Summary: Service code 099 is a Participant-Directed Service (PDS) that pays for coaching and training from an Independent Facilitator of your choosing to help you complete enrollment in the Self-Determination Program (SDP). Your regional center authorizes the service; FMS Pay pays your facilitator. FMS Pay vendor number: PY4656.
If you have completed your Self-Determination Program orientation but have not yet enrolled, your regional center can authorize paid coaching and training to walk you through the rest of the process.
The full name of the service is General Self-Directed & Pre-Enrollment Transition Supports. In practice, it pays a qualified Independent Facilitator to work with you one-on-one on the steps between orientation and active SDP enrollment — understanding your options, building your person-centered plan, developing your individual budget, and preparing for the meetings along the way.
Up to 40 hours of authorized coaching and training, and more in some cases. Your service coordinator writes the service, the amount of hours, and the estimated cost into your Individual Program Plan (IPP).
Nothing. The service is funded by your regional center through the POS authorization. There is no cost to you or your family, and no billing that passes through you.
This is the single most common point of confusion, so it is worth stating plainly.
Participant-Directed Services (PDS) keeps you in the traditional regional center model while letting you direct who provides certain supports. You are not enrolling in the Self-Determination Program by using service code 099 — you are using a traditional-model service to get help enrolling in SDP.
Once you complete SDP enrollment, your services move under your SDP individual budget and are managed differently. Service code 099 is the bridge, not the destination.
You choose your own Independent Facilitator. A few things to know:
Talk to your Regional Center Case Manager. Your planning team decides Participant-Directed Services is a fit.
Your service coordinator gives you the PDS Information Packet to review.
You choose FMS Pay LLC and your facilitator.
Your service coordinator sends a PDS Info Sheet with your selections to the PDS Resource Coordinator.
Your regional center authorizes 099.
The service is added to your Individual Program Plan, a Purchase of Service (POS) authorization is issued, and an approval letter goes to you and to us.
We onboard your facilitator.
We verify credentials, walk them through the forms, and give you a confirmed start date.
They invoice us. We pay them.
Direct deposit, emailed remittance notice, and activity you can see in the SDP Spark portal.
Services may not begin until the POS authorization is in place and your facilitator is cleared. Work performed before both of those are done cannot be paid.
To authorize this service with FMS Pay, you will need our vendor information:
| Vendor name | FMS Pay LLC |
| Vendor number | PY4656 |
| Type of service | FMS F/EA |
| Service code | 099 |
| Sub-code | PDS (Participant-Directed SD Supports) |
Rates for service code 099 vary by regional center. Use the rate on file with your own regional center when writing the estimated cost into the IPP.
The FMS financial management fee is authorized separately at the DDS approved rate under service code 490.
Once the POS is issued, send the approval letter and the PDS Info Sheet to connect@fmspay.com and we will begin facilitator onboarding.
No — the opposite. This service exists specifically for people who have completed SDP orientation but have not yet enrolled. It is designed to help you get there.
Yes. That is one of the main reasons this service is routed through Participant-Directed Services. Your facilitator must have completed Independent Facilitator training and have a certificate on file with us, but regional center vendorization is not required.
Talk to your service coordinator. Additional hours can be authorized in some cases, but they require a new or amended authorization before the work happens.
We do, directly, by direct deposit. Your facilitator invoices FMS Pay, we process payment, and a remittance notice is emailed to them. You can see activity in the SDP Spark portal.
The timeline depends mostly on how quickly the POS authorization is issued by your regional center. Once we have the approval letter, facilitator onboarding is typically the shorter half of the process. We will give you a confirmed start date when credentials are verified.
No. It gives you paid, qualified help to work through the decision and the process. If you decide SDP is not right for you, you remain in the traditional regional center model.
Talk to your regional center service coordinator. They will need our vendor number to authorize the service.
PDS Vendor #: PY4656
FMS Pay LLC
Web: myfmspay.com
PDS Bill pay: myfmspay.com/billpay
Email: connect@fmspay.com