Have you ever looked at a state budget and thought, “Wow, this really could make my life harder”? Same.
On Wednesday, April 15, the California Assembly Budget Subcommittee 2, chaired by Dr. Corey Jackson, held a hearing on developmental services funding. And buried in that budget conversation was a very big problem for families who care about the Self-Determination Program (SDP).
Proposed trailer bill language removes the Outreach funding for Self-Determination Program Local Volunteer Advisory Committees and redirects that money to pay for Department of Developmental Services SDP administrators.
Why is this a big deal? Because this funding is the ONLY funding directed by and for direct services to the community. This is not “extra” money. LVAC funding already exists. The proposal would remove it. The Department of Developmental Services (DDS) stated at the meeting they want to shift those dollars away from community-led outreach and use them instead to help pay toward 12 DDS administrative staff salaries. That is a pretty wild message to send when families are being told there is not enough money for local training and support.
What the LVAC Cut Really Means
If you are a participant, a family member, or an Independent Facilitator, here is the plain-English version: this proposed cut would hit the parts of the system that help people get in, learn the rules, and stay informed.
That includes:
- Outreach
- Participant training
- Support related to independent facilitation
- Local oversight and problem-solving
In other words, the state is talking about cutting the very tools that help people understand how self-determination works.
LVACs: The Best-Kept Secret Doing the Heavy Lifting
If LVACs are not on your radar yet, you are not alone. They are one of the best-kept secrets in the SDP world.
Each Regional Center has a Local Volunteer Advisory Committee made up of participants, family members, and community advocates. These committees are supposed to monitor how SDP is working locally, flag barriers, elevate community concerns, and help improve access.
That work is not small. It is built into the law.
Which brings us to one of the strongest arguments raised at the hearing: mandate vs. resources.
The pushback was simple and powerful. You cannot legally require committees to provide oversight, engage the community, support outreach, and help inform participants if you strip away the funding that makes those duties possible.
Put even more simply: you cannot hand people a job description and then take away the tools.
Why This Hits Outreach, Training, and Independent Facilitation
Let’s get specific. What do families lose when LVAC funding gets cut?
- Outreach gets weaker. Fewer families hear about SDP in the first place.
- Participant training shrinks. Families get less plain-language information about rights, budgets, and options.
- Independent facilitation becomes harder to understand and access. People have fewer chances to learn what an Independent Facilitator does and how that support can help them.
- Community trust takes a hit. Local, participant-centered education gets replaced by more top-down messaging.
This matters even more because DDS already cut funding for Regional Center Participant Choice Specialists. Those were front-line supports for families trying to move into SDP. So from the community’s point of view, this does not feel like one isolated budget tweak. It feels like a pattern.
First, support roles get trimmed. Then community-led outreach gets targeted. And families are somehow supposed to believe access will improve anyway.
The Equity Problem Is Not Theoretical
One of the biggest points raised by advocates was equity.
When you cut local outreach and training, those cuts do not land evenly. They hit hardest for:
- Underserved families
- Non-English speaking families
- Families new to Regional Center services
- People without extra time, money, or insider knowledge
That is not speculation. It lines up with what we already know about the traditional system.
In California’s traditional developmental services system, people of color receive significantly fewer services. For example, Latino clients receive only about 41 to 43 cents for every $1 spent on white clients. That gap is not a small paperwork issue. It is a major equity failure.
The SDP is not perfect, but it is one of the few tools moving in a better direction. One reason advocates defend it so fiercely is this: every SDP participant has services. That is not always true in the traditional system, where people can end up effectively shut out or underserved for years.
So when the state cuts participant-led outreach, multilingual education, and local support, it is not just trimming fat. It is making equity harder to reach.
What Happened at the Hearing
The good news? The issue is not settled.
At the April 15 hearing, chaired by Dr. Corey Jackson, the committee held the item open. That means no final vote closed the door on this issue. It stays alive while everyone waits for the May Revision, expected between May 18 and May 22.
So if you have been wondering whether advocacy still matters here, the answer is yes. Very much yes. Dr. Jackson directed DDS to work with the community and come to a comprimise.
What You Can Do Right Now
If you want to help protect the “self” in Self-Determination LVAC Funding, here are a few smart moves:
- Contact your Assembly Member. Tell them you oppose the proposed cut to LVAC funding.
- Mention the real-world impact. Say that these cuts hurt outreach, participant training, and independent facilitation.
- Raise the equity issue. Make it clear that underserved and non-English speaking families will be hurt the most.
- Talk about mandate vs. resources. Committees cannot meet legal oversight duties without funding.
- Support the fix. Ask lawmakers to reject the trailer bill language changing statute.
- Share your story. If local training, coaching support, resource fair, or support group helped you, say so. That matters.
Next up is the state Senate subcommittee #3 hearing May 7! Come and make a public comment!!
Final Thoughts
The April 15 hearing made one thing very clear: California cannot say it believes in self-determination while stripping resources from the people doing the ground-level work of making it real.
LVACs are not fluff. They are not a side project. They are part of the accountability, outreach, and education structure that helps the SDP stay connected to actual participants and families.
So yes, the budget language may sound dry. But the stakes are not dry at all.
This is about whether families can get information. Whether underserved communities can get reached. Whether independent facilitation remains understandable and accessible. Whether local committees can meet legal duties without being set up to fail.
We will keep following this fight as the May Revision approaches. Stay tuned to the Self-Determination Institute for updates, plain-English breakdowns, and ways you can speak up.
Because if Sacramento is going to talk about Self-Determination, we should probably make sure they keep the self in it.
For more information on the specific services that make SDP so valuable, explore our step-by-step guide to enrollment at CompleteGuidetoSDP.org