How Do Spending Plans Work?

Every participant in California's Self-Determination Program (SDP) has a spending plan. It says how your annual individual budget will be used: which services, how often, and at what cost. It is attached to your Individual Program Plan (IPP). For a Financial Management Service (FMS) like Sentinel Four, the spending plan is the rulebook. Every payment we make on your behalf has to match a line in it.

Budget first, then plan

The individual budget and the spending plan are two different documents. The individual budget is the amount of money available for the year. Your IPP team sets it, usually from what the regional center spent on your services in the most recent 12 months. If you are new to regional center services, the budget is built from average regional center costs for the services identified for you. The budget can be adjusted up or down when your needs, circumstances or resources change.

The spending plan says how that money will be used. Its total cannot exceed the budget. We explain the difference in more detail in individual budget vs. spending plan.

What a spending plan includes

The plan lists the types of services you intend to use, organized into the uniform budget categories the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) uses statewide. It does not have to name specific providers or vendors, but it must identify the provider type and qualifications even if you have not picked a person yet.

Each service line carries a service code and a dollar amount. The amount is your approved budget for that service for the year. For example:

• Service code 310, Independent Living Skills Training, $12,000 a year
• Service code 465, Community Integration Supports, $8,500 a year

These allocations give you room to decide how and when to use the funds, as long as spending stays within the line.

Before the plan takes effect, your regional center reviews it. It checks that each service is federally eligible under the SDP waiver, that the service is not available from a generic agency such as IHSS, Medi-Cal or a school district, that the provider qualifications are appropriate, and that the plan reflects your choices. Our article on what an SDP budget can and cannot pay for covers the eligibility rules.

How the FMS uses the plan

Sentinel Four reviews every payment request against your approved spending plan. That applies to payroll for your caregivers and to every vendor invoice. For each request we:

1. Confirm the service matches an approved service code on your plan.
2. Confirm enough money remains in that line before we pay.
3. Record the payment against the line and update your year-to-date spending.
4. Report spending to your regional center, and give you a monthly report showing what was allocated, what was spent in the last 30 days and what remains.

This is how we keep your program compliant and, just as important, how we help you avoid running a line dry before the year ends.

Changing your plan during the year

Needs change. If you want to add a service, drop one or move money between lines, the change goes through your regional center, usually with input from your independent facilitator and service coordinator. Once the regional center approves the revised plan, Sentinel Four updates your budget in our system so payments follow the new allocations.

The individual budget itself can also change. As of July 2025, DDS states that a budget can be adjusted when needs, circumstances or resources change, including when a minimum wage increase raises the cost of the same hours. See changing your spending plan mid-year for the steps.

A common misunderstanding

Families are sometimes told the plan must list each provider, class or conference by name. It does not. DDS requires the plan to identify the type of service and the budgeted amount. That is what lets you change providers during the year without a plan revision, as long as the new provider delivers the same category of service and meets the stated qualifications. Regional center practice varies, so confirm with your service coordinator before you switch.

How Sentinel Four handles this

• A signed and approved spending plan must reach us by the 10th of the month before your intended start date. Regional center authorizations should be in place the week before the start date. Payroll and purchases cannot begin until both are in.
• During onboarding your case manager maps each line of the plan to its service code and loads the budget into your portal, so you see the same lines and balances we work from.
• Caregivers are paid weekly on Mondays. Vendor invoices are validated against service codes, rates, dates and authorizations, then paid by ACH or check.
• When your regional center approves a revised plan, send it to your case manager and we update the lines. Our budget management page describes the reports you get.