Our Funding Model
Our programs funding covers comprehensive early intervention services inclusive of Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy and Child Development Services. Our early intervention team delivers a wide variety of specialized services that work together to achieve the child’s developmental and family goals identified in the assessment process. Children are generally referred to Every Child Achieves by the service coordinators at the regional center. Families are able to request Every Child Achieves as the provider of services when going through the intake process with the regional center’s service coordinator. Families that are interested in exploring services funded through the State of California’s Early Start Program should contact their local regional center to schedule an
evaluation and confirm eligibility. To locate your local regional center office, go to https://www.dds.ca.gov/rc/lookup-rcs-by-county/.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Regional Center?
How do I file a complaint?
The Department of Developmental Services can be
reached at (916) 654-1987 or you may file a complaint at
https://www.dds.ca.gov/general/appeals-complaints-comments/
What is the Early Start Program?
Have a developmental delay in either cognitive, communication, social or
emotional, adaptive, or physical and motor development including vision and
hearing and are under 24 months of age at the time of referral, with a 33% delay in
one or more areas of development or are 24 months of age or older at the time of referral,
with a 50% delay in one area of development or a 33% delay in two or more areas of development;
or have an established risk condition of known etiology, with a high probability of resulting in delayed development.
California Government Code: Section 95014(a)
ECA is currently vendored and provides services for the following Regional Centers:
East Los Angeles Regional Center – Website: www.elarc.org
Lanterman Regional Center – Website: www.lanterman.org
North Los Angeles Regional Center (San Fernando Valley Office, Santa Clarita Valley Office, and Antelope Valley Office)
– Website: www.nlacrc.org
San Gabriel/Pomona Regional Center – Website: www.sgprc.org
South Central Los Angeles Regional Center – Website: www.sclarc.org
How do I find out if I am eligible for services?
To locate the appropriate regional center for your catchment area, please visit the State of California Department of
Developmental Services website at: https://www.dds.ca.gov/rc/lookup-rcs-by-county/
If you are not familiar with regional center and/or have not been assigned a service coordinator, you must first contact your local regional center and complete the initial intake process to determine eligibility.
To determine your child’s eligibility, your regional center will complete an evaluation to assess your child’s developmental level. Additionally, a review of your child’s medical history/records is required. This application contains the necessary forms required for your regional center to initiate the evaluation process. It is important to note that
Early Start eligibility determination may take up to 45 days.
Please note that due to state budget cuts, once an evaluation has been completed and eligibility has been determined, the regional center may have you refer to your respective health insurance company prior to receiving ongoing services funded through the regional center. Then once the insurance benefits have been exhausted through your insurance company, services may be funded through your local regional center if your child still qualifies. To learn more, visit the DDS website here:
https://www.dds.ca.gov/services/early-start/what-is-early-start/
What if my child is not eligible for services?
If your child is not eligible for Early Start, your child may be considered for California’s Prevention Program, which provides developmental monitoring to children birth through 35 months of age with high-risk conditions, and certain developmental delays (children between 24 and 35 months of age with a 33-49% delay in one developmental domain) that do not otherwise qualify them for Early Start. Click here to learn more about the prevention program. In addition, you may explore insurance coverage through a local therapy clinic or a private pay provider. Again, at this time we are not able to accommodate any requests that are not connected to the regional center referral process.
Our Referral Process
The ECA referral process begins with a request of availability from one of our vendored regional center case management departments. As a reminder, you must first go through the regional center in your area in order to get authorization for Every Child Achieves to be your service provider. You may locate your nearest regional center by going to the following website:
https://www.dds.ca.gov/rc/lookup-rcs-by-county/
Upon receiving the request from the regional center, our internal case management team will review availability, ensure we have the appropriate expertise and experience for the child, and begin the care coordination process. Once we have everything approved, we will coordinate with the regional center to complete their authorization process so funding can occur. Upon receipt of an authorization, our clinical team will reach out directly to the family of the regional center consumer to create a plan of a care, an ongoing care schedule, and integrate all services that the child is receiving to ensure clinical collaboration, continuity of care, and optimum clinical outcomes. Our focus during the referral process is optimizing the needs of the child with the most skilled provider in the area along with creating a plan of care that optimizes the parent’s role and impact in their day-to-day routine centered around developmental milestones being achieved or exceeded.
We care about supporting families in the community at every level. Our goal is that families can streamline their process to receive services by directly getting qualified by the early start program connected to their local regional center.
