Choosing
Choosing an FMS
Almost everything families are told to compare is the wrong thing. The regional center pays the fee, so price is not yours to weigh, and the burden rate moves your hours far less than you would expect — you can check that below with your own numbers. What decides whether this works is whether your caregiver gets paid on time, and whether somebody picks up when anyone in your corner needs an answer.
Last reviewed 30 September 2026
Service is the whole decision
An FMS pays your caregivers, pays your vendors, buys the goods your plan provides for, and answers the phone and the email — not only from you, but from everyone involved: your caregivers, your vendors, your independent facilitator, your service coordinator.
On top of that it carries a great deal of paperwork, and it gives you professional answers on employment law, tax, and what your plan will and will not cover. That part matters more than it sounds. Without it, a family has to become an expert in payroll rules and program requirements on top of everything else they are already doing. A good provider is the reason you do not have to.
But the thing that changes lives is none of that. It is being reachable, quickly, when someone needs to reach you. Every problem in this program starts small and stays small if somebody picks up. A wrong paycheck, a vendor who has not been paid, a question about whether something is allowed — each is a five-minute conversation on the day it happens, and a crisis three weeks later.
So the question worth asking is not what a provider costs. It is how fast they answer, and who they answer.
This is not our framing. The state's Ombudsperson publishes what people contact them about, and in the Self-Determination Program Financial Management Services is the single largest complaint category — 721 of 2,675 contacts, about 27%. More than budgets. More than regional centers.
What those complaints are about matters more than the number:
- Payments arriving late, or not arriving. For a family this is not an administrative annoyance. A caregiver who is not paid on time starts looking for another job, and replacing a good one is the hardest thing a self-directing family does — months of searching, training and trust rebuilt from nothing, while the person who needs support goes without.
- Vendors not being paid. A respite agency that waits ninety days for its money stops taking your calls. You lose the service, and you lose it quietly.
- Not being able to reach anyone. A payroll problem that could be fixed in a five-minute call becomes a fortnight when nobody answers the phone.
Put the two failures side by side. The most expensive FMS in California costs you about six per cent of your care hours compared with the cheapest — a known number, the same every month, which you can budget around. A provider who pays your caregiver two weeks late costs you the caregiver. One of those is a line in a spreadsheet. The other ends the arrangement.
Then what about the burden rate?
It is the one number families are given to compare, so it gets treated as the decision. It is worth understanding properly, and then putting in its place.
First, the fee is not it. Since 1 July 2022 the regional center has paid your FMS provider's fee outside your individual budget. A more expensive provider does not leave you less to spend on care, and a cheaper one does not leave you more.
What does come out of your money is the employer burden — the payroll taxes and insurance on top of your workers' wages, charged as a percentage of those wages. A higher rate does buy fewer hours from the same budget. The question is how many fewer. Put your own situation in below.
- Wages you are paying
- Cheapest provider, total cost
- Most expensive, total cost
- The entire difference
This uses the eighteen published Co-Employer rates, the arrangement most self-directing families use. Under Sole Employer the workers' compensation policy is yours — you choose it, or your FMS helps you find one. Either way the premium depends on your policy rather than theirs, so the burden rate you actually pay will likely differ from the figure the same FMS publishes in the Co-Employer table. Treat those published Sole Employer numbers as a starting point and ask the provider what your rate would really be. And if you use a Bill Payer and employ nobody, none of this applies to you at all — there are no wages, so there is no burden.
Who can serve you
Not every provider works with every regional center. Before comparing anything else, narrow the list to the ones you can actually use. All 29 providers below are from the DDS contact list; the rates come from the separate DDS employer burden file.
Treat this list as a starting point, not a boundary. The DDS coverage list lags behind what providers are actually vendored for, and we can prove it with our own entry: DDS shows Sentinel Four in 15 regional centers, and we are vendored with 19. We only know that because it is our own company. The same is probably true of other providers here, and we have no way to tell which. So if a provider looks right for you but your center is not listed, that is a question to ask them, not an answer. DDS says the same: contact your regional center about a provider not listed for you.
