Individual Program Planning

The Individual Program Plan (IPP) is a written document that you create with your planning team. This document should be person-centered and has information about you. It includes what is happening in your life, what is important to you and lists all your goals and future plans. The IPP will include a list of services and supports that you and your planning team agree will help you meet those goals. IPP meetings can happen as often as your needs or goals change. Your Service Coordinator will monitor this plan regularly. You may call together your planning team at any time by contacting your Service Coordinator.

Find tools and information about planning for your IPP by clicking through the tabs below.

Additional publications may be available from your local regional center.

Person-Centered IPP Videos

When planning for services and supports, each person guides the process of creating their Individual Program Plan (IPP).  Your goals and choices are the focus of the IPP. When it’s time for your IPP meeting, you and your regional center service coordinator will talk and plan with anyone else you want in the meeting. A family member, friend, or other support person could be invited to join. Together, you’ll discuss your life goals, desires, and what kinds of support you want to live your life.  This information will be used to create or update your IPP.

The video series listed below describes the person-centered planning process of creating the IPP.  The people in these videos are speaking about their own experiences. The videos are intended to support your thinking about your own life goals, desires, and supports.  You can view them in any sequence.  You also can select to view the videos with captions in English or Spanish.

What Does Person-Centered Mean?

Watch more videos in this series

Planificacion centrada el la persona IPP Videos

Al planificar servicios y apoyos, cada persona guía el proceso de crear su Plan de Programa Individual (IPP). Sus metas y elecciones son el enfoque del IPP. Cuando sea hora de su reunión del IPP, usted y el coordinador de servicios de su centro regional hablarán y planificarán con cualquier otra persona que usted desee presente en la reunión. Se puede invitar a un familiar, amigo u otra persona de apoyo. Juntos conversaran sus objectivos de vida, sus deceos y el tipo de apoyo que desea para vivir su vida. Esta información se utilizará para crear o actualizer su IPP.

La serie de videos que se enumeran a continuación describen el proceso de planificación centrado en la persona para crear el IPP. Las pesonas en estos videos estan hablando de sus propias experiencias. La intencion de los videos es apoyar su pensamiento sobre sus metas de vida, deceos y apoyos. Usted puede verlo en cualquier secuencia. Usted también puede seleccionar ver los videos con subtítulos en ingles o espanol.

¿Qué significa centrado en la persona?

Ver más vídeos de esta serie

Public Meeting & Training Information:

Community Training: New Statewide Individual Program Plan December 5, 1:00-3:00 pm Presentation (51 pages) Presentación (51 pages)

Recording (1-h 57-min)

Community Training: New Statewide Individual Program Plan December 18, 9:00-11:00 am Presentation (51 pages) Presentación (51 pages)

Recording (1-h 58-min)

In 2025, your regional center will start using a new format for your Individual Program Plan (IPP). To help you understand the new format and get ready for your IPP meeting, we have created a document called “Your Plan.” This guide can help you understand what a person-centered IPP is. “Your Plan” will also help you identify your preferences, strengths, and goals.

In the “Your Plan” guide, you will find:

  • An opportunity to learn about Person-Centered Planning
  • Tips for before, during and after your planning meeting
  • A workbook called “About You.” that will include:
    • Questions to help you think about the important areas of your life
    • Space for you to write down your answers to those questions

It is your choice how you want to use “Your Plan.” You can read and fill out the pages on your own. You can also ask others who know you well to help you with some parts of this guide. You may want to take pages you’ve filled out to your IPP meeting. This can help you make sure you are talking about the areas of your life that are most important to you.

Click on the picture below to view, download and print “Your Plan.”

English: five circular photos, each depicting individuals engaged in different activities. The title “Your Plan” appears in large text, with the subheading “Building Your Individual Program Plan Using Person-Centered Tools” beneath it. The Department of Developmental Services (DDS) logo is at the bottom. The five photos highlight diverse individuals, including a young woman with Down syndrome holding a tablet, a man hiking with a backpack, a woman applying makeup, a woman in a bakery preparing food, and a man harvesting vegetables in a garden. Each image is framed by a colorful circle.

Spanish: Five circular photos, each depicting individuals engaged in different activities. The title “Su plan” appears in large text, with the subheading “Desarrollo de su Plan de Programa Individual utilizando herramientas centradas en la persona” beneath it. The Department of Developmental Services (DDS) logo is at the bottom. The five photos highlight diverse individuals, including a young woman with Down syndrome holding a tablet, a man hiking with a backpack, a woman applying makeup, a woman in a bakery preparing food, and a man harvesting vegetables in a garden. Each image is framed by a colorful circle.

Starting January 1, 2025, regional centers will use the new standard IPP format for all new IPP meetings. In the instance of biennial or triennial IPPs, individuals and families will have the option to transition to the new IPP format. If selecting the new IPP, regional centers must accommodate the request. By the end of 2027, all IPPs will transition to this new IPP format.

