SERVICE POLICY GUIDELINES
TRANSPORTATION SUPPORTS AND SERVICES FOR SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS
Tri-Counties Regional Center is committed to ensuring that inclusion, participation, and community belonging for persons with developmental disabilities may be realized by supports to and investments in the communities in which persons served and their families reside.
Tri-Counties Regional Center supports the availability of accessible, cost-effective transportation for persons with developmental disabilities and their families because such transportation supports and services lead to greater opportunities for their participation in all aspects of community life, more potential to develop positive roles and relationships, and increased chances to make choices and to be more independent on a daily basis.
Tri-Counties Regional Center respects and encourages individuals and parents of minors to assume responsibility for privately arranging transportation when appropriate. Tri-Counties Regional Center will support and assist individuals in accessing generic transportation services that are responsible for serving members of the community. These generic services include public school transportation for students attending special education programs, para-transit, and other specialized transportation, as well as fixed route transportation services. Tri-Counties Regional Center will also advocate for accessible transportation services as guaranteed by the American’s with Disabilities Act.
Tri-Counties Regional Center will promote opportunities and supports for individuals to access public and private transportation resources. Tri-Counties Regional Center will support the use of public transportation by offering individual supports such as aides.
The Planning Team may authorize funding for a transportation support and/or service through the Individual Program Plan (IPP) process following an assessment process. This assessment process will include an assessment of a parent or primary caregiver’s ability to provide transportation to community settings and natural environments.
Tri-Counties Regional Center may authorize the most cost-effective transportation supports and/or services for children when parent provided transportation, including public transit, is unavailable. Such transportation support and/or service will be authorized when the Planning Team agrees to a transportation plan that assures the safety of the child being transported.
Tri-Counties Regional Center will not authorize funding for transportation for school-age children and young adults to access special education programs or when transportation is required to meet objectives in the Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
Transportation of school-age children and young adults to social and recreational activities, medical and dental appointments, therapy services, and other occasional trips in the community are the responsibility of the parent(s), the primary caregiver(s), or the residential service provider using private and/or public transportation services.
The Planning Team will consider the safest and most cost-effective means of addressing an individual’s behavior problems occurring on regional center funded transportation services including, but not limited to, consultation with personnel from the transportation provider, provision of a behavior intervention support and/or service, and/or the use of a transportation aide.
Tri-Counties Regional Center expects the individual’s family, who are able, to pay for all or part of their transportation cost when using a public transit service.
The expected result from the provision of any transportation support and/or service for a school-age child or young adult must lead to measurable outcomes as stated on the person’s Individual Program Plan. The provision of any transportation support and/or service for a school-age child or young adult must be both clinically and fiscally an effective use of public funds.
Exception Policy:
Tri-Counties Regional Center recognizes that some individual needs are so unique that they may not be addressed in this Service Policy and may require an exception. Such requests for an exception to a Service Policy will be made through the Planning Team process.
Clarification of Terms:
Public transportation resources include, but are not limited to: generic transportation services such as publicly funded bus transit and para-transit systems, and emergency medical transportation and ambulance services.
Private transportation resources to be utilized for transportation include individual and family private ride sharing. Other private transportation resources include, but are not limited to: individual providers, transportation companies, rental car agencies, taxi cabs, non-emergency medical transportation, and ambulance services.
Approvals:
