Service Philosophy

Achieving Full Inclusion, Acceptance and Independence

Lanterman Regional Center’s mission is to enable people with developmental disabilities to live purposeful lives as active members of their communities.

We believe that all barriers to participation of people with disabilities in the community should be removed. We also believe that the members of the community should be made aware of the benefits of the active involvement of people with disabilities in their lives. We are committed to increasing community inclusion and social acceptance of people with developmental disabilities and to recognizing the personal power and value of all individuals by providing an environment that promotes independence.

The Lanterman Act gives individuals with developmental disabilities and their families the leadership role in making decisions in all areas of their lives, including where and with whom they live, who their friends are, what they do during the day, what they do for fun, and which health professionals they use. We are committed to seeing that people with developmental disabilities receive the support they need to make independent decisions and informed choices, and we respect their choices.

We work to ensure that the services and supports are individualized and flexible over time, and that they address needs while building on people’s strengths. Further, we work to ensure that they are provided in natural environments with natural relationships and in a manner that is culturally appropriate. Finally, as active stewards of resources available to serve our clients, we attempt to make sure that services provided to our clients and families are accountable, accessible and cost-effective.

We have implemented several strategies to help adults with developmental disabilities and families with children with special needs increase their knowledge about generic community resources that offer fully integrated programs for children and adults with developmental disabilities. The primary purpose of the Network of Care is to educate our community about these resources.

At the same time, in order to provide clients and their families with access to information about all of the resources available to support them, we have also included in the Network of Care all of the resources that are vendored with Lanterman Regional Center, even if they serve people with disabilities exclusively. For example, you will find that the Network of Care contains residential options, supported employment and independent living services that serve only people with disabilities.