In September 2023 a new law was created that required the Department to create a standardized IPP and procedures that all regional centers will use. The new IPP, agreement form and guide for service coordinators were rolled out to regional centers on June 28, 2024. Updated information was sent to regional centers on December 5, 2024.

Below are samples of the IPP and Agreement and Signature Form in Microsoft Word. These show what information is needed and how it works. All regional centers will use this format to collect your information during the IPP meeting.

Frequently Asked Questions for Regional Centers

Q

Where do regional centers indicate the person’s preferred name?

AThis would be included in the Introduction area of the IPP or as selected by the individual and their planning team.

Q

Are there differences in how to write a Self-Determination Program (SDP) IPP?

AIndividuals in the SDP will have their IPP completed using the same standard format. Services and supports, such as financial management services or SDP services, should be included in the corresponding life area. An individual may also choose to include that they are interested or enrolled in the SDP in their introduction section.

Q

Where in the IPP will provisional eligibility and the need for re-determination be identified?

AThe planning team can identify where this may best be captured. An example of where it could be included would be under the Introduction Section. It could also be included in a Life Area as it relates to that individual.

Q

How would risk mitigation or forensic involvement be addressed in the IPP?

A Federal requirements state the plan should reflect any risk factors and measures in place to minimize them, including individualized back-up plans and strategies when needed. Information related to risk or forensic involvement can be included throughout the document within areas that relate to the information. For example, if an individual has a risk that generally occurs in a community setting or based on relationships with other people, the planning team may choose the corresponding Life Area in which it is most significant and describe in the narrative.

Q

How can regional centers support individuals who communicate in ways other than their speech in creating an IPP?

ARegional centers must incorporate person-centered thinking skills into the development of the IPP. An individual who does not use words to communicate or young children may show preferences through other means of communication such as facial expressions, vocalizations, posture, or behavior.

Q

Will the IPP be available in other languages?

AYes, the IPP and IPP Agreement and Signature Form will be available in 11 languages including Spanish, Vietnamese, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Tagalog, Korean, Arabic, Armenian, Farsi, Hmong and Russian.

Q

How can regional centers customize the IPP?

AThe regional center will be able to add logos or icons to the IPP, so long as they do not change the intent or format of the IPP.

Q

How can regional centers use the Word document to write IPPs?

AThe Word versions of the IPP is a way for the Department to show the required components of the IPP. The SANDIS version will look different than the Word versions and offer more functionality. In SANDIS, you will have the ability to select multiple options in drop down, add as many areas as needed for services and have space to write up to 9,999 characters for the narratives.

Q

Will the IPP be used for annual meetings, semi annuals, and quarterlies for regional centers that complete triennial IPP meetings?

A The IPP will be used for new IPP meetings starting January 1, 2025. Regional centers will continue to use their own existing tools for annuals, semi-annuals, quarterlies, reviews, etc. Regional centers should plan to update their existing tools to reflect the format of the new IPP.
Q

Does every Life Area added to the IPP require an outcome?

APlanning Teams should focus on the individual’s goals. The Planning Team should consider if the individual served needs more information about a Life Area, if it aligns with their Vision for the Future, and if other funding sources can support the goal. The approach has shifted from listing everything in the IPP to a more intentional, person-centered approach that continues to meet state and federal requirements.

Q

How many Life Areas are required in the IPP?

AEach individual should have at least one Life Area as part of their IPP. The Life Area(s) in the IPP should be based on discussions by the planning team and driven by the individual/family, facilitated through person-centered thinking and practices. Regional centers should not impose an arbitrary number or specific Life Areas that must be included in the IPP.

Q

Can regional centers add multiple Life Areas to the IPP?

AThe SANDIS IPP will allow for as many Life Areas to be included as necessary. There will be a requirement that at least one Life Area be selected. The service coordinator will be able to select the Life Areas the planning team has determined will be included.

Q

How detailed does the action plan (“what needs to be done” prompt) need to be?

AThe action plan should be detailed enough to inform the reader of the roles and responsibilities of members of the planning team, and the services and supports that support the outcome.

Q

Do individuals decide what sections they want included and excluded?

AYes, the individual has the choice about Life Areas to discuss. But if an individual uses a service from the regional center, the Life Area applicable to the goal that service is intended to address would need to be included in the IPP.

Q

Sometimes outcomes address multiple areas and services, is it okay to have the same outcome for multiple life areas?

AOutcomes should follow the SMARTIE framework and be specific to the Life Area in which it applies. While an outcome may carry across multiple Life Areas, the planning team should determine if a broad outcome should be applied across multiple Life Areas or should be tailored to a detail level that is reflective of a specific Life Area.

Q

What if there is not a service (regional center or generic) attached to a Life Area? Is that field mandatory?

AAll prompts included in the Life Areas are required to be completed. Though there may not be any regional center or generic service funded, planning teams can include additional details of what needs to be done to support the individual’s outcome.

Q

Do assessed needs have to be documented in the IPP?

