Is Traditional Funding Tracking Different From SDP Spending Plans?

If you are moving from traditional regional center services into California's Self-Determination Program (SDP), you may hear a lot about Purchase of Service (POS) authorizations, service codes, individual budgets, and spending plans.

These terms can be confusing.

The basic idea is this: your traditional regional center funding history can be used to help establish your SDP individual budget. Your SDP spending plan is how you decide to use that budget.

Those are two different things. Let's walk through the difference.

What is traditional funding?

Under the traditional regional center service system, services are authorized through your Individual Program Plan (IPP).

Your regional center may authorize services such as:

• Respite
• Day services
• Transportation
• Supported employment
• Behavioral services
• Independent living services
• Other services related to your IPP

Each service has a service code and an amount authorized for a certain period. The regional center keeps a record of the services that were authorized and purchased. This is often called your Purchase of Service history, or POS history.

What is an SDP individual budget?

When you participate in SDP, you have an individual budget you can use to purchase approved services and supports.

The budget is still connected to your IPP. It is not simply a new amount of money you can use for anything you want.

The purpose of the budget is to pay for services and supports that help you meet the goals in your IPP.

DDS explains that the individual budget is based on services the regional center would have funded through the traditional service system.

How is the initial budget calculated?

Under AB 143, the initial SDP individual budget calculation starts with the total amount of your most recently available 12 months of traditional Purchase of Service authorizations.

The calculation can then:

• Add needed services identified by your IPP team that were not previously included in a POS authorization.
• Subtract services that are paid outside of the SDP individual budget.
• Subtract certain one-time expenses.

This means your old service history can matter when your SDP budget is created.

Your POS history is not your SDP spending plan

This is where things can get confusing.

Your POS history shows what was authorized or purchased under the traditional system. Your SDP spending plan shows how you plan to use your SDP individual budget.

For example, imagine a person previously received 100 hours of respite, a traditional day service, and transportation services. Their SDP budget may be based in part on the funding associated with those services.

But that does not mean their SDP spending plan has to look exactly the same. SDP gives the participant more control over how their approved budget is used to meet their IPP goals.

The spending plan identifies the services and supports being purchased, how often they will be purchased, the service codes, and the expected costs.

What if you did not use all of your services?

This is an important question. A service appearing in your POS history does not always tell the whole story.

There may have been times when a service was authorized but you could not use it. For example:

• You could not find a provider.
• Your provider did not have availability.
• You were sick.
• Your needs changed.
• The service did not work well for you.
• You did not have transportation.
• Your family situation changed.

DDS's own guidance gives examples such as services that went unused because of illness or a lack of provider availability, as reasons a budget may later need to be adjusted.

This is one reason it is important to look at your current needs, not only old numbers.

What if you had very little traditional funding?

Some people have a low amount of POS authorizations even though they have significant unmet needs.

AB 143 added a requirement for the IPP team to discuss unmet needs when a person has less than $2,000 in authorized services during the most recently available 12-month period.

This matters because a low POS history does not automatically mean the person’s needs are low.

If this applies to you, bring your current needs to the IPP discussion. Think about what support you need at home, in the community, at work or school, and in daily life.

What is a spending plan?

Once your individual budget has been established, you create a spending plan. The spending plan answers a practical question: how will I use my budget to meet the goals in my IPP?

Your plan may include different services or supports than the ones you used in the traditional system, as long as they meet SDP requirements.

For example, you may decide that a different type of support works better for you. You may also have more choice in who provides a service. SDP allows participants to choose their service providers, subject to the program’s rules.

How your spending plan works

You have flexibility in how you use your SDP budget. The services and supports you choose need to fit your IPP goals and follow the program's guidelines.

Services and supports also generally cannot be used when the same service is available through another funding source, such as Medi-Cal, In-Home Supportive Services, a school district, or another generic service. The services must also meet the federal requirements for SDP funding.

Your regional center reviews and certifies the spending plan.

Can you change your spending plan?

Yes, changes are possible.

AB 143 changed the process for transferring funds between service codes and budget categories. You can request a transfer during the current individual budget year, but approval from the regional center or your IPP team is required before the transfer is made.

Your individual budget can also be adjusted when there is a change in your needs, circumstances, or resources, as long as the change would have happened whether or not you were participating in SDP.

A simple way to remember the difference

If the terminology starts to blur together, remember:

Traditional system

Your POS history shows services and funding that were authorized under the traditional system.

SDP individual budget

The amount available for you to purchase approved services and supports through SDP.

SDP spending plan

Your plan for how you will use that budget.

Your POS history can help determine your budget, but it is not your spending plan.

What should you look at before moving into SDP?

Before your budget is finalized, gather information about:

• Your recent POS authorizations
• Services you actually received
• Services you could not use
• Services you still need
• Changes in your life or living situation
• Services you receive from other programs
• Your current IPP goals
• The supports you want to use in SDP

You do not have to figure this out by yourself. An Independent Facilitator can help you understand your options, prepare for person-centered planning, and develop your SDP spending plan.

Abrite FMS can also help families understand the financial side of SDP and how spending plans work.