Regional Centers are private, nonprofit agencies funded by the Department of Developmental Services (DDS), who help plan, obtain, coordinate and monitor free services and supports for individuals with developmental disabilities and their families.  Services include information and referral, assessment, diagnosis, counseling, individualized planning, service coordination, early intervention, family support, advocacy, community education, and placement and monitoring of contracted services, such as those offered by Partners for Potential. There are 21 Regional Centers throughout California.   We currently work with 8 Regional Centers in the Southern California region. 

Click here for a directory of Regional Centers.

Faqs

Partners for Potential provides door to door transportation using staff vehicles.  A staff person will pick you up at your home, take you and your group to three activities in your community, and drop you off at your home after 6 hours of service.  Partners closely monitors the staff driving records and vehicle conditions to maximize your safety at all times.

Our day programs offer a variety of training activities in the areas of self-determination, life skills, mobility and employment.  Such activities include ESL, computer skills, job training, money management, reading/writing, shopping skills, mobility, safety awareness, cooking, health/hygiene workshops, dance class, art therapy, social skills training, and much more.  Activities take place in groups of one staff person with approximately 3 consumers.  All of your scheduled activities will be designed to meet your individual needs and training goals.

Partners for Potential provides programs for adults with developmental disabilities, including autism, mental reta​rdation, cerebral palsy, epilepsy and other related diagnoses.  Program participants must be at least 18 years old with one or more diagnosed developmental disabilities, and must be referred by a local Regional Center.

Partners for Potential programs are free of charge to our consumers.  We receive funds from the Regional Centers, private foundations, corporations and individual donors and through special event fundraising.  Consumers, parents and care providers are also welcome and encouraged to donate funds if they so choose.   All donations are tax-deductible.

Partners for Potential does not have a Supported Employment program.  However, through our day program, we can focus on helping you with the necessary vocational and life skills you will need to obtain and maintain a job in the future.  Our consumers practice these skills through classroom instruction, volunteer job training and mentoring from our staff, while some also have part-time paid jobs.

Partners for Potential offices are open M-F from 8 AM – 5PM.  However, the day program takes place M-F for 6 hours per day between 8 AM – 2 PM, depending on the pick-up and drop-off times that are worked out for you. 

Please contact one of our local PFP offices and we will be happy to talk to you about the enrollment process.  If you are already a consumer of a Regional Center, you can also contact your Service Coordinator to send a referral packet to PFP.  Upon receipt of the referral packet, PFP will contact you to set up an intake meeting at your home, where we will provide you with more information about PFP and assess how we can best meet your needs.  If our program is a match, you can most likely start within a couple of weeks from the intake meeting.   

If you are not currently enrolled in a local Regional Center, but feel that you have a developmental disability that would qualify you for the Partners for Potential program, you must first contact your local Regional Center to request an intake assessment.  Once you have gone through the intake process at the Regional Center, which usually takes a couple of months, you can then request for a referral packet to be sent to PFP as described above.  

Our core day program is community-based.  This means that training activities take place at community locations, such as job sites, adult schools, recreation centers, libraries, stores, etc., that already exist in your area.  We currently have programs throughout the Santa Clarita Valley, San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, East Los Angeles, San Gabriel, Westside, South Bay, Long Beach, Orange County and more.  If we do not already have a program in your area, we will do our best to get one started for you.  The Partners for Potential office in Van Nuys also includes an on-site training center for our San Fernando Valley programs. 

Supporting adults with developmental disabilities to reach their full potential.