Regional Centers are nonprofit, private corporations that contract with the State of California, Department of Developmental Services (DDS). Regional Centers are funded to provide diagnosis and assessment of eligibility and help plan, access, coordinate and monitor the services and supports that are needed because of a developmental disability.
Westside Regional Center (WRC) is one of the 21 regional centers that provide services to persons, age three and above, with a disability pursuant to the Lanterman Act and infants and toddlers, birth to 36 months, who have a need for early intervention services and who meet the eligibility criteria for the California Early Start program.
There is no charge for the diagnosis and eligibility assessment. Once eligibility is determined, a service coordinator is assigned to help develop a plan for services, tell you where services are available, and help you get those services. Most services and supports are free regardless of age or income.
For more information on the services and supports WRC provides, click here.
WRC envisions a world where people with developmental disabilities lead self-determined lives of meaning and purpose and participate fully in their local communities.
It is WRC’s mission to support people with developmental disabilities, their families, and communities of choice by facilitating access to person-centered, culturally responsive services and resources.
Three words guide Westside Regional Center’s staff in their relationship with the individuals they serve and their families, as well as in their vision of the regional center’s role:
These words form the basis of four principles to which Westside is committed for all of the services we provide. Those principles are:
All individuals with disabilities and their families will be—not only integrated—but involved, included and welcomed in community life, in jobs, in school and at home.
Each client will be viewed as part of a social unit defined as “family”, which includes those people who have a close and significant relationship to the individual. Westside will support and protect the strength and stability of this unit.
Individuals with developmental disabilities and their families will be empowered to take control of, and responsibility for, their lives; to make informed choices about where and how they live, where they go to school, and where they work; to become active and influential in their communities; and to become agents of change concerning their rights and wishes.
The focus will change: from bureaucratic to people-driven; from “professional” on one side and “family” on the other to partnership. Both families and staff will be encouraged to be responsible and creative, fortified by a full range of information and education. Intelligent use of resources will result in the highest quality of service within the parameters of a reasonable budget.