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Working Together in Partnership

What's On This Page

Getting Started

General Information

Early Childhood

School Age

Adult

Participant-Directed Services

Self-Determination Program

The Lanterman community includes individuals and their families, service providers, staff and the broader community in our geographic area, including other local and state agencies. In order for this partnership to be successful, all community members must actively participate and work collaboratively, while respecting and recognizing individual contributions, roles, strengths and experiences. As the primary source of care and support for the person with a disability, the family occupies a leadership role in this partnership.

How Services Are Coordinated

Service coordination consists of a unique set of direct services and supports assigned to regional centers by the Lanterman Act, and is the cornerstone service provided by Lanterman. At the core of the Client and Family Services Division are the various service coordination units. There are four primary units; Early Intervention, serving birth up to age 3; Early Childhood, serving ages 3-5; School Age, serving ages 5 to 16; and the Ongoing, serving ages 16 and up. Together these units provide lifelong coordination of services and supports for individuals with, and at risk for, developmental disabilities and their families.

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Administrative Services

The Administrative Services Division of the Center is responsible for financial and other functions that provide support to the direct services provided by the regional center, including:

  • The control and management of thousands of claims for services purchased on behalf of clients and families
  • Management of the office operations and physical plant
  • Information technology and computer support
  • Client revenue and money management services
  • Auditing service providers and managing contracts between the Center and various entities

The division is organized into functional areas as follows:

The unit is responsible for: 

  • Purchase of services payments
  • Payments for operating expenses
  • Banking
  • Budget forecasting and cash management
  • Payroll coordination

This unit is responsible for:

  • Managing client funds and other public benefits for approximately 850 individuals for whom the center is the payee
  • Coordinating applications and redeterminations for Social Security and other public benefits
  • Providing money management services for some clients who live independently 

This unit is responsible for managing and supporting computer operations at the center, including:

  • Managing the midrange computer system that is linked with the State, which includes client and financial data
  • Managing the personal computer operations at the center and the networks that link them including aspects such as email, file storage, and printing
  • Manage computer security in regards to system and data access, virus/malware defense, and data encryption
  • Providing training, in-house repairs when feasible, and other support to staff of the center

This unit is responsible for:

  • Coordinating all contracts entered into by the regional center
  • Performing audits of service provider costs and staffing and the management of client funds by residential providers

This unit is responsible for:

  • All facilities management issues and relationships with the landlord, including maintenance, cleaning, and parking coordination
  • Reception functions, including the switchboard operation
  • Telecommunications and mail coordination
  • Ordering office supplies
  • Equipment and furniture ordering, and space planning and office relocation efforts when needed
  • Management of offsite records storage
  • Management of the office security system
  • Coordinating the Center’s disaster preparedness efforts

Clinical Services

The Clinical Services unit works with service coordination to improve client access to quality medical, dental and mental health services and positively impact their overall health outcomes.

The Unit provides:

  • consultation,
  • technical assistance,
  • health care information and education to individuals and their families, caregivers, service providers, staff, and members of other community and generic organizations.

The unit also:

  • directly supervises projects that are contracted with:
    • individual healthcare providers,
    • university affiliated programs,
    • clinics and
    • hospitals;
  • develops collaborative working partnerships with community-based health care organizations; and
  • reviews and coordinates client certification for the federal Medicaid Waiver program.

Your Point of Contact

Partnering with Your Service Coordinator

One of the most important partnerships is the relationship between a service coordinator and a family. Your service coordinator is your primary contact and partner at Lanterman. He or she is a professional with experience in the area of developmental disabilities and knowledge about services, supports and other resources. Your service coordinator will work with you on the development and implementation of an IPP, which serves as a roadmap toward achievement of desired outcomes. He or she can also provide information and guidance to help you make informed decisions about the plans, services and supports necessary to accomplish goals identified in the IPP.