The order below is not a ranking. Sentinel Four is first because we built and pay for this page; everyone else follows in the order DDS lists them, which is alphabetical and means nothing either. Nobody here has paid for a position and there is no position to buy. If you want the list ordered by something that does carry meaning, the burden rates above are sorted cheapest first — and we are eleventh of eighteen in that one.
No provider on the DDS list offers that model in that regional center. Widen the model filter, or ask your service coordinator — DDS says a provider not listed for your centre can still be requested.
Sentinel Four publisher of this site
Site address given by the provider; the DDS list shows none.
Bill PayerCo-EmployerSole Employer
- Employer burden
- 20.92% Co-Employer
14.87% Sole Employer workers' comp not included approved 2025-02-28 - Languages
- English Also Spanish, Mandarin, Portuguese — told to us by the provider on 2026-09-21, and not yet on the DDS list.
- Contact
- 530-515-2948info@sentinelfour.com
- Regional centers
- 15 of 21 on the DDS list Vendored with 19 of the 21 regional centers - all except Valley Mountain and Frank D. Lanterman. The DDS contact list shows only 15. Told to us by the provider on 2026-09-21.
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid Weekly, on Mondays
- When vendors are paid Twice a month, on or before the 11th and the 26th
- Named contact person Not during intake; a named person from onboarding onwards
- How you can reach them Email, phone, or the contact form at sentinelfour.com
- Response time they commit to Same day, or the following morning
- Online client portal Yes - live budget reporting, purchase requests, pay rate changes
Supplied by the provider, 2026-09-21. Anything changed? Send us an update.
AAA FMS
Bill PayerCo-EmployerSole Employer
- Employer burden
- 21.38% Co-Employer
15.68% Sole Employer workers' comp not included approved 2025-01-28 - Languages
- English, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog
- Contact
- (213)868-2992info@aaa-fms.com
- Regional centers
- 20 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
AAA FMS — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
AbleRoot
Bill PayerCo-EmployerSole Employer
- Employer burden
- Not in the DDS burden file. They offer employer models, so ask them directly for their approved rate.
- Languages
- English, Spanish, Arabic, Tagalog
- Contact
- (619)902-6994info@ableroot.us
- Regional centers
- 1 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
AbleRoot — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
Accura FMS
Bill PayerCo-EmployerSole Employer
- Employer burden
- 22.5% Co-Employer
16.1% Sole Employer workers' comp not included approved 2025-12-08 - Languages
- English, Spanish, Hindi, Tamil
- Contact
- 855-416-7890info@accurafms.com
- Regional centers
- 21 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
Accura FMS — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
ACE FMS
Bill PayerCo-EmployerSole Employer
- Employer burden
- 24.86% Co-Employer
15.68% Sole Employer workers' comp not included approved 2024-08-01 - Languages
- English, Farsi
- Contact
- Peyman Dadmehr: 833-4-ACEFMS (Ext 1)833-422-3367 (Ext 1)Info@acefms.com
- Regional centers
- 21 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
ACE FMS — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
Action FMS
Bill PayerCo-EmployerSole Employer
- Employer burden
- 22.88% Co-Employer
16.58% Sole Employer workers' comp not included approved 2026-08-24 - Languages
- English
- Contact
- Anne Gogstad: 310-867-8882contact@ActionFMS.com
- Regional centers
- 15 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
Action FMS — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
Acumen FMS
Bill PayerSole Employer
- Employer burden
- 22.48% Sole Employer approved 2026-01-21
- Languages
- English, Spanish
- Contact
- Yvette Torres: 424-210-8810yvettet@acumen2.net
- Regional centers
- 21 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
Acumen FMS — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
AID FMS LLC
Bill PayerCo-EmployerSole Employer
- Employer burden
- 22.06% Co-Employer
15.68% Sole Employer workers' comp not included approved 2025-09-02 - Languages
- English, Spanish, Farsi (Persian), and Filipino
- Contact
- Pooya Mahmoudian (213) 703-5760Isaac Mahgerefteh (310) 780-9907hello@aidfms.com
- Regional centers
- 7 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
AID FMS LLC — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
Arch FMS, Inc.
