No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.

What is the Self-Determination Program?

In October of 2013, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed into law the Self-Determination Program, which will provide regional center clients and their families with a new option. As authorized in Welfare and Institutions Code, Section 4685.8, “the Self-Determination Program (SDP) is a voluntary delivery system consisting of a mix of services and supports, selected and directed by a participant through person-centered planning, in order to meet the objectives in his or her Individual Program Plan (IPP). Self-determination services and supports are designed to assist the participant to achieve personally defined outcomes in community settings that promote inclusion,” and allow participants to have more control in developing service plans and selecting service providers.

The Principles of Self-Determination include.

• Freedom to exercise the same rights as all citizens; to establish, with freely chosen supports, family and friends, where they want to live, with whom they want to live, how their time will be occupied, and who supports them.
• Authority to control a budget in order to purchase services and supports of their choosing.
• Support, including the ability to arrange resources and personnel, which will allow flexibility to live in the community of their choice.
• Responsibility, which includes the opportunity to take responsibility for making decisions in their own lives and accept a valued role in their community, and
• Confirmation, in making decisions in their own lives by designing and operating the service that they rely on. 

THE INDEPENDENT FACILITATOR (IF) assists the person to move from the traditional services at the Regional Center to the SELF-DETERMINATION PROGRAM (SDP).

Remarkable & Centered Supports guides individuals with Developmental disabilities and their families in navigating the process to join SDP. The Independent Facilitator (IF) can support each person in developing a Person-Centered plan, spending budget, and on-going support as an IF.