Regional Center Vendor Requirements for Dance Studios, Art Classes, Music Teachers & Camps

Regional centers are California's local nonprofits for people with developmental disabilities. Inland Regional Center is the one for Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Each kind of service a regional center pays for has its own service code, and the requirements follow the code.

The first question isn't "What forms do I need?" It's "Which code am I?" And sometimes the answer is "none."

Match your business to a code

These are the codes most studios, classes and camps look at. Inland Regional Center decides which one fits, so treat this as a starting point.

• 525 Social Recreation — recreation and social activities in the community. The code most dance, music and activity programs look at first.
• 094 Creative Art Program — programs built around making art.
• 850 Camping Services — day and overnight camps.
• 028 Socialization Training Program — programs focused on building social skills.
• 008 Sports Club — sports-focused clubs and programs.

Regional center vendor for dance studios

Most dance studios start by looking at 525 Social Recreation. But if most of your students come from the general public, check the next section first. You may not need to vendor at all.

Regional center vendor for art classes

Art classes may fit 094 Creative Art Program, or 525 if the class is more about recreation and social time than the art itself.

Regional center vendor for music teachers

Group music classes usually look at 525. Private lessons can count too: DDS told regional centers they shall not prohibit 1:1 services, including private lessons, for social recreation.

Regional center vendor for camps

Camps usually look at 850 Camping Services. DDS's short standardized packet covers both social recreation and camp vendorizations.

Scope note: we don't help with therapist codes 691 through 694, which cover credentialed art, dance, music and recreational therapists, or any licensed service. Those carry different requirements.

When you don't need vendorization at all

This is the part most people never hear about.

DDS says social recreation, camp and non-medical therapies may be purchased through a Financial Management Service under service code 459 when the provider is not vendored by the regional center and the provider's service is predominantly delivered to individuals who do not receive regional center services. DDS lists dance studios as an example alongside city and county parks programs and the YMCA. If both conditions are met, regional center vendorization is not required — for the provider or the family.

What that means for you:

• No vendor application. The family works with Inland Regional Center and their FMS. You keep running your studio.
• Your normal billing. DDS told regional centers these payments should line up with how local businesses normally get paid.
• The mostly-general-public test. This works when most of the people you serve are not regional center clients. If you plan to build a program mainly for people Inland Regional Center serves, vendoring is probably the better path.
• The family drives it, not you. Their Individual Program Plan authorizes the service and they pick an FMS agency from Inland Regional Center's approved list. Your part is registering with whichever agency they use — usually a W-9, a copy of your business license, and that agency's own forms. Inland Regional Center maintains the approved list and a service coordinator can share it.

Your rate

How you get paid depends on who's in the room.

• Usual and Customary. If you charge the general public a regular rate, and at least 30% of the people using your service are not regional center clients, a regional center may pay your Usual and Customary rate. DDS names dance studios as an example. In plain English: what you already charge everyone else.
• The DDS 525 rate. For 525 providers who don't meet that test, DDS publishes set rates by regional center, paid per billable hour. We don't quote a number here because we couldn't confirm the current figure. Check the DDS Department Set Rates page or ask Inland Regional Center.

For 525, DDS no longer issues a separate rate letter.