Undivided is a support system for families raising kids with disabilities and developmental delays that brings together an innovative app with the expertise of specialists and parent professionals. We offer 1:1 support and partnership with a parent coach or Navigator who helps families set goals, secure access to the public benefits their child is eligible for, create a strengths-based IEP, and more. Members also get access to an extensive library of guides and resources; a web and mobile app that makes it easy to store, share, and access a child’s IEP and medical records from anywhere; live events with experts in the disability field; and parent-led support spaces. We’re here to get families the resources they need, including the ones they may not even know are available to them, so they can:
Through our partnerships with experts, providers, parents, and advocates around the country, Undivided helps parents develop the tools they need to become successful advocates for their children.
Most Regional Centers acknowledge the importance of parent education and training and discuss various avenues of training in their Purchase of Service Standards. Westside Regional Center notes that “training helps to empower parents and guardians, as they learn, for example, about developmental disabilities, about different types of resources and funding mechanisms, about system issues, and about advocacy techniques.” Many Regional Centers host workshops and webinars on related topics, and offer a Family Resource Center that can provide additional support to parents.
The Lanterman Act also allows Regional Centers to fund parent training and education outside of the Regional Center to meet a specific IFSP or IPP goal (Section 4685c). Parents usually access this type of support via annual conferences, seminars, parenting skills classes, webinars, and similar events. Purchase of Service standards vary across Regional Centers, but many Regional Centers do offer limited funding for this service category. Variations might include caps on the number of trainings per year, the total dollar amount that may be funded, and whether the provider must be vendored or whether parents may instead be reimbursed.
Review your Regional Center’s Purchase of Service standards to see what their requirements are to receive funding for parent training. Every Regional Center’s service standards are published on their website, usually under “Services.”
Make sure that your child’s IPP includes a parent support, training, and education goal. This might include being a more effective advocate, getting a better grasp on available public and community resources, or getting support with organizing and implementing priorities and goals. In addition, you may be able to articulate how training and support from Undivided would empower you to advocate for your child in a way that advances their current goals in the IPP.
Review Undivided’s membership levels and determine which membership is most appropriate for you.
Make a written request to your child’s service coordinator. You should remind them of your child’s relevant IPP goals, let them know what Undivided does, and request that they fund your membership. While the Regional Center may approve the funding request as it stands, you should be prepared for the service coordinator to request additional information, to agree only to fund up to a certain amount, or for the funding committee to determine that the request does not meet the Purchase of Service standards for parent training and education. If you disagree with the Regional Center’s decision, you have the right to request a fair hearing.
If your child participates in Regional Center’s Self-Determination Program, here are the steps to get Undivided membership included in your child’s spending plan. You can also print out this one-page reference guide for independent facilitators.
Ensure that there is a parent education goal. Here is an example parent education goal that other independent facilitators have used: “For [child’s] parents to better understand how to support [child] in all aspects of life.”
Add an Undivided annual Navigator membership to the spending plan using parent coaching, parent consulting, or parent training. While every Regional Center may code differently, the code used for an Undivided membership is typically 371 or 331.
Once an Undivided membership is in the spending plan, the family will need to let the Financial Management Service (FMS) know they want to have Undivided added as a vendor, so Undivided can invoice for the membership.
Depending on the specific FMS, the family fills out the top part of the vendor form. They will need to pull some information from their spending plan.
Undivided will fill out the vendor information on the form and invoice the FMS annually.
Additionally, Undivided offers add-on services where parents can work with an education advocate, health insurance advocate, and/or public benefits specialist. These services can be added to SDP spending plans under parent coaching or community integration supports (371, 331).
Still have questions? Get in touch and we will do our best to guide you through the process.
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