Phoenix Facilitation of California LLC

08/27/2024

Are you a vendor or local business interested in supporting your disability community in an inclusive and person-centered way? Accepting Self-Determination Program (SDP) dollars could be an option for you! Join North Bay Regional Center for a virtual SDP overview training for vendors and local businesses on Tuesday, September 17th, from 2:30pm to 4:30pm. Register at https://bit.ly/NBRCVendor or by scanning the QR Code!

07/16/2024

Frank D. Lanterman Regional Center's Local Volunteer Advisory Committee will be hosting a Self-Determination Resource Fair on September 29th, 2024 at the Friendship Auditorium in Los Angeles!

If you are interested in participating as a vendor, please fill out the registration form https://bit.ly/FDLRCResourceFair (case sensitive) - interested families, self-advocates, and other attendees do NOT need to register.

07/02/2024

Exciting news from DDS! 099 Self-Directed Supports for transition to Self-Determination will be available through Participant Directed Services (PDS) effective 8/1/2024. This means that providers don't have to be directly vendored with a Regional Center to provide these services and will *hopefully* increase the number of service providers available as well...

04/16/2024

Interested in learning Animation, Visual FX, or Digital Arts? Exceptional Minds Academy and Studio prepares artists with autism for careers in entertainment and related industries. Their Summer Workshops, virtual or in person, are a great way to find out if the full-time Academy Program is a good choice, or to develop your skills and storytelling talents. Workshops are for ages 14 and up, with the majority of participants young adults. Check out their offerings at https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vRTG1zMJcNowCs_2es4G-ItyCCkiItuJta4x-KldfDEKiNbbPHg84cFVgqtLadbULLUVWiZEPjHNfe7/pub. Or contact Casandra Melgar (Casandra@exceptional-minds.org) for more information.

04/08/2024

SDP One Stop Shop in Napa on June 5th, 2024 from 3:00pm to 6:30pm! Join us to meet independent facilitators, Financial Management Services, and other Self-Determination providers. Register at https;//bit.ly/SDPNBRC (case sensitive) or scan the QR code. Email sdp@nbrc.net or call 707-256-1261 with questions or if you're interested in being a presenter at the event!

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¡SDP One Stop Shop en Napa el 5 de junio de 2024 de 3:00 p. m. a 6:30 p. m.! Únase a nosotros para conocer a facilitadores independientes, servicios de gestión financiera y otros proveedores de autodeterminación. Regístrate en https;//bit.ly/SDPNBRC (el enlace distingue entre mayúsculas y minúsculas) o escanea el código QR. Envíe un correo electrónico a sdp@nbrc.net o llame al 707-256-1261 si tiene preguntas o si está interesado en ser presentador en el evento.

01/11/2024

I am writing to inform you about an important initiative that an Independent Facilitator is currently working on for the Regional Center of the East Bay (RCEB).

On behalf of the RCEB team, their primary focus is to gather information from the Black and African American RCEB clients in both Alameda and Contra Costa counties to better serve these communities. They have created a survey to gain a deeper understanding of the needs of these communities served by RCEB.

The purpose of the survey is to gain a deeper understanding of the needs, challenges, and aspirations of the Black and African American RCEB communities with the ultimate goal of enhancing the services and supports provided by RCEB.

As part of the data collection process, they need the client (or their representative) to provide the following information on the survey:

a) The first letter of the client's first name;
b) The first letter of the client's last name; and
c) The client's UCI (Unique Client Identifier) number

Client information will be handled with strict confidentiality and used only for RCEB data collection purposes.

To express appreciation for completing the survey, they are pleased to offer $20 for their participation. This incentive is aimed at recognizing the time and effort contributed to this important undertaking.
Please note: Only one survey can be completed for each RCEB client.

To receive their $20 digital gift card, the individual completing the survey on behalf of the client must provide an email address of where to send the gift card.

The last day to complete the survey is March 10, 2024. For questions, please email RCEBSurvey@yahoo.com or call 1-888-SURVEY-0.

Your support and assistance is greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your time and commitment to fostering inclusivity and diversity within our community.

01/11/2024

Please join CHOICESS for an engaging presentation from a speaker and trainer who uses her unique, lived experience as a woman with a disability and her sassy, tell-it-like-it-is way of speaking, to educate others and breakdown preconceived notions of what it‘s like to live with a disability.

This training will focus on the impact person-centered thinking can have on the service system, as well as the “gaps“ that exist in systemic implementation. It will cover what “good” and person-centered support actually looks like and how it can be achieved in partnership with the people being supported.

The presentation will include a dedicated, interactive Q&A and are intended for all: service providers & vendors, direct support professionals, individuals receiving services, and families.

Both days will be in person and offered online via Zoom.

To register, click on your desired date(s) to attend at https://www.choicess.org/specialevents. If attending via Zoom, the link will be mailed to you at the email address associated with your PayPal account.

Cost is $35 in person (seating is limited) and $20 for Zoom. If you receive services from Regional Center, contact your service coordinator to see if you're eligible for help with the registration cost.