Bill PayerCo-EmployerSole Employer
- Employer burden
- 19.86% Co-Employer
14.27% Sole Employer workers' comp not included approved 2024-08-01 - Languages
- English
- Contact
- 619-330-7097support@archfms.com
- Regional centers
- 18 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
Arch FMS, Inc. — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
Aveanna Support Services (Formerly Premier Healthcare Services)
Bill PayerCo-Employer
- Employer burden
- 17.23% Co-Employer approved 2026-03-19
- Languages
- English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Cantonese, Mandarin, Trieu Chau
- Contact
- Northern California: 866-979-1182Southern California: 310-215-1730Northern California: SJSDP@aveanna.comSouthern California: FMSInfo@aveanna.com
- Regional centers
- 21 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
Aveanna Support Services (Formerly Premier Healthcare Services) — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
Balance FMS
Bill PayerCo-EmployerSole Employer
- Employer burden
- 20.65% Co-Employer
14.75% Sole Employer workers' comp not included approved 2025-03-26 - Languages
- English, Spanish
- Contact
- Teri Ercoli: 424-228-9854Main Line: 888-368-3710info@balancefms.com
- Regional centers
- 8 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
Balance FMS — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
Blessed FMS Inc.
Bill PayerSole Employer
- Employer burden
- 15.68% Sole Employer workers' comp not included approved 2026-04-01
- Languages
- English, Korean, Spanish
- Contact
- 323-800-5110Jaynnie Mulle: Jmulle@bfmscare.comInjin Lee: jlee@bfmscare.com
- Regional centers
- 1 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
Blessed FMS Inc. — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
Cambrian FMS
Bill PayerCo-EmployerSole Employer
- Employer burden
- 24.15% Co-Employer
24.15% Sole Employer approved 2025-11-25 - Languages
- English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Farsi
- Contact
- 562-989-7777 (ask for Christina Cisneros or David Ellis)intake@cfms1.com
- Regional centers
- 20 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
Cambrian FMS — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
Community Interface Services (CIS)
Bill Payer
- Employer burden
- Not applicable — Bill Payer only, so there are no employees and no employer burden.
- Languages
- English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Hindi
- Contact
- 760-729-3866Christine Sheppard - CSheppard@communityinterfaceservices.org
- Regional centers
- 7 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
Community Interface Services (CIS) — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
C&T Home Care LLC
Bill PayerCo-EmployerSole Employer
- Employer burden
- 19.64% Co-Employer
19.64% Sole Employer approved 2026-03-27 - Languages
- English, Spanish, Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Mandarin, Cantonese, Shanghainese
- Contact
- 858-878-2500support.ca@candthomecare.com
- Regional centers
- 2 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
C&T Home Care LLC — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
Dromen FMS
Bill PayerCo-EmployerSole Employer
- Employer burden
- 20.3% Co-Employer
15.98% Sole Employer workers' comp not included approved 2025-03-01 - Languages
- English, Spanish
- Contact
- John Feringa: 909-821-7598john@dromeninc.com
- Regional centers
- 12 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
Dromen FMS — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
Essential Pay (DBA Casa Fiscal)
Bill Payer
- Employer burden
- 19.15% Co-Employer approved 2024-08-01 DDS's two lists disagree: this rate is on file, but the current contact list does not show them offering Co-Employer. Ask before relying on it.
- Languages
- English, Spanish
- Contact
- 833-268-8530Jessica Escalante - contact@essentialpay.com
- Regional centers
- 15 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
Essential Pay (DBA Casa Fiscal) — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
FACT Family
Bill PayerCo-EmployerSole Employer
- Employer burden
- 20% Co-Employer
20% Sole Employer approved 2024-08-01 - Languages
- English
- Contact
- 310-475-9620 (Ext 298)FMS@factfamily.org
- Regional centers
- 14 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
FACT Family — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
FMS Pay LLC
Bill Payer
- Employer burden
- Not applicable — Bill Payer only, so there are no employees and no employer burden.
