Will Regional Center help pay for home or car modifications?

When certain changes are needed to keep your child safely at home, Regional Center may be able to help. For example, Regional Center could help if you need modifications for your bathroom to be more accessible. You may be able to get that through your insurance (or possibly through Medi-Cal). Regional Center and SDP are typically the payers of last resort, so make sure you have exhausted all other options (and keep track of it all).

That said, any modifications approved will be strictly functional and cost-effective. They won’t redesign your bathroom, and they can’t improve your home’s value, but they may install things like grab bars or other supports to make the space usable.

If your insurance denies funding for vehicle modification, you can bring that denial to the Regional Center. Whether your Regional Center will fund it and to what extent depends on their purchase of service standards, so check your Regional Center's website or ask your service coordinator what may be covered. The Self-Determination Program can cover adaptations or alterations to an automobile or van that is the participant’s primary means of transportation to accommodate the participant's disability needs (for example, lifts, ramps, hand brakes). You will need to work directly with your SDP coordinator to show in your child’s Individualized Program Plan (IPP) the need for this accommodation.

For more information about home modifications for accessibility, including funding options like grants, see our full articles on home modifications and adaptive car modifications.