North Los Angeles County Regional Center (NLACRC), Chatsworth

How do I reach NLACRC?

How do I reach my service coordinator?

• Email first, so there’s a record.NLACRC emails end in @nlacrc.org, so search your inbox for your coordinator’s address. Put your family member’s full name in every email.
• Allow 2 to 3 business days.NLACRC’s Contact page says coordinators should answer voicemails and emails in 2 to 3 business days. If you call, leave a detailed message: your name, your family member’s name and your number.
• Ask for the On Duty staff.No answer in 3 business days, or it’s urgent? Call your office’s main line and ask for the On Duty (OD) staff. Some families know it as the Officer of the Day. The OD staff can take your message and tell you who your coordinator is.
• Then the supervisor.Next, ask for your coordinator’s supervisor, or any unit supervisor, and write down their name. NLACRC says supervisors answer within 3 business days. If no one is free, the receptionist can put you through to the Manager.
• Keep a simple log.Write down when you called, who you talked to and what they said. The state’s family guide on NLACRC’s site suggests it. Reply on one email thread each time, so every date stays together.
• Want a different coordinator?Ask the supervisor. By law, a coordinator stays only if everyone agrees. While the switch is happening, the OD staff can help you.

What can NLACRC pay for?

• Adaptive skills trainingA professional teaches everyday skills at home, so they can do more on their own.
• RespiteSomeone watches your family member for a while, so you get a break.
• Behavior servicesHelp with behaviors that make daily life hard.
• Day programsPlaces where adults spend the day learning and doing things.
• Help living on your ownSupport for adults who live in their own place, or want to.
• Social recreation and campClasses, sports and camps.
• RidesTransportation to programs and services.
• DiapersFor children age 3 and older.

NLACRC can’t pay for what someone else should. If a school, insurance, Medi-Cal or IHSS should cover it, they pay first.

How do I get adaptive skills training through NLACRC?

1. Send one email.Ask your coordinator to add adaptive skills training from Aldera to your plan, and copy team@aldera.org. Here’s the exact email.
2. NLACRC updates your plan.Your plan can change any time. NLACRC has to review it within 30 days of your request, or within 7 days if it’s needed for health and safety or to keep someone living at home.
3. We visit your home.Once it’s approved, we meet your family member, learn your routines and write the first goals with you. You don’t need to ask for a set number of hours.

NLACRC’s IPP Agreement Form, given at the plan meeting, shows each service, its planned start date and the provider. Once adaptive skills training from Aldera is on it and you’ve signed, the service can start.

How do I get my family member’s file and reports from NLACRC?

• Ask your coordinator, in writing.Email your coordinator and name what you need, like the psychological evaluation or the whole file. Say if you want to pick it up, or get it by email or mail.
• NLACRC has 3 business days.State law says NLACRC must let you see the file within 3 business days of your request. Copies can cost only what the copying costs, with no fee for finding them. If you can’t afford it, say so, and you’ll get it free.
• Your copy of the IPP.NLACRC says it sends the IPP report within 30 days of the meeting. If it doesn’t come, ask. The law gives NLACRC 45 days from your request, in the language you ask for.
• Using it for IHSS or SSI.IHSS needs its health form, the SOC 873, filled out by a licensed professional like a doctor or psychologist. The county must also accept other papers with the same facts, such as an IPP. For SSI, give Social Security copies of the reports you have, including psychological testing. Does your child need watching all day to stay safe? Ask IHSS about protective supervision, and see how a parent can be the paid provider.

How do I get school support in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope Valleys?

1. Ask in writing.Send a signed, dated letter or email asking for a special education assessment, and say what worries you. Each district below shows where it goes.
2. Look for a plan within 15 days.The district has 15 days to send you an assessment plan to sign. School breaks of more than 5 school days don’t count.
3. Your signature starts the 60 days.Once the district gets the signed plan, it has 60 days to finish testing and hold the IEP meeting. The count starts from your signature, not your first letter.
4. Bring your coordinator.The law lets you bring anyone who knows your child well to the IEP. NLACRC’s family guide names your coordinator as one of them. Your coordinator can also set up a talk with NLACRC’s special education expert, the I.D.E.A. Specialist.
5. Planning for age 3.For a child in Early Start, NLACRC and the district start planning at about age 2 and a half. The IEP must happen before the 3rd birthday.

Special education offices in the three valleys

• Los Angeles Unified (LAUSD)Give your written request to the principal; every school office has a request form. Questions go to Region North’s special education office at (818) 758-1007, or for a preschooler, to (213) 241-4713.
• Santa Clarita Valley schoolsAll five districts belong to the SCV SELPA, (661) 259-0033 ext. 742, but your written request goes to your own school. Each quarter, the SELPA runs a Preschool Transition workshop where an NLACRC staff member explains what changes at 3.
• Antelope Valley schoolsThe ten districts share the AV SELPA, (661) 274-4136, but for ages 3 to 21 you contact your own district. The SELPA’s agreement with NLACRC says the district invites your coordinator to the first IEP, if you agree.
• Palmdale School DistrictAsk for an assessment through the Director of Special Education at (661) 789-6725. For a preschooler, call First Steps at (661) 274-0849.
• Lancaster School DistrictSend a written request to your school, or contact the Director of Special Education at (661) 723-0351 ext. 57164.
• Antelope Valley Union High School DistrictSend a written request to the student’s high school. For questions, call the Director of Special Education at (661) 729-2321.

Family Focus Resource Center, the free parent center at CSUN, also has trained Parent Partners who help with special education: (818) 677-6854.

How do I become an NLACRC client?

The steps

1. Apply.Call (818) 778-1900, or apply online.
2. NLACRC gets to know you.They look at records and may do an evaluation. It’s free. They need your written OK first.
3. NLACRC decides.It can take up to 120 days. Kids who are 3 or 4 can sometimes qualify before they have a diagnosis.

More on who qualifies: our eligibility page.

Where can parents get free help?

• Family Focus Resource Center.It’s a free parent center based at CSUN. It helps families with NLACRC, special education and early help for babies. It has desks inside all three NLACRC offices. Call (818) 677-6854, or see its locations.

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