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CALIFORNIA SERVICES AND SUPPORTS FOR PERSONS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES
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California’s developmental
services system is composed of a variety of interrelated components.
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Department of Developmental Services
The Department of Developmental Services (DDS) is within the California
Health and Welfare Agency. DDS provides services and supports for
over 145,000 children and adults with developmental disabilities.
These services are provided through twenty-one nonprofit agencies
(regional centers) and state-operated developmental centers. To learn
more about the Department, its functions and services, please visit:
www.dds.ca.gov
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Lanterman Act
The Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act (Lanterman Act)
is that part of California law that sets out the rights and responsibilities
of persons with developmental disabilities, and creates the agencies,
including regional centers, responsible for planning and coordinating
services and supports for persons with developmental disabilities.
To order a copy of “A Consumer’s Guide to the Lanterman Act” or to
learn more about Title 17, The Lanterman Act & Related Laws, visit:
www.dds.ca.gov
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Regional Centers
Regional centers serve as the point of entry into the developmental
disabilities system and help coordinate the services that are needed
because of a developmental disability. These services include: information
and referral; assessment and diagnosis; counseling; lifelong individualized
planning and service coordination; purchase of necessary services
included in the individual program plan; resource development; outreach;
assistance in finding and using community and other resources; advocacy
for protection of legal, civil and service rights; early intervention
services for at risk infants and their families; genetic counseling;
family support; planning, placement, and monitoring for 24-hour out-of-home
care; training and educational opportunities for individuals and families;
community education about developmental disabilities. The Association
of Regional Center Agencies (ARCA) represents the 21 regional centers
in California. For a listing of the regional centers and the counties
they serve, please visit: www.arcanet.org
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Note: A diagnosis of Prader-Willi Syndrome does not
automatically make a child/adult eligible for services – many other
factors are taken into consideration, including IQ.
Caution: Children are reassessed before their third
birthday, and, often are dropped from the system. We advise families
to insist on keeping the case open.
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State Council on Developmental Disabilities
The California State Council on Developmental Disabilities (SCDD)is
a federally-funded, independent state agency established in federal
and state law to assist in planning, coordinating, monitoring and
evaluating services for individuals with developmental disabilities
and their families. Because they are federally funded, State Council
serves people with developmental disabilities under a broader, functional
definition of developmental disabilities. To ensure that local needs
and priorities are being addressed, the Council funds the thirteen
(13) regional Area Boards on Developmental Disabilities. To learn
more about the State Council, please visit: www.scdd.ca.gov
Area Boards on Developmental Disabilities
California established a system of volunteer Area Boards to plan,
coordinate, and develop services for persons with developmental disabilities.
These activities were designed to ensure equitable planning for and
development of services in a vast state with a heterogeneous population
and significant differences in social, geographic, political, cultural,
and economic patterns and resources. In 1978, the area Board system
was reorganized to: protect and advocate the rights of persons with
developmental disabilities; conduct information programs to increase
public and professional awareness and eliminate barriers to integration;
monitor the practices of publicly funded agencies toward compliance
with local, state, and federal laws; conduct activities designed to
improve the quality of services, including the conduct of life quality
assessments with consumers; and plan, coordinate and develop new and
expanded program opportunities.
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The same reorganization created the Organization of Area Boards on
Developmental Disabilities. To learn more, visit: www.ns.net/OAB
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Protection and Advocacy, Inc.
Protection and Advocacy, Inc.(PAI), works in partnership with people
with disabilities – to protect, advocate for and advance their human,
legal and service rights. They strive toward a society that values
all people and supports their rights to dignity, freedom, choice and
quality of life.
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If you are a regional center client, or need regional center services,
your local clients’ rights advocate (CRA) is the first person to call
for help. Each regional center has a clients’ rights advocate. If
you do not know who to call in your area, please call the Office of
Clients’ Rights Advocacy (OCRA) at 1-800-390-7032 for a referral.
For more information, please visit:
www.pai-ca.org (This site also links to other advocacy resources
and organizations.)
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