Frequently Asked Questions
General Questions
We are a Financial Management Service (FMS) for California’s Self-Determination Program. When you self-direct your services, someone has to handle the money side — that’s us. We track your budget against your approved spending plan, receive invoices from the providers you choose, pay them, keep the records the regional center requires, and handle the billing. You stay in charge of who provides your services and how; we make sure the paperwork and payments happen correctly and on time.
We work with Self-Determination Program participants and their families, the service providers they choose, regional center service coordinators, and independent facilitators. Participants and families are who we ultimately serve — everyone else in that list is part of making a participant’s plan work.
No. We are already vendored with several regional centers and are in the courtesy vendorization process with the rest, so we can generally work with you wherever you are in California. If you’re not sure whether we’re set up with yours yet, contact us — courtesy vendorization is routine, and we’ll start it for you.
Call us, email us, or book a free consultation — whichever you prefer. A real person on our California team will get back to you; you won’t be handed to a call center. If you’d rather talk it through than read about it, a short call is usually the fastest way to get your questions answered.
213-419-6133Book a free consultationWhich FMS models does TrueCare offer?
TrueCare currently operates as a Bill Payer: you choose your providers, they invoice us as independent businesses, and we pay them. You are not an employer, and there is no payroll. The Co-Employer and Sole Employer models — where the FMS or the participant becomes the legal employer, with payroll and employment taxes involved — are coming soon. If you need one of those today, tell us and we’ll be straight with you about where we are.
Participants
The Self-Determination Program (SDP) is a California program that gives you control over your own services. Instead of the regional center choosing your providers for you, you get an individual budget and decide who provides your services, when, and how — as long as your choices meet your IPP goals and program rules. You build a spending plan, choose your own providers, and an FMS like TrueCare handles the money so you don’t have to.
To get started we’ll need your basic contact information, your regional center and service coordinator, and your program documents — typically your IPP and your approved individual budget or spending plan. Don’t worry if you don’t have all of it in hand. Send what you have and we’ll help you gather the rest; nobody is turned away for missing a document at this stage.
If you are a regional center client, ask your service coordinator — they confirm eligibility and can enroll you in the Self-Determination Program. In general, SDP is open to regional center clients who want to direct their own services; you don’t need a particular diagnosis or budget size to qualify. Once you’re in the program, you choose your own FMS, and you can choose us.
Can you help me find service providers?
Yes. We can point you toward service providers and independent facilitators, and we’ll help you get anyone you choose set up and paid. To be clear about the line, though: the choice is always yours. We don’t pick your providers or steer you toward ours — that’s the whole point of self-determination. If you already have someone in mind, even a local business that has never worked with a regional center, we can usually onboard them.
Yes — we help you get the people you choose registered as service providers so they can be paid. TrueCare currently operates as a Bill Payer, which means your providers invoice us as independent businesses and we pay them; we do not act as an employer or run payroll. If the person you want is genuinely working as your employee rather than as an independent business, tell us during registration — there are rules about that, and we’ll walk through it with you rather than set it up incorrectly.
Service Providers
How do I become a service provider?
Fill out our Service Provider Registration form. It asks what services you’ll provide and whether you’re an individual or an agency, then shows you exactly which documents California DDS requires for your situation — typically a W-9, a business license if your city issues one, and a professional license or certification if the service you provide requires one. You’ll only be asked for what actually applies to you, and you can’t accidentally submit an incomplete registration.
How do service providers get paid?
You submit an invoice through your provider portal after you deliver the service. The participant (or their representative) approves it, we check it against their approved spending plan, and then we pay you — by direct deposit or check, whichever you chose at registration. You can see the status of every invoice you’ve submitted in the portal, so you’re never left wondering whether it went through.
No. That’s one of the biggest differences with the Self-Determination Program — you do not have to be a vendorized regional center provider to be paid. Independent professionals, small businesses, and local community businesses can all be paid through SDP without going through traditional vendorization. You just register with us. (If you ARE already vendored with a regional center, that’s fine too — tell us on the form and we’ll bill accordingly.)
Once your registration is approved, we’ll set you up with a login to your provider portal, where you submit invoices and track their status. We’ll send you instructions when your account is ready, and we’re happy to walk you through your first invoice on the phone. If you’d rather email your invoice, we can accept that too.
Do I need a background check?
Only if you provide hands-on personal care — bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting, transferring, or feeding. In that case the Self-Determination Program requires a DDS background check (Live Scan) before you can be paid, regardless of how you’re paid. TrueCare does not run the check: you complete a Live Scan, the result goes to DDS, and DDS notifies us once you’re cleared. We’ll walk you through it. If you don’t provide hands-on personal care — community integration, transportation, or a professional service, for example — no background check is required.
What documents will I need to register?
It depends on what you provide and whether you’re an individual or an agency — the form works that out and shows you only what applies to you. Everyone provides a W-9 and a business license (or confirms their city doesn’t issue one). If California DDS requires a state license or certification for your service — nursing, psychology, behavior analysis, therapy, dentistry and the like — you’ll upload that too. Individuals providing respite or child day care need CPR and First Aid. Independent facilitators need proof of self-determination training. If you’ll drive the participant, we’ll need your auto insurance and driver’s license. And if you bill a per-session, flat, or per-unit rate rather than hourly, DDS requires a signed service agreement.
Independent Facilitators
An independent facilitator (IF) helps a participant plan their services and build their spending plan — they’re the participant’s guide through the Self-Determination Program. An IF is optional; participants can choose to use one, and the cost can be paid from their SDP budget. Note that the IF and the FMS are deliberately separate roles: the IF helps you plan, we handle the money. Keeping them separate protects you.
Independent facilitators register using the same form as our service providers — so don’t worry when the page says “Service Provider Registration,” you’re in the right place. Fill it out and upload your W-9 and resume. DDS requires that an independent facilitator has completed training in the principles of self-determination and the person-centered planning process, so have proof of that ready as well. Once you’re registered, we’ll set you up so you can be paid for your work with participants.
Budget and Payments
Your budget is broken into your approved spending plan, and we track every dollar against it. Before any invoice is paid, we check it against what’s actually available in the right category — so you can’t accidentally overspend and end up with a bill the program won’t cover. You can see your spending and your remaining balance at any time, and we’ll flag it early if a category is running low so you have time to reallocate.
A payment goes out once three things have happened: your provider submits the invoice, it’s approved, and we’ve confirmed it fits your approved spending plan. Once it clears those steps, we send it promptly — we know your providers are counting on it. The most common cause of a delay is an invoice missing information, so we’ll come back to you or your provider quickly if something needs fixing rather than sitting on it.
Yes. You get statements showing what’s been spent, what it was spent on, and what’s left in each part of your budget — and you can ask us for a breakdown at any time. Nothing about your money is hidden from you. It’s your budget; you should always be able to see exactly where it went.
Ready to Get Started with TrueCare?
Take the stress out of managing your services. You choose your providers; we handle the bills, the budget, and the paperwork—so you can focus on what matters most.