- Languages
- English, Spanish
- Contact
- Kyle Jones: 858-281-5910connect@fmspay.com
- Regional centers
- 20 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
FMS Pay LLC — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
GT Independence
Bill PayerCo-EmployerSole Employer
- Employer burden
- 19.45% Co-Employer
16.71% Sole Employer workers' comp not included approved 2025-10-24 - Languages
- All languages supported
- Contact
- 877-659-4500Emmett Jones: EMjones@gtindependence.comRob Lewis: RLewis@gtindependence.comCoushatta Seymore: cseymore@gtindependence.com
- Regional centers
- 21 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
GT Independence — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
Home of Guiding Hands
Bill Payer
- Employer burden
- Not applicable — Bill Payer only, so there are no employees and no employer burden.
- Languages
- English
- Contact
- Finance Department: 619-938-2853fms@guidinghands.org
- Regional centers
- 2 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
Home of Guiding Hands — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
HR Alliance
Bill PayerCo-EmployerSole Employer
- Employer burden
- 22.77% Co-Employer
22.77% Sole Employer approved 2025-02-13 - Languages
- English, Spanish, Tagalog, Arabic
- Contact
- (833)-331-8112infowest@hrawest.com
- Regional centers
- 10 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
HR Alliance — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
Mains'l
Bill PayerSole Employer
- Employer burden
- 18.03% Sole Employer approved 2026-03-27
- Languages
- English, Spanish
- Contact
- 866-767-4296cafms@mainsl.com
- Regional centers
- 21 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
Mains'l — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
Public Partnerships LLC (PPL)
Bill PayerSole Employer
- Employer burden
- 17.87% Sole Employer approved 2026-03-27
- Languages
- All languages supported
- Contact
- 844-902-6665pplcalifornia@pplfirst.com
- Regional centers
- 21 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
Public Partnerships LLC (PPL) — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
Ridgeline FMS
Bill PayerCo-EmployerSole Employer
- Employer burden
- 18% Co-Employer
15% Sole Employer workers' comp not included approved 2025-02-19 - Languages
- English, Spanish
- Contact
- 916-234-6415Info@ridgelinefms.com
- Regional centers
- 11 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
Ridgeline FMS — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
Ritz FMS Inc.
Bill PayerCo-EmployerSole Employer
- Employer burden
- 19.45% Co-Employer
15.68% Sole Employer workers' comp not included approved 2025-10-24 - Languages
- English, Spanish, Mandarin
- Contact
- 833-748-9888info@ritzfms.com
- Regional centers
- 21 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
Ritz FMS Inc. — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
SequoiaSD
Bill PayerSole Employer
- Employer burden
- 20.64% Sole Employer approved 2024-08-01
- Languages
- English, Spanish
- Contact
- 949-301-9950info@sequoiasd.com
- Regional centers
- 7 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
SequoiaSD — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
STRO FMS
Bill Payer
- Employer burden
- Not applicable — Bill Payer only, so there are no employees and no employer burden.
- Languages
- English
- Contact
- Sandi Studer: 707-485-8481rilee@strofms.org
- Regional centers
- 2 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
STRO FMS — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
TrueCare FMS
Bill Payer
- Employer burden
- Not applicable — Bill Payer only, so there are no employees and no employer burden.
- Languages
- English, Spanish, Hebrew
- Contact
- Gavi Gershov: 213-419-6133gavig@truecarefms.comwelcome@truecarefms.com
- Regional centers
- 8 of 21 on the DDS list
Service and communication
- How often caregivers are paid We want to hear
- When vendors are paid We want to hear
- Named contact person We want to hear
- How you can reach them We want to hear
- Response time they commit to We want to hear
- Online client portal We want to hear
TrueCare FMS — we want to hear from you. Nobody publishes these answers, so the only way they reach a family is if you send them. Email them to us and they appear here next to your name, marked as yours, with the date. What we ask, and what we promise.
