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Moving counties in California: what transfers, what changes, what never to close

A move within California is the most protected move a family raising a child with a disability can make. Nothing has to close. But every program transfers on its own clock, through its own office, and the families who get hurt are usually the ones who closed something to keep it simple. Here is what actually happens, program by program.

Verified June 2026
Fast mental model

A California county move is a handoff, not a restart.

Your job is to notify early, keep every case open, and make each office use its transfer process. The danger is not the move itself. The danger is closing a case to "make it easier."

Old county
active case
Transfer process
no closure
New county
continue
Move strategy

Run the move like four parallel transfers.

One address change can touch four systems. Treat each one as its own handoff with its own worker, records, and clock.

1 Notify in writing

Send the new address and move date before the move whenever possible.

2 Name the worker

Ask who is handling the transfer in the sending and receiving offices.

3 Calendar the clock

Track the deadlines so you know when a follow-up is overdue.

The one rule above all the others

Never close or withdraw anything yourself. Every program below has a transfer process whose entire purpose is that you do not start over. A closed case means a new application, a new wait, and sometimes a new fight for services you already won. If anyone, including a county worker, suggests closing and reapplying to make things easier, ask them to point you to the transfer process instead. It exists in every one of these programs.

Program map

What moves, what changes, what to watch

Use this matrix as the move dashboard. The detailed sections below explain the legal clock and source behind each row.

IHSS

Formal county handoff

What moves
The active IHSS case and existing authorization.
Clock to watch
Receiving county has 30 calendar days to process the transfer.
Do not do
Do not close and reapply.
Medi-Cal

Eligibility stays active

What moves
The county of responsibility, not a brand-new application.
Clock to watch
Report within 10 days; plan timing can stretch close to two months.
Do not do
Do not skip the managed care plan seam.
Regional Center

Eligibility is portable

What moves
Eligibility and the IPP protections.
Clock to watch
New IPP meeting within 30 days if services differ.
Do not do
Do not absorb a center-to-center dispute as your problem.
IEP

Comparable services

What moves
The current IEP as the starting point for comparable services.
Clock to watch
Same-school-year transfer protections, or school-year-start readiness.
Do not do
Do not wait for records before handing over your own copy.

IHSS: a formal transfer with a 30-day clock

IHSS does not end at the county line. It moves through a formal Inter-County Transfer, called an ICT (All-County Letter 12-36 defines the process). Tell your current county's IHSS office as soon as you know you are moving, with the new address and the move date. The two counties handle the transfer between themselves, and the receiving county has 30 calendar days to process it (All-County Letter 25-84, issued November 20, 2025). The case transfers rather than closing, and hours continue under the existing authorization through the transfer.

Your file travels with the case. The transferring county must send your documentation, including the SOC 873 Health Care Certification, to the new county, so you should not be asked to redo eligibility paperwork just because you moved (All-County Letter 14-86). Reassessments stay on their normal cycle: a move does not reset the clock, and counties are instructed to time the transfer around your reassessment due date.

Two things do change. Provider wages are set county by county, so the hourly rate becomes the new county's rate. And if your provider is moving with you, ask the new county's IHSS office before the move what enrollment steps the provider needs to complete there, so paychecks are not interrupted. If nothing has happened 30 calendar days into the transfer, call the receiving county and reference the 30-day ICT window.

Medi-Cal: no reapplication, but watch the plan seam

Moving counties does not require a new Medi-Cal application. Federal policy bars counties from making you reapply or redo your eligibility determination just because you moved, and your case must stay active throughout the transfer with no interruption in benefits. The receiving county gets what it needs from the sending county, not from you.

Report the move within 10 days to either county. Then know the real timeline: counties have until the first day of the next available benefit month following 30 days after you report to complete the transfer (Welfare and Institutions Code section 10003(a)), which can stretch close to two months. Reporting immediately is what keeps that window short.

The part that bites families is managed care, not eligibility. Your plan in the old county ends on the last day of a month, and you enroll in a plan in the new county. In between, the old plan generally covers only emergency care and family planning in the new county. So schedule non-urgent appointments around the switch, and as soon as you are enrolled, ask the new plan about continuity of care for any treatment your child is in the middle of.

Two more rules. Temporary moves, like a parent away caring for a relative, do not transfer the case; report a temporary address instead. And if your child has a CCS case, it transfers under its own DHCS policy with the same no-interruption protection and the same outer time bound (DHCS Numbered Letter 10-1123). Ask the new county's CCS program whether it is a Whole Child Model county, because that decides who coordinates care after the move.

Regional Center: eligibility is portable, and the IPP carries

California law makes Regional Center eligibility portable statewide. A child found eligible by one regional center is eligible at any other regional center after a move within the state (Welfare and Institutions Code section 4643.5(a)). Eligibility continues unless a comprehensive reassessment finds the original determination clearly erroneous, which is a high bar.

The IPP carries too. The level and types of services in the existing IPP must be authorized and secured, if available, pending a new IPP. If a service does not exist in the new area, the new regional center must hold a meeting to develop a new IPP within 30 days, and provide alternative services that best meet the IPP's objectives in the meantime (section 4643.5(c)). The sending regional center must immediately send the transfer notice and planning records, and disagreements between the two centers are theirs to resolve under the state's transfer guidelines, not yours to absorb.

One honest caveat: regional centers differ in how they purchase services, so the same IPP can be implemented differently in a new catchment area. Your protections are the service level pending the new IPP, the 30-day meeting, and your right to disagree through the IPP process if the new center proposes less.

The IEP: comparable services from day one

If your child enrolls in a new school district within the same school year, federal law requires the new district, in consultation with you, to provide services comparable to the existing IEP until it either adopts that IEP or develops a new one (34 CFR 300.323(e)). The new district must take reasonable steps to promptly obtain your child's records, and the old district must take reasonable steps to promptly respond (34 CFR 300.323(g)). Bring your own copy of the IEP to enrollment anyway; promptly goes faster when the document is already on the table.

If you move over the summer, the rule that protects you is broader: every district must have an IEP in effect for every eligible child in its jurisdiction at the beginning of the school year (34 CFR 300.323(a)). Contact the new district as soon as you arrive rather than waiting for August.

Move packet

The records that make the transfer real

Service proof

Current IHSS hours, SOC 873, Regional Center IPP, Medi-Cal card, CCS records, and managed care plan details.

School proof

Current IEP, assessment reports, service logs, progress reports, and the new enrollment address.

Transfer proof

Written move notices, worker names, dates sent, confirmation numbers, and follow-up notes.

Next move

Calendar the transfers before the move gets busy.

  1. Notify every program in writing before the move, with the new address and the move date.
  2. Ask each office for the name of the worker handling the transfer.
  3. Calendar the clocks: 30 days for the IHSS transfer, the next-benefit-month bound for Medi-Cal, 30 days for the Regional Center IPP meeting if services differ.
  4. Schedule medical appointments around the managed care plan switch.
  5. Keep copies of everything, and close nothing.
If someone says close and reapply

"Please show me the transfer process for this program. I do not want to close an active case."

If IHSS is quiet after the move

"I am following up on the Inter-County Transfer. Can you confirm the receiving county has the file and the 30-day processing window?"

If school records lag

"Here is my copy of the current IEP. Please provide comparable services while records are requested from the prior district."

Wayfound tracks these programs for your family, knows every county's IHSS wage rate, and reads the notices a move generates. Start free.

Related guides

Sources and verification

This guide was verified against the primary sources in June 2026:

Wayfound provides information, not legal or medical advice.