San Diego Regional Center (SDRC)
Eligibility, services, and how to actually reach a Service Coordinator.
Curated by families who've been here
The official sources every SLS family should bookmark
The SDRC, DDS, federal benefits, and advocacy organizations you'll be talking to throughout your loved one's journey. Bookmark this page — you'll keep coming back to it.
A deeper resource library with checklists, templates, and family-written guides is coming in M4.
Self-Determination Program (SDP)
The option that lets you control your Regional Center budget directly.
SLS funding & negotiation
How Supported Living Services budgets actually get built — and how to push back on a low offer.
Other funding programs
IHSS, SSI, Medi-Cal, ILS, RDI, DOR — every alphabet-soup program explained.
Transition from school to adult services
The 14–17 window is when transition planning starts. Get ahead of it.
Conservatorship alternatives
Conservatorship is one option — supported decision-making, powers of attorney, and Limited Conservatorship are others.
Legal rights & advocacy
Where to turn when something has gone wrong.
When something has gone wrong
If your loved one is in danger, call 911. For everything else — a missed service, a Regional Center decision you disagree with, a worried late-night moment — you have somewhere to turn.
San Diego Regional Center complaint resolution
When SDRC isn't doing what they're supposed to — a Service Coordinator who won't return calls, a service denied without a written notice, a vendor who isn't showing up — you have the right to file a complaint and ask for a Fair Hearing under the Lanterman Act (the state law that created Regional Centers).
Office of Clients' Rights Advocacy (OCRA)
OCRA is free legal help for Regional Center clients and their families. They are independent from SDRC, and they will sit beside you at a Fair Hearing. If a service has been denied, reduced, or terminated — call them.
Crisis hotlines
Save these numbers in your phone before you need them. All are free and confidential.
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988 — Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Call or text 988, any time, day or night. Trained counselors, free.
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San Diego Regional Center main intake — (858) 576-2996
For service emergencies during business hours. Ask for the on-call supervisor if your Service Coordinator isn't reachable.
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Office of Clients' Rights Advocacy (OCRA) — (800) 390-7032
Free legal help when a Regional Center service is denied or cut.
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Local hotline for food, housing, mental health, and family-support resources across San Diego County.
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Disability Rights California — (800) 776-5746
Statewide protection & advocacy organization. For abuse, neglect, or rights violations in any setting.