Plain-language definitions of the words families actually encounter when navigating Regional Centers, SLS, IHSS, and life-sharing in California.
California's developmental services system runs on acronyms. Families step into it for the first time and meet a wall of them — IPP, SLS, ILS, IHSS, Title 17, Lanterman — usually inside a high-stakes IPP meeting. This glossary defines the terms in plain English, with a short note on why each one matters when you are choosing a housing path for an adult with IDD.
If a term you need is missing, email hello@meethomies.com and we'll add it.
ADLs are the basic self-care tasks a person needs to manage every day — bathing, dressing, grooming, eating, toileting, and getting around inside the home. Regional Centers and IHSS use ADL assessments to decide how much support a person qualifies for.
Why it matters: A clear picture of which ADLs your adult child does independently and which need help drives the IPP, the SLS budget, and how a supportive roommate is matched.
Conservatorship is a California court process where a judge appoints someone (usually a parent) to make legal, medical, or financial decisions for an adult who cannot make them safely alone. There are different scopes — general, limited (most common for IDD), and probate. It is the most restrictive option; supported decision-making is a less restrictive alternative.
Why it matters: A conservator typically signs leases, ISP agreements, and consent forms on behalf of a client. Knowing whether your adult child is conserved — and for what — changes who signs what during a life-sharing placement.
DDS is the state agency responsible for the service system created by the Lanterman Act. It contracts with the 21 Regional Centers, sets the rates and regulations vendors must follow, and oversees compliance through Title 17.
Why it matters: When a Regional Center says no, DDS is the appeal path. DDS also publishes the rate schedules that determine what services like SLS and ILS pay.
A group home — formally called an Adult Residential Facility (ARF) in California — is a licensed home where several adults with disabilities live together with rotating paid staff. Staffing levels are set by the facility's license, and residents generally do not pick their housemates. It is the most common traditional residential option funded by Regional Centers.
Why it matters: Group homes work for some people, but they are not the only option. Life-sharing and SLS let an adult live in their own home with one consistent roommate instead of rotating shifts.
IADLs are the skills required to live independently beyond basic self-care — preparing meals, managing money, using public transit, taking medication on schedule, doing laundry, and keeping appointments. They are the skills most often built through Independent Living Services.
Why it matters: Most adults with IDD can do many ADLs but need coaching on IADLs. A supportive roommate is often the daily coach who turns ILS lessons into real-life habits.
IDD is the umbrella term for intellectual and developmental disabilities — including autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and intellectual disability — that begin before age 18 and affect learning, language, or self-care. In California, IDD is the diagnostic category that qualifies someone for Regional Center services under the Lanterman Act.
Why it matters: An IDD diagnosis is the gate to lifetime services. If your adult child is not yet a Regional Center client, that intake is the first step before any housing program — including life-sharing — can be funded.
These are the three individualized planning documents California families encounter at different life stages. An IEP (Individualized Education Program) is the school-age plan written under federal special education law. An IPP (Individual Program Plan) is the Regional Center's annual plan for adults and children. An IFSP (Individualized Family Service Plan) is used in Early Start, the 0-3 early intervention system.
Why it matters: The IPP is the document where SLS, ILS, life-sharing, and any housing goal must be written down. Nothing gets funded by a Regional Center unless it is in the IPP.
IHSS is a Medi-Cal program administered by counties that pays for personal care, domestic help, and protective supervision so a person can stay in their own home instead of a facility. Hours are assessed by a county social worker. The paid provider can be a parent, sibling, friend, or a roommate.
Why it matters: IHSS and Regional Center SLS often stack — IHSS pays for the personal-care minutes, SLS pays for the broader supported-living infrastructure. A supportive roommate is frequently the IHSS provider.
ILS is a Regional Center-funded service where an instructor works with an adult on the specific skills they need to live independently — budgeting, cooking, transit, scheduling, self-advocacy. Sessions usually happen in the person's home and community, not in a classroom. ILS hours are set in the IPP.
Why it matters: ILS is the skill-building layer; life-sharing is the housing layer. Many Homies clients use ILS hours alongside their supportive roommate.
An Independent Facilitator is a person — paid by the family or, in the Self-Determination Program, by the Regional Center budget — who helps families navigate the RC system, prepare for IPP meetings, choose vendors, and write person-centered plans. They are not a Regional Center employee and have no conflict of interest with the agency.
Why it matters: If your service coordinator is overworked or pushing group-home defaults, an Independent Facilitator can be the difference between getting SLS approved and being told no.
The Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act is the California law that created the Regional Center system and established a legal entitlement to services for people with developmental disabilities. It guarantees that eligible people receive the services they need to live in the least restrictive setting. It is the legal backbone behind every IPP, SLS authorization, and Regional Center decision.
Why it matters: The phrase 'least restrictive setting' is the legal lever families use to push back when a Regional Center defaults to a group home instead of approving life-sharing or SLS.
Life-sharing is a supported-living model where an adult with a developmental disability shares a real home with one carefully matched, vetted supportive roommate — instead of rotating shift staff in a group home. The roommate provides daily companionship and assistance and is screened, trained, and overseen by a vendored provider. Homies is California's first dedicated life-sharing program. Learn more on our life-sharing pillar page.
Why it matters: Life-sharing is funded through Regional Center SLS, so most families pay nothing out of pocket. It is the closest residential model to how anyone else in their twenties or thirties lives — with a roommate, in an apartment, in the community.
A Regional Center is a private nonprofit under contract with DDS that serves as the front door to the developmental services system in its catchment area. There are 21 Regional Centers in California, each covering specific counties. The Regional Center assigns a service coordinator, writes the IPP, and authorizes vendors to deliver services like SLS, ILS, and respite.
Why it matters: Your Regional Center decides what gets funded. Knowing your service coordinator, your catchment area, and your appeal rights is the single most important piece of system literacy for any family.
The Self-Determination Program is an alternative service-delivery model where a Regional Center client receives an individual budget — equivalent to what their traditional services would cost — and uses it to purchase services from any qualified provider. It includes a Financial Management Service to handle payments and (optionally) an Independent Facilitator. SDP is available statewide as of 2021.
Why it matters: SDP gives families more control over who provides services and how. It can be a faster path to non-traditional options like life-sharing when a local RC is slow to vendor new providers.
SLS is a Regional Center-funded service that supports an adult with a developmental disability to live in a home they own, rent, or lease — not a facility. SLS hours can cover anything from a few visits a week to 24-hour support, depending on the person's IPP. The provider must be a vendored SLS agency.
Why it matters: SLS is the funding source behind life-sharing. When a family asks 'how do we pay for a supportive roommate?' — the answer is almost always SLS.
A supportive roommate is a vetted, trained adult who shares a home with someone with a developmental disability — providing daily companionship, light assistance, and a consistent presence in exchange for reduced or free rent and (where applicable) IHSS pay. They are not shift staff. They are matched on personality, lifestyle, and shared interests and overseen by an SLS vendor like Homies.
Why it matters: The roommate is the model. Get the match right and most of the support people associate with a group home becomes a normal household routine between two people who actually like each other.
Title 17 is the section of the California Code of Regulations that sets the rules for Regional Center services, vendor qualifications, staff training, documentation, and quality assurance. Every SLS, ILS, and group-home provider in California operates under Title 17. It is the rulebook DDS enforces.
Why it matters: When Homies — or any provider — says 'we can't do that' or 'we have to document this,' it is usually Title 17 talking. Understanding it helps families distinguish real regulatory limits from a Regional Center's local preferences.
Talk to our team about how life-sharing fits inside your Regional Center IPP.
