Person Served and/or Family Attendance at Conferences – 6301

SERVICE POLICY GUIDELINES

PERSON SERVED AND/OR FAMILY ATTENDANCE AT CONFERENCES

Tri-Counties Regional Center is committed to the prevention of developmental disabilities and to the minimization of the impact of disability through prevention activities and prenatal diagnostic services. For those persons eligible for Tri-Counties Regional Center services, information and training opportunities are valued as ways to stay current on best practices to support them in living independent lives in their community.

Tri-Counties Regional Center places a high priority on the provision and/or facilitation of information and training services. Tri-Counties Regional Center has developed an array of methods and opportunities to provide information to persons served and to their family members. Tri-Counties Regional Center is committed to continually expanding these methods and opportunities to increase the utilization by persons served and their family members.

Tri-Counties Regional Center also values the information, education, peer support and networking which results from attending conferences, workshops and seminars. Persons served, parents and other interested family members often attend, participate and may become presenters at these events and Tri-Counties Regional Center encourages such activities.

Tri-Counties Regional Center recognizes that it is not able to purchase the conference fees, travel, hotel and per diem expenses for all of the individuals and family members who may wish to attend the extensive opportunities which are available each year.

Tri-Counties Regional Center employees will support persons served and/or family members in obtaining scholarships and other opportunities for sponsorship for the conference fees, travel, hotel and per diem expenses for the individuals and family members who request such support.

Tri-Counties Regional Center may authorize funding for in-state conference fees, travel, hotel and/or per diem expenses when:

• The person served and/or family member is recommended by the Tri-Counties Regional Center service coordinator, other employee of Tri-Counties Regional Center or the Planning Team and has an IPP goal for the service;
• The individual and/or family member accepts the responsibility of sharing the information obtained with other individuals and/or family members in a teachback meeting scheduled for the purpose of sharing the learning and materials obtained at the conference with other persons served and/or family members;
• The individual and/or family member agrees to share the materials with Tri-Counties Regional Center employees so that it can be distributed to the Family Resource Center sites;
• The individual and/or family member does not have the financial resources to assume all or part of the expenses for attending the conference; and,
• The person served and/or family member has not recently attended a conference purchased, entirely or in part, by Tri-Counties Regional Center.
• Prior to the authorization of regional center funding, an exploration of the availability of other resources will be exhausted. Tri-Counties Regional Center will ensure that person served and/or family member expenses for attendance at conferences are to be funded from regional center purchase of service funds only when funding for these services is not available from any other public funding source.

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.

Approvals:

• 2011 05 25: DDS
• 2010 11 04: TCADD Board