Burden rates side by side
Every FMS must have its employer burden rate approved by DDS, and DDS publishes the result. These are those numbers — the same figure your provider had to get approved, not something they told us.
| Provider | Employer burden | Approved |
|---|---|---|
| Sentinel Four — publisher of this site | 20.92% | 2025-02-28 |
| Sentinel Four — publisher of this site | 14.87% workers' comp not included | 2025-02-28 |
| AAA FMS | 21.38% | 2025-01-28 |
| AAA FMS | 15.68% workers' comp not included | 2025-01-28 |
| Accura FMS | 22.5% | 2025-12-08 |
| Accura FMS | 16.1% workers' comp not included | 2025-12-08 |
| ACE FMS | 24.86% | 2024-08-01 |
| ACE FMS | 15.68% workers' comp not included | 2024-08-01 |
| Action FMS | 22.88% | 2026-08-24 |
| Action FMS | 16.58% workers' comp not included | 2026-08-24 |
| Acumen FMS | 22.48% | 2026-01-21 |
| AID FMS LLC | 22.06% | 2025-09-02 |
| AID FMS LLC | 15.68% workers' comp not included | 2025-09-02 |
| Arch FMS, Inc. | 19.86% | 2024-08-01 |
| Arch FMS, Inc. | 14.27% workers' comp not included | 2024-08-01 |
| Aveanna Support Services (Formerly Premier Healthcare Services) | 17.23% | 2026-03-19 |
| Balance FMS | 20.65% | 2025-03-26 |
| Balance FMS | 14.75% workers' comp not included | 2025-03-26 |
| Blessed FMS Inc. | 15.68% workers' comp not included | 2026-04-01 |
| Cambrian FMS | 24.15% | 2025-11-25 |
| Cambrian FMS | 24.15% | 2025-11-25 |
| C&T Home Care LLC | 19.64% | 2026-03-27 |
| C&T Home Care LLC | 19.64% | 2026-03-27 |
| Dromen FMS | 20.3% | 2025-03-01 |
| Dromen FMS | 15.98% workers' comp not included | 2025-03-01 |
| Essential Pay (DBA Casa Fiscal) | 19.15% | 2024-08-01 |
| FACT Family | 20% | 2024-08-01 |
| FACT Family | 20% | 2024-08-01 |
| GT Independence | 19.45% | 2025-10-24 |
| GT Independence | 16.71% workers' comp not included | 2025-10-24 |
| HR Alliance | 22.77% | 2025-02-13 |
| HR Alliance | 22.77% | 2025-02-13 |
| Mains'l | 18.03% | 2026-03-27 |
| Public Partnerships LLC (PPL) | 17.87% | 2026-03-27 |
| Ridgeline FMS | 18% | 2025-02-19 |
| Ridgeline FMS | 15% workers' comp not included | 2025-02-19 |
| Ritz FMS Inc. | 19.45% | 2025-10-24 |
| Ritz FMS Inc. | 15.68% workers' comp not included | 2025-10-24 |
| SequoiaSD | 20.64% | 2024-08-01 |
Sole Employer totals are not comparable to Co-Employer totals, or reliably to each other. Most of them leave workers' compensation out, flagged above where that applies. In that model the policy is yours — you choose it, or your FMS helps you find one — so the provider cannot quote a rate for insurance it is not supplying. The rate you end up paying will likely differ from what the same FMS publishes for Co-Employer, and a Sole Employer figure can look several points cheaper while leaving out a real cost you still have to cover. Ask the provider what your actual rate would be.
These rates were approved on very different dates. They run from August 2024 to August 2026, and only nine of the thirty-nine on file are from 2026 at all. A rate approved two years ago was set against different minimum wage and unemployment insurance figures than one approved last month, so a small gap between two providers may be telling you when they last filed rather than what they cost. Each row shows its date. Ours is from February 2025 and is no fresher than anyone else's.
We are in this table, and we are not at the top of it. Sentinel Four publishes this site and sits eleventh of eighteen on Co-Employer. That is the honest position, and a comparison that quietly omitted it would not be worth reading.
What nobody publishes
Burden rates are published, so they can be compared fairly. Almost nothing else about FMS providers is. How fast they pay, whether you get a named person, whether there is a portal you can log into, what happens at 4pm on a Friday when a paycheck is wrong — none of that is filed anywhere, which is why almost every card above reads “We want to hear” down that whole block.
We went looking, in case we were missing something. The two places families are most often pointed — Disability Voices United's Self-Determination Interchange and its SDP Resource Center — both explain the three FMS models clearly and then say to interview providers yourself. That is not a gap in their work; it is the same finding we reached. The information does not exist to be looked up, so the only way it gets published is if a provider publishes it. That is what those blank lines are for, and they fill in the moment someone answers.
