Westside Regional Center (WRC) serves the Inglewood and Santa Monica-West health districts of Los Angeles County, under the Lanterman Act WIC §4500, free at any family income. That covers roughly 21 cities and neighborhoods from Malibu and Pacific Palisades down through Santa Monica, Venice, Culver City and West LA to Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale and El Segundo. WRC publishes the ZIP codes it covers and a map — the fastest way in Los Angeles to know whether a center is yours.
Is Westside my regional center?
Almost everywhere in California, your county names your regional center. Los Angeles County is split among seven of them, and the split follows health districts — an administrative map with no street signs. So “I live in Los Angeles” answers nothing: the City of Los Angeles is divided among several centers, and Westside holds only the coastal slice of it (Venice, Mar Vista, Westchester, West LA, Pacific Palisades, Bel Air, Playa del Rey).
Westside makes this easier than most. Its service-area page lists the cities and the ZIP codes it covers, with a downloadable map:
Westside Regional Center — service area, ZIP list and map →Cities on Westside’s own list: Bel Air · Beverly Hills · Calabasas · Culver City · El Segundo · Gardena · Hawthorne · Inglewood · Lawndale · Lennox · Los Angeles · Malibu · Marina del Rey · Mar Vista · Pacific Palisades · Playa del Rey · Santa Monica · Topanga Canyon · Venice · Westchester · West Los Angeles
Check the ZIP, not the city. Some of these names sit on a seam. Gardena, for example, is on Westside’s list and also borders Harbor Regional Center’s Torrance district and South Central LA’s Southwest district. A city name that appears on two centers’ lists is not a contradiction — the health district line runs through the city, and your ZIP or street address decides.
If you are still unsure, three checks, best first: our Regional Center finder; the state’s directory at DDS Regional Center listings; or a call to WRC with your street address in front of you. If it is not their area, they will name the center that is — a five-minute call instead of a six-week detour.
How does intake start here?
Start at WRC’s intake page or call the main line and say: “I’d like to request an intake and assessment for my child for Regional Center eligibility.” Lead with your child’s age — under 3 routes to Early Start on a 45-day clock, 3 and older to standard Lanterman intake. Then write down the date you contacted them. That date starts every deadline below.
WRC’s office is in El Segundo, near the airport. From Malibu or Topanga that is a serious drive, especially at the hours schools let out. Ask on the first call whether the intake interview can happen by phone or video — the answer varies, and asking costs nothing.
Bring what exists, not what you wish existed:
- Pediatrician notes, referrals, developmental screening results
- Any evaluation — speech, occupational therapy, psychological, hearing
- Preschool or school records; an IEP or IFSP if there is one
- Your own written description of a hard day, in specifics rather than adjectives
A diagnosis helps and is not required to start. The center funds its own assessments at no cost to you, so a missing report is not a reason to wait another month.
What is Westside on the clock for?
15 working days from your request to initial intake WIC §4642. 120 days from intake to a completed assessment — 60 days where delay would risk your child’s health, safety, or development WIC §4643. Under 3: 45 days from referral for the Early Start evaluation and assessment 17 CCR §52086. Then 60 days from the completed assessment to the written plan WIC §4646.
Same at all 21 centers, and they run from your request rather than from whenever a file gets opened. If a clock passes, put it in writing — the date you contacted them, the statute, and a request for a decision date. Centers respond to parents who know the deadline.
Eligibility at 3 and older means a developmental disability that began before 18 and is a “substantial disability” — significant functional limits in 3 or more of 7 life areas WIC §4512. Under age 5, ask about provisional eligibility by name: it needs limits in at least 2 of those areas instead of 3 WIC §4512. Many parents of 3- and 4-year-olds are never told that second door exists.
Nobody grows up knowing what health district they live in. If you have already called one center and been told you belong to another, you did not do anything wrong — you ran into a boundary that the county drew for public health decades ago and never redrew for families. Get the ZIP checked once, write down which center is yours, and you never have to think about it again.
What if Westside says no?
A denial must arrive as a written Notice of Action. An informal no over the phone is not a decision and starts no clock — ask for it in writing, every time. From the written notice you have 60 days to request a hearing WIC §4710.5. Read the dates on your own notice and calendar them the day it arrives.
Help is free. The Office of Clients’ Rights Advocacy (OCRA), part of Disability Rights California, provides advocates who handle regional center appeals throughout Los Angeles County at no cost to families.
How to appeal a Regional Center denial →You checked the ZIP instead of trusting the city name, and you dated the request. Those two habits carry you through the rest of this system.