What is a Notice of Action?
A Notice of Action (NOA) is the written decision a Regional Center must send when it denies, reduces, ends, or changes services — or decides your child isn’t eligible. California law spells out what it has to say: the action, the facts behind it, the reasons, the effective date, the specific law, regulation, or policy the center is relying on, how to appeal, and where to get free advocacy help WIC §4701. It is the document that turns a “no” into something you can appeal.
Read that list again, because it is doing more work than it looks like. An NOA cannot say “we don’t fund that.” It has to name the provision of law, regulation, or policy that supports the decision WIC §4701. Many families discover, the moment they read that box, that the stated reason is a Regional Center policy rather than a statute — which is a very different thing to argue about, and a much more winnable one.
The NOA must also tell you how to file an appeal, what your rights are during it (including an interpreter and access to your child’s records), and that free advocacy help exists, with referrals WIC §4701. If the notice you’re holding is missing pieces, say so in your appeal. A notice that doesn’t meet the statute is itself a problem.
There are timing rules on the center’s side, too. Before it reduces, ends, or changes a service in your child’s Individual Program Plan — or decides your child is no longer eligible — the center must give you at least 30 days’ advance notice WIC §4710. When it denies a service you asked for, it must send notice within 5 business days of making that decision WIC §4710. And when a change has to happen immediately for someone’s health and safety, the notice still has to arrive within 10 days after WIC §4710.
Why is “get it in writing” the most important thing on this page?
Because a verbal “no” starts no clock, creates no record, and cannot be appealed. Your appeal rights attach to the Notice of Action — the 60-day and 30-day windows both run from when you receive it WIC §4710.5 WIC §4715. Until an NOA exists, there is nothing to appeal. So when you hear no, ask one question: “Will you please send me that decision as a written Notice of Action?”
This is where more families lose services than at any hearing. The “no” almost never arrives as a formal denial. It arrives as a service coordinator saying the center doesn’t fund that, or that your child probably wouldn’t qualify, or that the budget for respite is committed this year, or simply as a request that goes unanswered for three months. None of that is a decision in the legal sense. It is also, functionally, a denial — your child doesn’t get the service either way.
So convert it. Politely, in writing, the same day:
“Thanks for talking this through with me today. So I understand the decision correctly — you’re declining to fund the 20 hours of respite I asked for at Mateo’s IPP meeting on March 3. Could you please send me a written Notice of Action for that decision? I’d like to see the reasons and the provision it’s based on. Thank you.”
Three things that email does. It creates a dated record that you asked. It tells a coordinator who may have been speaking casually that this is now a formal decision, which sometimes changes the answer on its own. And if the NOA does come, you have exactly what the statute requires it to contain — including the legal basis you’ll be arguing about WIC §4701.
If no NOA arrives, follow up in writing and name the deadline: a denial of a requested service is supposed to be noticed within 5 business days of the decision WIC §4710. Copy your service coordinator’s supervisor. And call an advocate — see below — because a center that won’t issue a notice is a center trying to keep you out of a process you are entitled to.
How long do I have to appeal?
60 days from notification of the decision to file an appeal WIC §4710.5. But if services you already receive are being reduced or ended and you want them to keep running during the appeal, your request must be postmarked or received within 30 days of receiving the notice and before the action’s effective date WIC §4715. Those are two different clocks doing two different jobs. Check the dates printed on your own NOA the day it arrives.
60 days to appeal, from notification of the decision WIC §4710.5. · 30 days — and before the effective date — to keep current services running while the appeal is pending WIC §4715. These rules took their current form on March 1, 2023 WIC §4710.5; older guides and older parents may still tell you a different number.
That March 2023 note matters. California rewrote this chapter, and a great deal of advice still circulating online — including from people who genuinely helped families for years — describes the previous rules. If a number you read somewhere doesn’t match the number on your NOA, trust your NOA and the statute.
Here’s the plain way to think about the two clocks. The 60-day window is the one that decides whether you get to appeal at all. The 30-day window is the one that decides whether your child keeps their current hours while you do. If your child has services now and the center is taking them away, treat 30 days as your real deadline — and file before the date the notice says the change takes effect, because both conditions have to be met WIC §4715.
When continuation applies, services keep running through the 10th day after the appeal ends — after you withdraw, after an informal-meeting decision stands, after mediation closes, or after you receive the final hearing or reconsideration decision WIC §4715. That tail gives you a short window to plan rather than losing the service the same afternoon.
One thing worth saying plainly: continuation is not a reason to file a weak appeal, and it is not a trick. It is a protection the Legislature built so a family isn’t forced to absorb a cut before anyone has looked at whether the cut was correct.
How do I actually file the appeal?
You file an Appeal Request form (DS 1821) with the Department of Developmental Services — not with the Regional Center. Your NOA comes with the form, and DDS also takes appeal requests online, by email, by fax, and by mail. On the form you choose which of the three processes you want: informal meeting, mediation, fair hearing — one, two, or all three WIC §4707.
Send it the way you can prove. If you mail it, the postmark is what counts for the 30-day continuation rule WIC §4715, so keep the receipt. If you email or file online, keep the confirmation. Photograph the completed form before it leaves your hands.
What to write in the “reason” box: keep it short and factual. Name the service, name the date of the NOA, and say in one or two sentences why the decision is wrong — what your child needs and what the record shows. You are not writing a brief. You are opening a door. You will have the informal meeting, the mediation, or the hearing to explain the rest, and you can add evidence later.
Do not wait until you have the perfect argument, the doctor’s letter, or a call back from an advocate. File within the window with what you have. An appeal filed on time and thin is recoverable; an appeal filed late usually is not.
