The timeline for entry into SDP can be confusing, so here are a few guidelines.
Take the SDP orientation from the State Council.
You must attend a 2-hour orientation course which is presented by the State Council on Developmental Disabilities about 8-9 times per month in 3 different languages. You may have to wait a few weeks to find the right one and attend the course. Afterwards, it only takes a day or two to get your certificate of attendance. You can forward it immediately to your service coordinator (SC) and let them know you want to transition to SDP. Also, give the SC the name of your PCP/IF as soon as you know it.
Choose a PCP (Person-Centered Planner and/or IF (Independent Facilitator).
This may take up to a week or more of phone calls or emails depending on your needs and interests. There are a number of us to choose from, but many of us have waiting lists of one month or more.
Draft the PCP.
Your planner will meet with you and/or send you an outline of the information needed to draft a PCP which will have to be edited at least once. This back and forth can take a few weeks depending on everyone’s availability for phone calls or zoom meetings.
Submit the PCP to the regional center.
Once you feel your PCP is ready, it can be sent to your SC for review. Depending on several factors, the review can take a few days or up to a month. Delays have been happening due to vacations, leaves of absence, or just too much work.
The SC sets up a team meeting to review the plan.
This meeting is usually only 1-2 hours, but it can take some time to set up in order to coordinate schedules.
The regional center sends out a proposed budget. After the team meeting, a budget will be drafted to reflect the amount of money the RC believes you need to cover the services that were agreed upon at the meeting. This can take from 3-4 weeks to several months depending on whether there is a disagreement about the services or rates. There is usually some back and forth about what amounts to include for things like social/rec. Your RC will want specifics for these activities so that they can authorize the correct amount of money. When everyone agrees, the budget has to be signed by you and the regional center which takes a day or two.
This is where it gets tricky.
Self-Determination Does Not Mean That You Get to Make All the Decisions. The Regional Centers Can and Do Refuse to Cover Some Services.
The spending plan is created. Once you have signed your budget, you can start planning how to spend your money. You will need to decide what services you will buy, whether you will use an agency to hire people, and what amounts you will spend. The spending plan can be created in a few days after you have made those decisions.
The RC reviews the spending plan. In Self-Determination, the RC must confirm that you are buying services that fit within the definitions of SD approved services and whether they are Home and Community Based to the maximum extent possible. This review team will also consider whether generic resources are available for your services which must be used first, or denied.
This process can take 3 weeks at some regional centers or 6 weeks at others. Some regional centers are more behind than others on getting things reviewed and approved.
Many people are surprised when the RC vetoes
the services they choose.
Quite frequently, the RC disagrees with how you plan to spend the budgeted funds. They can, and do, refuse to approve spending plans until the item is removed or you can convince them to withdraw the objection. These complications take time. If there is disagreement, you can spend a few weeks negotiating, or you can: (a) accept the refusal and choose different services; or (b) ask for a Notice of Action to dispute the RC denials.
You can still enter SDP while the Notices of Action are pending, but you can only use the services that are approved; you will not be able to use any services that are in dispute. If you wait for the denial to be resolved, and don’t go into SDP, you will remain in the traditional model and continue with your IPP as you did before SDP.
Choosing and Signing up with an FMS. After your spending plan is approved, the RC must provide authorizations to your FMS agency in order for the FMS to pay for services. This can take 1-3 weeks. The FMS needs to onboard your employees and service providers, which can take 2 weeks or more from the FMS. For employees, there have been delays because of the fingerprints and background checks which are processed by the federal government.
There may be delays in locating and signing up with an FMS agency for the following reasons:
- There is a waiting list
- The FMS will only start on the first of the month
- The FMS has strict dollar amount limits and won’t accept clients with higher budgets
- Many agencies will not take clients with medical needs such as nursing
- Some agencies have restrictive requirements which can cause delays or require you to change your service providers
- Not all FMS agencies have all 3 types of support, i.e. Bill Payer, Co-Employer, and Sole-Employer
Transition. Once your FMS has given you a start date, and the RC confirms that all of the authorizations are done, you will go into Self-Determination on your start date.
Don’t Get Caught Without Services
- You can’t use your old services in the traditional program after the transition date. If your start date is June 1st, your old services end on May 31st.
- You can’t access services in SDP until all of the paperwork is finished with the FMS. If your start date is June 1st, you need to get your paperwork started for your employees and services 2-4 weeks ahead of that date. If the background checks aren’t ready, or the onboarding isn’t done, you can’t start your services on June 1st. You will be without services until all of the paperwork is complete.
- You will no longer have access to Independent Facilitator services paid for by the regional center. We are paid only up to the transition into SDP. If you want IF assistance after that date, you will have to include IF services in your spending plan and pay for them out of your approved budget.
In the end, it all depends. On your RC, your SC, how much time you can devote to the process, etc. When you get started, ask your service coordinator, PCP and IF how long things are taking at your regional center.
It’s a process.