Eligibility for Services

Depending on the law and their mandate, public agencies have varying eligibilty requirements. In San Francisco, the following is one of the agencies that provide services for eligible children.

Golden Gate Regional Center (GGRC)

The Golden Gate Regional Center provides services to individuals who are developmentally delayed, under California's Lanterman Act. GGRC also provides services to children ages 0-3 who are eligible under IDEA Part C through California's Early Start program.

Eligibility for Ages 0-3

Children who are eligible for services from Golden Gate Regional Center under IDEA Part C are those who:

• have a significant delay in at least one area of development;
• have a condition with a known probablity of causing a disability or delay, or
• are at high risk of having a developmental disability.

Eligibility for Ages 3-5

At age 3, eligibility under IDEA Part C no longer applies. Children who are eligible for services from GGRC under IDEA Part C may no longer be eligible for those services at age 3.

Those children no longer eligible for services from GGRC at age 3 may be eligible for services under Part B of IDEA. Those services are delivered through the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD). (See the section on SFUSD eligiblity for qualifying conditions for services under IDEA Part B.)

Children aged 3 and older who are eligible for services from GGRC are those who are eligible under the Lanterman Act. Eligible conditions for services (which are life long) under the Lanterman Act are:

• mental retardation;
• cerebral palsy;
• autism; and
• other disabling conditions which either are related to mental retardation or that require treatment similar to that required for mentally retarded individuals.