What are the three ways to appeal?
An informal meeting with the Regional Center — held within 10 days, with a written decision within 5 days after WIC §4710.6 WIC §4710.7. Mediation with a neutral mediator — held within 30 days WIC §4711.5. And a fair hearing before an independent hearing officer — held within 50 days, decided within 80 days of your request WIC §4712 WIC §4712.5. You pick one or more on the form WIC §4707.
| Path | Who decides | The clock | Best when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Informal meeting | The Regional Center’s own director or designee | Meeting within 10 days; written decision within 5 days after WIC §4710.6 WIC §4710.7 | The dispute is a misunderstanding, a missing document, or a fixable gap |
| Mediation | Nobody — you and the center reach an agreement, or you don’t | Held within 30 days of your request WIC §4711.5 | Both sides want a deal a hearing officer couldn’t design |
| Fair hearing | An independent hearing officer, legally trained, not connected to your center | Hearing within 50 days; decision within 10 business days of the hearing and no later than 80 days from your request WIC §4712 WIC §4712.5 | The disagreement is real, the center isn’t moving, and you need a binding order |
The informal meeting is the cheapest thing you will ever do in this system. It is a conversation with the center’s director or their designee, scheduled at a mutually agreed time within 10 days of the department receiving your request WIC §4710.6, and you get the outcome in writing within 5 days of the meeting WIC §4710.7. A surprising share of denials die here — because the person across from you actually reads the file, or because a document nobody had was sitting in your kitchen drawer. Bring the records. Bring one page of what you want.
Mediation is a neutral, non-binding conversation aimed at an agreement. The mediator must be familiar with the Lanterman Act and must not be in the business of providing or supervising services for regional centers WIC §4711.5. They may meet with each side separately and speak confidentially with either of you to help find a resolution WIC §4711.5. Either party may withdraw after the first session and go on to a fair hearing WIC §4711.5 — so trying mediation does not trap you.
The fair hearing is the binding one. It’s held within 50 days of your request unless you ask for a continuance WIC §4712. Any relevant evidence is admitted, both sides put documents in at the start, and position statements and witness lists are exchanged at least two business days beforehand WIC §4712. If English isn’t your preferred language, the hearing office provides an interpreter WIC §4712. The hearing officer has legal training and no connection to your Regional Center or financial interest in the outcome WIC §4712.
Will the Regional Center bring a lawyer?
Usually it cannot. A Regional Center or department attorney may not attend an informal meeting, mediation, or fair hearing unless you are yourself an attorney or you will have one present WIC §4705.5. If you do bring counsel, you tell the center and the hearing office 5 days before mediation or 15 days before a fair hearing WIC §4705.5. A hearing officer may allow an attorney “in the interest of justice,” with advance notice to both sides WIC §4705.5.
This rule exists to keep the table level, and it is one of the best things about the Lanterman appeal process. You are not walking into a room where a public agency’s lawyer questions you while you sit alone. If you go without counsel, they go without counsel.
That does not mean you should go alone. You may be represented by an advocate or another supporter at the hearing WIC §4712, and a free, experienced advocate is very different from an attorney for the purposes of this rule. Which brings us to the part of this page most worth acting on today.
Who will help me for free?
The Office of Clients’ Rights Advocacy (OCRA), part of Disability Rights California, provides free advice and representation to Regional Center clients across all 21 centers, including in meetings and hearings. Your Notice of Action is required to tell you that free advocacy exists and to give you referrals WIC §4701. Call before you file if you can — but file on time either way.
OCRA advocates do this work every week. They know which arguments move a particular center, what a hearing officer wants to see, and how to read the “legal basis” box on your NOA. Their help costs nothing, and using it is not an escalation — it is the ordinary way this process is meant to run.
You can reach OCRA through Disability Rights California’s OCRA page, which lists local offices by region. Disability Rights California is California’s federally mandated protection and advocacy organization. We link to them as a resource; the law on this page comes from the statute, so you can check us against it.
Two other free supports worth knowing: your Regional Center’s own clients’ rights advocate, whose contact information the center must post, and California’s Family Resource Centers and Family Empowerment Centers, which help parents prepare for meetings.
What if the hearing officer rules against me?
The fair hearing decision is the final administrative decision and binds both sides WIC §4712.5. You have two moves left. Within 15 days of the final decision, you may ask for reconsideration — a correction of a mistake of fact, law, or a clerical error WIC §4713. And within 180 days of receiving the final decision, either party may appeal to a court WIC §4712.5. Reconsideration is optional; it is not a prerequisite for going to court WIC §4713.
Reconsideration is narrow by design. It is for “we got a date wrong,” “the decision applied the wrong section,” or “the officer overlooked the evaluation in the record” — not for “I disagree.” If that’s your situation, it is fast and free, and services continue unchanged while it is reviewed WIC §4713.
Court is a different order of commitment. Going to a court of competent jurisdiction within 180 days WIC §4712.5 means retaining counsel, and that is the point on this ladder where a lawyer stops being optional. Talk to OCRA or Disability Rights California first; they will tell you honestly whether your record supports it.
There is also a quieter option that families forget. A denial decided on today’s facts is not permanent. You can request a new Individual Program Plan meeting when circumstances change — a new diagnosis, a new evaluation, a crisis, a school change — and ask again with new evidence. A good independent evaluation, a physician’s letter, or a documented month of what your family’s days actually look like changes the case. Read how to prepare for an IPP meeting and come back to that table with the record you wish you’d had.
And if your child is also in special education, the school system has its own, entirely separate ladder with different deadlines and different forms — see the IEP dispute ladder. Winning one does not decide the other, and a service denied by one system is sometimes owed by the other.