One card does not, and it is ours. You should read that with your eyes open. Sentinel Four's entry carries our payroll day, our vendor payment dates, how to reach us and what we commit to answering in. We could fill those in because we are the company publishing this page and we know our own answers. Nobody audited them. They are labelled as coming from us, with the date, exactly as any other provider's would be — but a claim a company makes about itself is not the same kind of fact as a rate DDS approved, and you should not treat it as one.
So yes, for now this page has one filled-in card and twenty-eight empty ones, and that is an advantage we did not earn by being better. We earned it by knowing the page existed. The same is true of the four regional centers on our card that the DDS list omits, which also make us turn up in four searches we otherwise would not.
We are not going to dress that up as neutrality. It is exactly why the invitation below matters more than anything else on this page: every one of those blanks is a competitor's to fill, free, in a sentence, and the day they do our head start disappears. That is the outcome we want, because a directory where only the publisher has answered is not a directory. Until then, read our filled-in lines as a demonstration of what you should be asking everyone else — not as evidence that we are the only one who could answer.
So here are the questions instead. Ask them of every provider you talk to, ask them of us, and write down what you hear.
Paying the people you rely on
- How often are caregivers paid, and on what day?
- What is your record on paying on time? Has a payroll ever been late, and what happened?
- How does a caregiver submit hours, and how quickly are they approved?
- When are vendors paid after they invoice? Will you give me those dates in writing?
Reaching a human being
- Do I get a named person, or a general line?
- Is there a direct number and email for that person?
- How quickly do you answer email? What is the standard you hold yourselves to?
- Can I speak to someone by video call if it is easier than writing?
- What happens if my usual contact is away?
When something goes wrong
- A paycheck is wrong on a Friday afternoon. Walk me through exactly what happens.
- Who do I call if a vendor has not been paid?
- How do you tell me when something has gone wrong at your end?
The practical fit
- Which models do you offer — 315, 316, 317?
- What is your current burden rate for the model I would use, and when was it approved?
- What languages do you work in?
- How do you handle health coverage for someone I employ? See the health coverage entry — the answers differ a lot between providers.
- How long does it take to bring on a new employee or vendor?
One answer worth listening for. A provider who will not put their payment dates or their burden rate in writing is telling you something. Both are knowable, both are ordinary to share, and a reluctance to commit to either is itself an answer.
Correcting or adding to your entry
If you work for one of the providers listed here, this section is for you.
Everything above comes from two DDS files. We have not called anyone, and we have not checked whether DDS is current. If your entry is wrong, tell us and we will fix it. If you want the blank service lines filled in, send us the answers and we will publish them next to your name. Six questions, and you can answer them in a sentence each:
- How often are caregivers paid, and on what day?
- When are vendors paid?
- Does a family get a named contact person?
- How can they reach you?
- What response time do you commit to?
- Is there an online client portal?
Send your regional center coverage and your website too, if DDS has either wrong.
The most valuable correction you can send is your regional center coverage. DDS lists us in 15 centers when we are vendored with 19, and there is no reason to think we are the only one. If families cannot filter to you, nothing else on your entry matters. Send the list and we will add the centers DDS is missing, marked as coming from you.
Send a correction or your service details
Three commitments about how we handle that:
- We publish what you send, marked as yours. Anything a provider supplies is labelled “supplied by the provider” with the date. We are not in a position to verify your payroll calendar and we will not pretend otherwise.
- Corrections are free and carry no conditions. There is nothing to buy and no listing to upgrade. We are a competitor of yours, and the only way this page is worth anything to a family is if that fact changes nothing about how your entry is treated.
- We will say when we were told. A date beside an answer lets a family judge how stale it is, the same way the approval dates do for the rates.
We would rather hear that we have your details wrong than leave a family calling a disconnected number.
You can change your mind
Choosing an FMS is not permanent. Participants do switch providers, and it is a normal thing to do rather than a last resort. You can change at any time.
Since October 2026 the mechanics are written down for every provider. The one you are leaving must complete the transfer within 60 days of your request, send your records to the new provider within 30, and keep paying your workers and vendors without interruption while it happens. The transfer rules in full. Your service coordinator is still the place to start.