DDS Language Access and Cultural Competency Reporting

The 2020-21 Budget Act included $16.7 million in ongoing funding for regional centers to improve and promote Language Access and Cultural Competency (LACC) to better support the language needs of individuals with developmental disabilities, their caregivers, and their family members.

The primary purpose of these funds is to improve consumer and family experience and to facilitate more consistent access to information and services for multi-lingual, monolingual, and diverse cultural groups.

Welfare and Institutions Code §4620.4 requires that the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) implement this initiative through its contracts with regional centers.

For additional details regarding LACC funding, please visit the Department of Developmental Services LACC page.

For more information about ELARC Community Engagement and Outreach events, please visit our Community Engagement page. 

Eastern Los Angeles Regional Center

Project Duration

FY 25/26: July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026

Allocation amount

$731,680

Project Summary 

ELARC will continue to work toward achieving more equitable outcomes for all individuals and families by improving service access and by providing services and supports in a manner that is respectful of their culture and preferred language. We will work to gain a better understanding of the needs and preferences of people served by engaging in outreach efforts utilizing person centered approaches to conduct listening sessions and interviews. We will continue to work on forming and strengthening relationships with a diverse group of community collaborators and will continue to connect with a wide cross section of the communities served by ELARC. Our Community Access Coordinators are charged with leading these efforts. We will continue to provide educational opportunities to increase their capacity to navigate the regional center system. Efforts in this area will include developing a more accessible website, enhancing our Intake Engine system, translating documents, providing interpretation services and providing educational opportunities in a variety of topics including better understanding the Individual Program Planning process and the services that are available through both the regional center and generic resources. For these efforts we will partner with Community Based Organizations who understand our community and have the ability to meet the participants’ language needs. These efforts will be completed by increasing the Service Coordinators capacity to provide case management services that are better informed and culturally competent. As part of our efforts to connect, engage, and empower people in the communities ELARC serves/supports, we will continue hosting ELARC sponsored community events such as ELARC’s Spring Palooza Resource Fair, Deaf & Hard of Hearing Resource Fair, and Emergency Preparedness & Safety Expo. In addition to these efforts, ELARC staff will continue to participate in Cultural Competency training in order to ensure effective communication and understanding of the communities served.

Ethnicity and Languages 

Ethnicities: Asian, Black/African American, Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and Hispanic