If you have any questions please contact emorago@choicess.org

Day 1 - February 12th, 2024 9am - 11am (in-person) at San Gabriel/Pomona Regional Center 75 Rancho Camino Drive Pomona, CA 91766. ​

Day 1 - February 12th, 2024 9am - 11am (on Zoom). Zoom link will be provided vial email upon purchase of registration within 24 hours. ​

Day 2 - February 14th, 2024 9am - 11am (in-person) at San Gabriel/Pomona Regional Center 75 Rancho Camino Drive Pomona, CA 91766. ​

Day 2 - February 14th, 2024 9am - 11am (on Zoom). Zoom link will be provided vial email upon purchase of registration within 24 hours.

01/05/2024

The Autism In Entertainment Conference, is a groundbreaking event that will take place on Friday, April 5, 2024 at the prestigious Skirball Cultural Center. This one-day, in-person conference will be bringing together industry leaders and advocates to explore ways to bridge the gap between the ASD community and the entertainment industry. Our goal is to provide a platform that will empower individuals with ASD to showcase their talent and creativity, and to help them find meaningful employment opportunities within the entertainment industry. Join us in breaking down the barriers and supporting autism in entertainment!

The conference is being organized by the Autism In Entertainment Working Group, led by the Orange County Asperger’s Support Group with support from Zavikon an employment agency whose mission is to place neurodivergent individuals and those with disabilities in career-oriented, meaningful jobs, and they utilize a supported placement model to set both employer and employee up for success. The conference is funded by a Department of Developmental Services (DDS) Grant designed to help Regional Center consumers find employment.

The Autism In Entertainment conference is targeted at the following audiences:

Talent – Individuals on the spectrum (ages 18 and up) with two or more years of education/training/experience in entertainment-related fields. Priority will be given to Regional Center clients. Family members are welcome; however, due to space limitations, each applicant may be accompanied to the conference by one family member, caregiver, or personal aide if needed. We are mainly focused on the autism community but will consider neurodiverse talent who have not received an autism diagnosis.
Representatives of companies in the Entertainment Industry who wish to expand neurodiverse hiring.

Registration Link: https://autisminentertainment.org/registration/

12/29/2023

Additional guidance from the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) regarding the transition from 024 to 099, 099 services in general, etc.

Some highlights/my favorite parts:

1) Some Regional Centers have been taking forever and a day to vendorize 099 providers. This guidance requires the Regional Centers to provide monthly status updates on their efforts to secure providers of these services for the majority of 2024, which will hopefully increase accountability and smooth some of the roadblocks providers have been experiencing.
2) Providers who are working on vendorization will be able to continue to bill under 024 while the vendorization is pending, which will ensure that payments continue to be provided for work completed, and that participants and families continue to have support, regardless of any Regional Center bureaucracy.
3) Regional Centers are reminded to pay for Person-Centered Planning services timely! Hallelujah!
4) 099 services now specifically allow billing for administrative, non-face-to-face contacts and collaterals, which is critical, since a lot of what we do is behind the scenes.
5) This guidance is confirmation that the FMS supports for pre-transition are officially no longer under 099, and that all 40 hours, as needed, will be for the other provider (often called an Independent Facilitator, but technically a "General SD Supports" vendor)

12/28/2023

New guidance from DDS regarding billing requirements for services in SDP. I think the idea is that small businesses will have *less* requirements for billing (i.e. not invoicing specifically), but I'm naturally skeptical, and tend to think the FMS agencies will still require invoices, potentially from all agencies. I do like the part that specifies that if subscription or access fees are typically payable at the beginning of the month, that the Self-Determination Participant should also have them paid at the beginning of the month, which will hopefully encourage more providers to accept payment if it can be provided up-front, rather than in arrears, as it is for people not using the Regional Center for payment.

In addition, there are some new requirements for invoicing, even for Independent Facilitators, and I think the purpose of the new requirements is to reiterate that only services actually provided can be billed for (they seem to be pushing back on "flat rates" for services, for example, and making the provider certify that the services were actually provided in order to bill for them.) I also read this guidance as reiterating that reimbursement is not provided in Self-Determination, and that all purchases and services must be paid for directly by the Financial Management Service (FMS), which is interesting given that I do know that some FMS agencies definitely are reimbursing...

12/24/2023

DDS released a new directive regarding the Self-Determination Program. It can be found at https://www.dds.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Self-Determination_Program_FMS_Transition_Supports.pdf.

My reading of it is that FMS agencies will no longer be receiving "099" payments, saving them from the trouble of getting vendored for another service code, and simultaneously allowing Independent Facilitators to claim a full 40 hours of the 099 services provided, rather than splitting them with the FMS, as was previously going to be required.

I also really love the part of this directive that allows the FMS to invoice for this service upon transfer from one Regional Center to another. This is a lot of work, which has led at least one FMS to refuse to support participants who transfer mid-year, calling it a "mid-year transfer," and dropping their services. This should hopefully prevent that!

12/22/2023