California opens a parallel services stack.
Do not wait for one agency to finish before starting the next. School, Regional Center, Medi-Cal, and IHSS each have their own doorway and clock.
day one
intake
benefits path
Run week one in parallel.
The family that moves fastest usually is not the family with the perfect file. It is the family that starts every doorway, keeps dates, and sends records before anyone asks twice.
Hand over the current IEP and ask for comparable services while records move.
Call the regional center for your new county and ask exactly what records to send.
Apply for Medi-Cal, then start IHSS as soon as Medi-Cal is in motion.
What can open when you arrive
Think of this as four tracks to start at the same time, not one line to stand in. Your job in week one is to open every doorway and keep the dates.
School IEP
Enroll and hand over the current IEP so comparable services can start while records move.
Regional Center
Call the center for your new county and ask how to start intake and send records.
Medi-Cal
Apply once you have a California address. Medicaid does not transfer between states.
IHSS
Start the county IHSS application as soon as Medi-Cal is in motion.
Regional Center: an entitlement, not an interest list
California's developmental services run through a network of regional centers under the Lanterman Act. Eligibility is determined by assessment, not rationed through a years-long list: an eligible child receives services through an Individual Program Plan, the IPP. The system is state funded rather than a federal means-tested program, and it is open to all California residents regardless of immigration status. Once your child is found eligible by one regional center, that eligibility is portable for any future move within the state (Welfare and Institutions Code section 4643.5(a)).
Find the regional center that serves your new county and call for intake in your first week. Bring records: evaluations, the IEP, medical documentation. The eligibility determination is California's to make, but the records speed it.
IHSS: paid in-home care, including parent providers
California's In-Home Supportive Services program pays for in-home care hours for eligible children, assessed by the county and paid at county-set hourly rates. In many cases a parent can be the paid provider. IHSS runs through Medi-Cal, which sets the order of operations below.
Medi-Cal: apply on arrival
Medicaid does not transfer between states, so apply for Medi-Cal as soon as you have a California address. Regional Center intake does not wait for Medi-Cal, since the Lanterman Act is not means-tested, so run the two in parallel. IHSS, on the other hand, runs through Medi-Cal, so the practical order is Medi-Cal application first, IHSS application once Medi-Cal is in motion.
The school: comparable services from day one
If your child has an IEP from another state and enrolls in a California school within the same school year, the district, in consultation with you, must provide services comparable to the existing IEP until it conducts an evaluation, if it decides one is needed, and develops a new IEP (34 CFR 300.323(f)). The new district must take reasonable steps to promptly obtain records and the old district must take reasonable steps to promptly respond (34 CFR 300.323(g)); hand-carry copies anyway. If you arrive over the summer, the protection is the requirement that an IEP be in effect for every eligible child when school begins (34 CFR 300.323(a)), so contact the district when you arrive, not when school starts. In California the team is simply called the IEP team.
The one thing you may be giving up
If you are leaving Texas: time on the HCS and TxHmL interest lists requires Texas residency, with one exception. Families who move because of active military service, with Texas maintained as the home of record, keep their position (HHSC LIDDA Handbook, Section 7000). For everyone else, leaving Texas means losing the accumulated wait, and returning means a new date. Whatever state you are leaving, ask what happens to any waiver list position before you go.
What to carry into California
Current IEP, evaluations, service logs, progress reports, Prior Written Notices, and old district contact information.
Diagnoses, therapy records, provider letters, prescriptions, equipment authorizations, and recent assessments.
New address, proof of identity, current benefits, waiver-list dates, and written notes about what your old state says happens when you leave.
Start every doorway and keep the dates.
- Enroll in school and hand over the IEP; request records from the old district in writing the same day.
- Call the regional center for your county and ask for intake.
- Apply for Medi-Cal.
- Once Medi-Cal is in motion, apply for IHSS through the county.
- Keep every confirmation; the dates you start these matter later.
Calling Regional Center
"We moved to your catchment area. How do I start intake for my child, and what records should I send first?"
Enrolling in school
"Here is the current IEP. Please provide comparable services while records are requested and the team decides whether a new evaluation is needed."
Starting Medi-Cal and IHSS
"I am applying for Medi-Cal and want to start IHSS as soon as eligibility is in motion. What should I submit first?"
Wayfound knows California's programs county by county, including every county's IHSS wage rate, and can walk your family through the first-week stack. Start free.
Related guides
- Moving counties in California: what transfers, what changes, what never to close
- Moving from California to Texas with a child with a disability
- Prior Written Notice: the letter the school owes you
- IEP eligibility: the 13 categories in parent language
Sources and verification
This guide was verified against the primary sources in June 2026:
- Lanterman Act, Welfare and Institutions Code Division 4.5
- Welfare and Institutions Code section 4643.5, Regional Center eligibility portability
- 34 CFR 300.323, IEP transfer requirements (eCFR, verified June 2026)
- HHSC LIDDA Handbook, Section 7000
Wayfound provides information, not legal or medical advice.