AIf the regional center is funding the support for an assessed need, then there is a requirement for it to be addressed in the IPP. However, if the assessed need is not being addressed by a regional center funded service and the individual does not want to include that information in their IPP, then the assessed need should be documented, for auditing or HCBS monitoring purposes, in Title 19 notes or within the client record.

Q

Would the IPP narrative need to include assessment of functional needs?

AThe IPP should describe what is currently happening so that the appropriate supports can be effectively provided.

Q

During an annual review of the IPP, how should regional centers document changes in assessed needs?

AIf a new assessed need is discussed, or there is a change in an assessed need at an annual review, an amendment is required to document the new assessed need and the services and/or supports for that need.

Q

Which version of the IPP will be reviewed during a biennial HCBS monitoring review?

AHCBS monitoring review participants are selected at random, therefore it is likely the sample will include participants that have the new IPP or an IPP from a regional center’s prior version of the IPP document.

Q

Will the Standardized Annual Review Form (SARF) still be required for Annual Reviews?

AThe SARF is required for individuals who are on the HCBS 1915c waiver, both for traditional services and for the Self-Determination Program, when a new IPP is not completed at the time of the individual’s IPP annual review. The SARF will not be included as a part of the IPP Agreement and Signature Form.

Q

What Medicaid Waivers should be reflected in the IPP and where should they be indicated?

AFederal funding information will be captured on the IPP Agreement and Signature Form. The only Medicaid Waiver information required would be either HCBS 1915c (whether for traditional services or Self-Determination Program) or the 1915i State Plan Amendment. The narrative of the IPP may also include other waivers that an individual receives such as the Home and Community Based Alternatives (HCBA Waiver).

Q

How can regional centers use person-centered language to talk about assessed needs identified in the CDER?

AIt is not a requirement that the assessed need be described using the same language as in the CDER. The description of the need should reflect what is currently happening, what is important to the individual and the support they need relating to the needs identified in the CDER.

Q

When will the individual/family sign the agreement form?

ARegional centers may incorporate their current practices to collect signatures during the IPP meeting using paper or electronic documents. Once the IPP meeting is complete, regional centers will input the information from the IPP Agreement and Signature Form, including checking the Acknowledgments discussed and agreed on by the individual or family. For those using Agreement and Signature Forms in-person, the regional center may choose to generate the form beforehand or to enter the information after the meeting. Regional centers can use the IPP Agreement and Signature Form to meet the requirements of Welfare and Institutions Code section 4646(g), related to providing a list of agreed upon services at the conclusion of the IPP meeting.

Q

Who is required to sign the IPP?

AAccording to Federal regulations, the IPP should be signed by all individuals and providers responsible for its implementation. If the individual served by the regional center is under the age of 18, the parent or guardian should sign.

Q

What happens if an individual is not able to sign or read?

AThe planning team shall work together to find the most appropriate way to receive a signed IPP reflective of the individual’s circumstances and preferences.

Q

Do all the acknowledgements apply to all age groups?

AThe regional center should provide information to the planning team as appropriate based on the circumstances of the individual. The planning team should determine if information needs to be provided around areas such as employment, voter registration and transportation access for minors.

Q

Where do regional centers document Mutual Consent?

A Mutual Consent may be included in the Additional Notes section on the IPP Agreement and Signature Form, or within a Life Area of the IPP.

Q

Can regional centers create supplemental handouts or information to leave with families, like a glossary or specific information about the Acknowledgements?

ARegional centers shall not alter the format of the IPP or IPP Agreement and Signature Form but can provide additional or supplemental information to support conversations during the IPP meeting.

Q

When can a regional center use an Amendment?

AFor amendments to the IPP, SANDIS will have the functionality to allow the service coordinator to select and be able to amend specific fields or Life Areas. For the IPP Agreement and Signature Form, if amendment is selected, a separate Amendment IPP Agreement and Signature Form would be available, and the acknowledgements would not have to be reviewed again.

Q

If a current IPP is for 3 years and an amendment is needed, does the regional center only need to check amendment and then update those few areas that really have changed?

AYes, SANDIS will allow for specific Life Areas to be amended in an IPP. Current IPPs not yet entered in the new format will have the ability to follow the original IPP format until a new IPP is created.

Q

Will the survey be offered in multiple languages?

AYes, the survey will be available in 11 languages including Spanish, Vietnamese, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Tagalog, Korean, Arabic, Armenian, Farsi, Hmong and Russian.

Q

How does the individual/family receive the survey?

AInformation regarding the IPP survey is included on the IPP Agreement and Signature Form and can be accessed through a QR code, by mail, phone, or email.

Q

Should the survey be completed following the meeting, or once the IPP has been typed?

AThe IPP survey is optional and can be completed at any time.

Q

Will survey results be shared with regional centers?

ACompleted surveys will come directly to the Department. Survey results will be used to gauge individual and family satisfaction with their IPP experience and to determine if regional centers need additional technical assistance with the IPP process.


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Last modified: January 7, 2025