What an SDP Budget Can and Cannot Pay For

An SDP individual budget can buy services that are federally eligible under the Self-Determination Program (SDP) waiver, chosen by the participant, and not available from another public agency. That one sentence carries most of the rules. Here is what each part means in practice.

Start with the DDS Service Definitions

The Department of Developmental Services (DDS) publishes a list of SDP service definitions. Every service on a spending plan has to fit one of those definitions, because SDP is funded through a federal Medicaid waiver and only waiver-eligible services can be paid from the budget. We are not going to reproduce the list here, because DDS maintains it and it can change. Ask your service coordinator for the current version, or find it at dds.ca.gov.

If a service you want does not match a definition, the regional center cannot approve it on the spending plan, no matter how much budget remains.

Generic resources come first

SDP funds cannot pay for a service that another public agency is responsible for providing. DDS calls these generic resources. The ones families run into most:

• In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS). IHSS is a separate program from SDP, with its own eligibility, hours and payroll. Being in SDP does not replace IHSS, and SDP funds cannot pay for hours IHSS should cover.
• Medi-Cal. Medical services, equipment and supplies that Medi-Cal covers go through Medi-Cal.
• School districts. Educational services owed to a student are the district's responsibility.

The regional center checks this when it reviews the spending plan. If it looks like a generic resource should be covering something, expect to be asked to apply there first. See Common Mistakes New SDP Families Make.

Legally responsible persons

A legally responsible person, typically a parent of a minor child or a spouse, and in some cases a court-appointed guardian, cannot be paid with SDP funds for services they would normally provide anyway. A parent who is conservator of an adult child, or who holds power of attorney for an adult child, is not "legally responsible" in this sense and may be paid for qualified services. This area has real consequences, so read Can a Family Member Be Paid as a Caregiver Under SDP? and confirm your situation with the regional center.

The HCBS Final Rule in one paragraph

The federal Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Final Rule sets standards for the settings where Medicaid waiver services are delivered. In plain terms, services paid with waiver funds have to support the person living and taking part in the community, with the same access, privacy and choices other people have, rather than in a setting that isolates them. Regional centers apply this when they look at where and how a service will be provided.

What is paid outside the budget

Some costs are covered, but not from the individual budget. As of 2026 DDS lists:

• FMS costs, paid by the regional center since July 1, 2022.
• Insurance co-pays and deductibles.
• Competitive Integrated Employment (CIE) incentive payments.
• Paid Internship Program payments.
• Rent, under Welfare and Institutions Code section 4689(i).
• SSI/SSP.
• Coordinated Family Supports.

See Individual Budget vs. Spending Plan for how these fit around the budget.

The regional center reviews and certifies the plan

Before any of this becomes spendable, the regional center reviews the spending plan for four things: federal eligibility, the generic-resource rule, provider qualifications, and participant choice. The plan is then attached to the Individual Program Plan (IPP) and authorizations are issued. The Financial Management Service (FMS) receives the approved plan. It does not approve services itself.

How the FMS checks a request

When a timesheet, invoice or purchase request comes in, the FMS checks it against the approved plan before paying. In practice that means three questions:

1. Service code. Does the request match a service and provider type that is on the approved spending plan, with a matching service code?
2. Remaining funds. Is there enough left in that budget category to cover it?
3. Authorization. Is there a current regional center authorization for this service, this provider and these dates?

A request that fails any of the three is held until it is resolved. That is not the FMS second-guessing the family. It is the FMS doing the job the regional center vendored it to do. See What Is Our Role as FMS.

How Sentinel Four handles this

• During implementation your dedicated case manager maps every line of the approved spending plan to a service code and budget category in the portal, so every later request has something concrete to check against.
• Invoices must show the participant, dates of service and service type. We validate against service codes, rates, dates and authorizations, and we prevent duplicate payments.
• Payroll and purchases cannot start until a signed spending plan and matching authorizations are in place.
• We do not decide how funds are spent, and we do not approve or deny services. If a request does not fit the plan, your case manager tells you what is missing and who to talk to, usually the service coordinator.
• Vendor payments go out by ACH or check on a predictable cycle with a remittance notice. See Paying Vendors Under SDP.