Dear ACRC Clients and Families,
While our offices are not open to the public for meetings or
visitors, ACRC remains open for business. As always, we are
committed to serving our clients and our community. If your
service needs have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,
please contact your Service Coordinator by phone or email and
request a brief review of your Individual Program Plan.
As a proactive measure to support clients who are impacted with
school and Day Program closures, ACRC has automatically
increased the authorized hours for Day Care, Personal Assistant
(PA) in lieu of Day Care (for clients 22 and older), and
Respite Services. Please continue to visit our website for
future updates. We will get through this together!
For the latest information
on things like education, employment, and COVID-19 testing, visit
the official California website
on COVID-19.
Alta California Regional Center creates partnerships to support
all eligible individuals with intellectual and/or developmental
disabilities, children at risk, and their families in choosing
services and supports through individual lifelong planning.
Alta California Regional Center is governed by a Board of
Directors that establishes policies under which Alta operates.
The Board is recuriting for new Board Members
The Self Determination Program (SDP) has begun! As a
reminder, the SDP will begin with 2,500 clients state-wide
chosen by the Department of Developmental Services (DDS).
The number of client chosen to participate from ACRC catchment
area is 179.
The names of the participants for the first three
years were identified on October 1, 2018 and were notified,
via a letter sent by the DDS. To continue in the
program, participants were required to attend an SDP Orientation
and confirm their decision.
The Department of Developmental Services (DDS) has issued a new
Directive regarding the reporting of special incidences related
to COVID-19. This Directive supersedes any previous training or
correspondence provided by ACRC. The Directive calls for regional
centers and all providers to complete a special incident report
(SIR) for any of the following events, even if
the incident does not otherwise meet California Code of
Regulations, Title 17 reporting:
Alta California Regional Center continues to closely monitor the
outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a novel (new)
coronavirus (named COVID-19). ACRC staff, including our medical
professionals, have met to develop a coordinated
response. ACRC encourages our service providers to follow
the prevention strategies developed by:
Effective January 1, 2020 the minimum wage in California
will increase from $12.00 in 2019 to $13.00 in 2020
per hour for employers with 26 or more employees and
from $11.00 to $12.00 per hour for employers with 25 or
less employees. Regional center service providers that
are currently paying a wage below these amounts may be
entitled to an increase. Please review the information below to
determine the steps necessary to apply for a rate adjustment.
This Fall, DDS will begin formally assessing identified vendors
for compliance with the CMS Final Rule, through a combination of
vendor self-surveys as well as onsite visits. Any setting
that has the effect of isolating clients from the broader
community (limited opportunities for interaction with the broader
community, restriction of choice of activities outside of the
setting, physically located apart from the broader community,
etc.) will be presumed to have the qualities of an institution.
To ensure the protection of sensitive client information, any
email containing client identifying information sent to an email
address outside of ACRC must be encrypted. ACRC uses
Barracuda Email Encryption Service.
ACRC’s Governing Board is comprised of ACRC clients, parents, and
community members. Our Board represents people in a large
and very diverse community that includes the following ten
Northern California Counties: Sutter, Yuba, Yolo, Alpine,
Sierra, Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer, Nevada, and Colusa.
Kristin began her career at Alta California Regional Center
(ACRC) in 1998 as a Service Coordinator in the Early Start
program, which focuses on providing early intervention services
for families with a child with a developmental delay or
established risk or high-risk condition, from birth up until
their third birthday. She received her Bachelor’s degree in
Psychology, and her Master’s degree in Social Work, providing the
technical knowledge necessary to effectively help our clients.
There is something to be learned from the youth of today. Caden,
a young boy who views being autistic as another way of being
human, doesn’t let his youthfulness stop him from educating the
community around him. Caden is very honest and immensely
welcoming to those around him, especially if he can sense
something “different” about a person. Being autistic has
increased his empathy and his awareness, allowing him to identify
and connect with others who have neurodiverse minds.
Mike and Natalie are highly creative and driven individuals. They
have worked at Developmental Disabilities Service Organization
(DDSO) part-time since the early 2010’s. DDSO is a nonprofit
organization based in Sacramento and Stockton which annually
provides 400 adults with disabilities the opportunity to receive
job training, gain employment, learn about physical education,
and express themselves through visual and performing arts. Their
welcoming and charismatic personalities help them communicate
with students and employees alike at DDSO.
John and his mother, Vanessa, have together strived to impact the
community through social and fitness programs and employment
training with their organization, Fly Brave. John is a
long-distance runner, and has non-verbal Autism. He was diagnosed
at the age of 2 – when Vanessa was only 22. As a young single
mother, she had to manage challenges (such as feelings of
isolation and uncertainty) of having a child with special needs.
Vanessa says she and John “grew up together,” because of her
youthfulness and maturity levels when she had John.