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FAQ

Get Answers

It is important for service coordinators to visit individuals and their families in their homes rather than another more public setting. Many of the issues discussed at a meeting are personal and private and it is difficult to maintain a desired level of privacy and confidentiality when these matters are discussed in a setting such as a coffee shop or restaurant. Additionally, it is essential for service coordinators to be familiar with an individual’s home situation so they can make the appropriate recommendations, especially in regards to in-home supports. The more they understand and know about you and your family, the better they are able to support you.

According to the Lanterman Act: “Circle of support means a committed group of community members, who may include family members, meeting regularly with an individual with developmental disabilities in order to share experiences, promote autonomy and community involvement, and assist the individual in establishing and maintaining natural supports. A circle of support generally includes a plurality of members who neither provide nor receive services or supports for persons with developmental disabilities and who do not receive payment for participation in the circle of support.” [Section 4512 (f)]

In other words, a circle of support is a group of people who play an important role in the life of an individual by providing support in different ways during their day-to-day interactions with that person. Anyone that plays a supportive role in the person’s life is part of his or her circle of support. This could be a family member, a neighbor, or a school or work friend.

Families have told us over the years that one of the most important things they learn at the Regional Center is that they are not alone – that other parents of children with special needs share their experiences and feelings. Here are some things that parents have told us that have been particularly helpful to them:

  1. Seek out peer support from other families who have “been there” by joining a support group or requesting a Peer Support Partner.
  2. Identify and make use of your own natural support system – family, friends, religious organizations, community.
  3. Keep your expectations high and set challenging, yet realistic, goals.
  1. Basic information about you or your family member, such as special needs or medical conditions, so that others can provide consistent care.
  2. A list with contact information of all the people, agencies, programs and organizations that are providing services to you or your family member.
  3. A copy of the current Individual Program Plan and, if applicable, Individualized Education Program.
  4. Copies of reports from independent assessments.
  5. Copies of all written communication (including handwritten) to and from all professionals working with you or your family member.
  6. A list of medications being taken at home, school or work as authorized by the physician. Include the medication name, dosage, time of day taken, and the prescription number and pharmacy. Also note changes in dosage and reactions to the change that you have observed.
  7. Your notes (dated) about meetings or phone conversations with regional center staff, physicians and other professionals working with you or your family member. Also, be sure to include the name of the person with whom you spoke or met.

It is helpful to divide records into subcategories, such as health, education and IPP, and organize them by date with the most recent on top.

It also helps to maintain a notebook containing copies of your most recent records that you can take with you to meetings and appointments. This notebook should include, at a minimum, two years of reports, evaluations and program plans.

If you or your family moves from Lanterman’s service area to another location in California, services and supports will be provided by the regional center that serves your new geographic area. Lanterman will transfer records to the new regional center. According to the Lanterman Act: “Whenever [an individual] transfers from one regional center catchment area to another, the level and types of services and supports specified in the [individual’s IFSP/IPP] shall be authorized and secured, if available, pending the development of a new [IPP/IFSP] for the [individual]. If these services and supports do not exist, the regional center shall convene a meeting to develop a new [IPP/IFSP] within 30 days. Prior to approval of the new [IPP/IFSP], the regional center shall provide alternative services and supports that best meet the individual program plan objectives in the least restrictive setting.” [Section 4643.5 (c)]

If your family moves out of California, your service coordinator and the Koch-Young Resource Center can help you contact the appropriate developmental services agency and locate related resources in the new state. With your written consent, the Regional Center can also transfer your records to that state’s agency.

The Lanterman Act states that a person “who is determined by any regional center to have a developmental disability shall remain eligible for services from regional centers, unless a regional center, following a comprehensive reassessment, concludes that the original determination that the individual has a developmental disability is clearly erroneous.” [Section 4643.5(b)]

If you do not know the name of your service coordinator, call the Regional Center at 213.383.1300 and ask the operator to transfer you to the secretary for the unit that is supporting you. If you don’t know the unit, let the operator know the client’s age and what city he or she lives in, and the operator will transfer you to the appropriate unit. Lanterman takes our responsibility to protect the privacy of our clients and their families very seriously, and you may be asked questions to confirm your identity.

Sixty years of Lanterman!

 

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