Change Your Spending Plan
Once your Spending Plan is approved, it becomes your budget ceiling for the year — you and your support team are responsible for making sure your actual costs don’t go over what was approved.
If your needs or costs change during the year — a new vendor, more hours, or a rate increase — talk with your Regional Center about updating your Spending Plan before the new cost begins. Changes cannot be applied retroactively, so it’s best to request updates as soon as you know something needs to change.
Reasons to Update Your Spending Plan (and get approvals)
- A service category will run out of funds before the plan year ends
- You’ve identified a new service or vendor
- A service is ending and you want to reuse those funds elsewhere
- Your needs have changed in a meaningful way
- Note that you may need to get approvals if you’re shifting budget from one named provider to another in the SAME service code. Check with your FMS.
The Mandatory Review Rules
Previously, participants could move small amounts of money between budget categories independently. The guidelines now dictate:
- Prior Approval Required: You must receive approval from your regional center or your Individual Program Plan (IPP) team before any transfer of funds can be executed.
- No Percentage Exceptions: Do not rely on historical “10% rules”. Moving money between different service codes or the three major budget categories requires formal documentation.
- Flexible Timing: You can initiate a spending plan modification at any time during your current budget year.
Steps to Revise Your Spending Plan
- Calculate the Shift: Work with your Independent Facilitator (IF) or family to determine exactly which service codes are decreasing and which are increasing. Your total spending plan must still equal your overall certified Individual Budget.
- Submit a Revised Draft: Update your SDP spending plan spreadsheet and send the proposal to your Regional Center Service Coordinator.
- Update the IPP: Your coordinator will formalize the change. For minor adjustments, this is typically handled via an IPP Addendum. Significant changes to your core services may require convening a brief IPP team meeting.
- Three-Day Clock for FMS: Once the IPP team finalizes and certifies your modified spending plan, the regional center must notify and send authorizations to your Financial Management Service (FMS) vendor within 3 business days.
Key Triggers for an Adjustment
You should actively adjust your spending plan if you encounter any of the following scenarios:
- Wage and Rate Changes: Your employee’s pay must be adjusted for local minimum wage increases, or a vendored program changes its fees due to state rate reforms.
- Underutilized Funds: Your monthly expenditure reports from your FMS show you are underspending in one category, allowing you to reallocate those funds to an unmet goal.
- Life Transitions: You switch from a traditional classroom setting to community-integrated job training, requiring a completely different set of staff or vendor codes.
For template modifications or detailed category definitions, review the DDS SDP Directives Page or request a current monthly statement directly from your FMS provider.