Who does RCEB serve?
RCEB serves families living in Alameda and Contra Costa counties — Oakland, Fremont, Hayward, Berkeley, Concord, Richmond, and every community in between. It is one of the 21 regional center territories created by the Lanterman Act WIC §4500 Services are provided regardless of your income, and your home address is what decides which center is yours.
Two counties is a small territory by California standards, and it makes RCEB unusually navigable: one main office in Alameda County, one in Contra Costa County, and no ambiguity about which regional center you belong to if you live in the East Bay. If you live just over a county line — in Solano, Napa, San Joaquin, or across a bridge — you belong to a different center, so check first with our Regional Center finder.
Which intake door is mine — Early Start or over 3?
RCEB splits intake by age, and the two routes do not share a queue. Birth to 3 goes to the Early Start intake line, which has its own phone number, its own email inbox, and its own fax. Age 3 and older goes to the Intake Coordinator for over-three services, with a different number and inbox. Both routes also accept an online inquiry form.
This is the most practical local fact on this page. A message left on the wrong line does not usually bounce — it gets forwarded, eventually, and “eventually” is the enemy here. So before you call, know two things: your child’s age today, and which door that puts you at.
The current numbers, addresses, and inquiry form all live on RCEB’s own eligibility page. We link rather than reprint them, because a number we copy today is a number that can be wrong next spring, and the main line at the top of this page will always transfer you.
RCEB: Am I eligible? — both intake routes →How does intake work, step by step?
Say this: “I’d like to request an intake and assessment for my child.” No diagnosis, no doctor’s referral, and no lawyer is required to start. For children 3 and older, eligibility turns on substantial disability — significant functional limits in 3 or more major life areas, from a disability that began before age 18 WIC §4512. Under 3, Early Start uses broader criteria and no label is needed.
- Contact the right intake route and record the date. That date starts every clock below. Ask for written confirmation of it — an email reply is enough.
- Gather what you have. Pediatrician notes, evaluation or diagnostic reports, an IEP or IFSP, preschool or daycare observations, and your own written list of daily struggles. A missing document is not a reason to wait.
- Do the intake interview honestly. Describe your hardest days, not your child’s best ones. Assessors are measuring function across those major life areas — self-care, language, learning, mobility, self-direction, independent living, economic self-sufficiency.
- Ask for the decision in writing. If your child is found eligible, you move to the Individual Program Plan (IPP), which the law says must be completed within 60 days of the assessment being finished WIC §4646. If not, you are owed a written Notice of Action with the reason and your appeal rights.
Initial intake: 15 working days from your request WIC §4642. Assessment: 120 days from intake — 60 days where delay would put your child at risk WIC §4643. Under 3: 45 days from referral for evaluation and the first plan. IPP: 60 days after the assessment is complete WIC §4646.
Where will meetings actually happen?
RCEB’s main office is in San Leandro (Alameda County) and it runs a second office in Concord (Contra Costa County). Which one you deal with generally follows which county you live in. Ask at intake and write down the office and your coordinator’s name.
RCEB’s eligibility page lists only the San Leandro address for intake, so it’s not clear from published sources whether Contra Costa families do intake through Concord or through San Leandro — confirm which one applies to you when you call.
Meetings are your meetings. You can bring anyone you like — a partner, a friend, a relative, an advocate — and you can ask for the meeting to be held in your preferred language. That last one is a legal duty, not a favor: the planning process must be conducted in your language, and the plan must be given to you in it WIC §4646. RCEB publishes its information packets in Spanish, Korean, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Tagalog, and Vietnamese, and points families to the state for more.
What is the same everywhere, and what is local?
| Same at every regional center | Local to RCEB |
|---|---|
| The 3-of-7 substantial disability standard WIC §4512 | Two intake doors split by age, each with its own line, inbox, and fax |
| The intake, assessment, and IPP clocks WIC §4642 WIC §4643 WIC §4646 | Two offices — San Leandro and Concord — roughly along county lines |
| A denial must arrive as a written Notice of Action | Which East Bay providers and vendors have openings near you |
| Your right to the whole process in your preferred language WIC §4646 | Respite baselines and purchase-of-service patterns — DDS publishes this data annually; ask your service coordinator for current local numbers |
Be careful with the word “local” when a coordinator uses it. “That’s not something we fund here” is a statewide claim dressed as a local one, and the Lanterman Act does not let a center run out of an entitlement. If you hear it, ask for it in writing.
What if RCEB says no?
Ask for the Notice of Action in writing — a “no” on the phone is not a decision and starts no clock. From the day you receive that notice, you have 60 days to request an informal meeting, mediation, or a fair hearing WIC §4710.5. If a service your child already receives is being reduced or stopped and you want it to continue during the appeal, that request must be in within 30 days of receiving the notice WIC §4715.
Two dates, written on the notice itself, the day it arrives. Then call for free help: the Office of Clients’ Rights Advocacy (OCRA), part of Disability Rights California, staffs advocates who take Lanterman Act appeals for families at no charge.
How to appeal a Regional Center denial, step by step →