Our Funding Model

Every Child Achieves’ early intervention model is funded in correlation to the state of California’s Early Start Program. At this time, our program is strictly regional center funded which means that we are not able to accommodate any outside clients that are seeking services directly. All referrals come directly from the regional center, and we have no impact on where they refer a child. A family may request Every Child Achieves as the organization providing services but there are no guarantees. In order to qualify for state funding under the early start guidelines, families must contact their local regional center to coordinate an initial evaluation in conjunction with early start requirements.
Every Child Achieves is currently vendored with six regional centers throughout the Greater Los Angeles region supporting the following communities San Fernando Valley, Antelope Valley, Santa Clarity Valley, San Gabriel Valley, South Los Angeles, East Los Angeles, Central Los Angeles, and pockets of West Los Angeles.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Regional Center?

Regional Centers are private non-profit organizations that are set up throughout the state of California and divided up by regions. The Regional Centers are responsible for providing services and support to those with developmental disabilities and their
families all over the state of California and ultimately upholds the laws set forth by the Department of Developmental Services (DDS).
Regional Centers are responsible for providing diagnosis and assessment of eligibility and they help plan, access, coordinate and monitor the services and supports that are needed because of a developmental disability.
After eligibility is determined then a Service Coordinator is typically assigned to help develop a plan for services, explain where services are available, and help you obtain the approved services for your child.

How do I file a complaint?

What is the Early Start Program?

The Early Start Program is California’s response to federal legislation ensuring that early intervention services to infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families are provided in a coordinated, family-centered system of services that are available statewide.
Infants and toddlers from birth to 36 months may be eligible for early intervention services if through documented evaluation and assessment they meet one of the criteria listed below:

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.