment for the regional center. This way is for programs that:
- Are not regional center providers, and
- Mostly serve the general public, such as a city parks and recreation program, a YMCA or a dance studio.
The FMS pays the program directly, so you do not have to pay first and wait to be paid back.
How it is different from the rest of this guide
- You do not hire a worker, and you are not an employer.
- Neither you nor the program has to become a regional center provider.
- There is no hourly rate. The FMS pays the price the program charges everyone.
The steps
- Find the class, camp or activity. Write down the program's name, what it costs, and the dates. Ask the program if it will take payment from a company that pays for the regional center.
- Ask your service coordinator before you sign up or pay. Say you want it paid through a financial management service.
- It goes into your IPP (Individual Program Plan). Your IPP has to list the kind of activity, how much of it, and the estimated total cost.
- Your regional center approves it with the FMS.
- The FMS pays the program.
Plan ahead. Several regional centers say to ask about four to six weeks before the start date.
What you do not have to give up
To get these services, you do not have to give up respite hours or another service. You do not have to use up your In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) hours first. You do not have to pay a share of the cost. That is state law.
If the program will not work with an FMS
Some programs will not take payment from an FMS. State guidance lets a regional center have the family paid back through the FMS in that case. Regional centers handle this differently. Ask your service coordinator whether it is possible at yours before you pay.
More on these services
Disability Rights California has questions and answers on social recreation and camp, written in 2023: Changes to Social Recreation and Camping