Glossary
Independent Facilitator
Also called: IF, facilitator
Last reviewed September 9, 2026
The one-sentence answer
An independent facilitator is a person you choose and pay to help you plan, build your budget, and find services — a guide who works for you, not for the regional center.
What this means for you
Hiring one is optional. If you don't hire an independent facilitator, your regional center service coordinator does the same job — at no charge to your budget. That is a real choice with a real tradeoff, and nobody explains it well.
If you do hire one, you pay for it out of your own budget. The statute is blunt about this: your budget "shall not be increased to cover" the facilitator's cost. The rate is negotiated between you and the facilitator.
So the honest framing is: an independent facilitator costs you services. The question is whether their help getting the rest of the budget right is worth more than what they consume. For a first-year family facing a complicated plan, it often is. For a straightforward renewal, it often isn't.
They can't do double duty. An independent facilitator may not provide any other service in your IPP to you. If someone offers to be both your facilitator and your support worker, that isn't allowed — and your FMS is required to enforce it.
This is a different job from your FMS. Your facilitator helps you decide. Your FMS handles the money. And note the opposite funding treatment: the FMS is paid by the regional center outside your budget; the facilitator is paid by you, from inside it.
For the detail-oriented
Service code 340.
Statutory role (WIC 4685.8): selected and directed by the participant; assists with informed decision-making about the individual budget and with locating, accessing and coordinating services consistent with the IPP; participates in person-centered planning; may advocate on the participant's behalf.
Required training (WIC 4685.8(c)(2)): self-determination principles, person-centered planning, and the statutory responsibilities of the role. The FMS and participant verify the training was completed before services begin and annually thereafter.
Qualifications: no state license. A local business license if the city or county requires one. An independent facilitator may be an individual or a business entity, and relatives or legal guardians other than a legally responsible person may serve.
A live 2026 development worth watching: independent facilitator certification is moving through Qlarant, and standardized vendorization is bringing new facilitators into the field right now.
Two things not settled. Whether a participant may serve as their own independent facilitator is a common family question with no DDS source addressing it. And when code 340 is used versus 099 (General SD Supports) is not documented — open question #18. Don't answer either from inference.