Redwood Coast Regional Center

M A

10 months ago

★★★★★

I would not recommend this provider for late diagnostic evaluations or for families seeking a thorough, respectful, and collaborative assessment process. We had an extremely frustrating and unprofessional experience during our daughter’s autism evaluation. To begin with, the administrative process was disorganized. Our application was misplaced for several weeks, it was very difficult to get in contact with anyone, and even after an appointment was confirmed, I received multiple calls attempting to schedule her evaluation (which was already scheduled). Additionally, the day before her appointment, we were told that they double booked and needed to reschedule — indicating inaccurate record-keeping. At the start of the evaluation, we were asked who referred us (our daughter’s doctor and school). When I explained that the school had repeatedly tried to contact the office via voicemail and email without response, the evaluator behaved as though I was being dishonest until I stated that I had email receipts documenting each attempt. The actual interview was incredibly brief and dismissive. After only a couple of minutes of small talk with our daughter, we were told she likely would not qualify for services. While I understand that there are diagnostic criteria, it felt as though the evaluator had already made up her mind before conducting a meaningful assessment — despite us as parents and the school strongly recommending this evaluation due to our daughter’s ongoing struggles. Throughout the interview, the evaluator repeatedly directed her body and attention exclusively toward our daughter’s father while I was answering questions, fully turning away from me and not acknowledging me while I spoke. After this happened multiple times, I asked to be acknowledged when speaking. The evaluator denied the behavior entirely and repeatedly threatened to leave the appointment rather than refocus on the evaluation. Later, she stated that she may have been directing her attention to him because “he’s actually her dad.” While I am not the biological mother, I have been the sole mother figure for our daughter for five years and was present at his request. The evaluator acknowledged that permission had been granted for me to participate, yet continued to behave dismissively. There were also multiple prolonged periods of silence where the evaluator stared at me without speaking, which was extremely uncomfortable and unprofessional. When I asked clear yes-or-no questions about next steps, I was met with silence or vague responses that did not directly answer the question. Overall, the evaluator made it very clear that this practice only supports individuals with very high support needs and consistently downplayed our daughter’s challenges throughout the visit. We left feeling unheard, dismissed, and deeply disappointed.

N O

last year

★★★★★

If you are seeking an adult autism diagnosis, do not go to RCRC. I ended up there through a psychiatric referral, and I regret not asking more questions before going to my appointment. I was just excited to finally talk to someone who is familiar with autism, and thought maybe I could benefit from such an interaction, even if they couldn’t provide diagnostic services. I was there less than 10 minutes. I was asked zero questions while being told multiple times that I am not struggling. I was unable to speak up for myself because I was very nervous, and I am not a confrontational person. It does not bother me that their services are not for me - in fact I never asked if I could receive them - I only inquired about whether or not they offer diagnostic services, which they don’t. It’s taken me almost 10 years to collect the courage, and functional stamina to seek out a diagnosis, and I left feeling like an arbitrary waste of time, space, and resources. I understand that my life is not their responsibility, but I ended up there because I am in fact struggling greatly. I think my optimism gauge needs to be re-calibrated.

K B

last year

★★★★★

My kid has been labeled autistic from 3 other professional sources and has all of the symptoms plus severe mental health issues, yet they removed her diagnosis and kicked her out of their services forever because she is verbal now and is not behind in school. They refuse to evaluate her again, even years later with new evidence. They have very outdated ideas about what autism is. It is a shame this is the only local resource. The other mental health places wouldn't continue to see her because they dont specialize in autism. This was really our last hope at getting specialized therapy.

Rick

2 years ago

★★★★★

Why does California Mentors hide its corporate identity? California Mentors is part of the Mentor Network, a private charitable foundation which changed its name a couple of years ago to Sevita, a name which cannot be identified with anything in particular. California Mentors has a local office which it calls the Redwood Coast Regional Center for a program it calls the Family Home Agency. It was even harder to determine that funding comes from the government through the Department of Social Services. Since California Mentors is funded by the taxpayers, it should be more transparent. Does the local office have a Director?

Rita Walsh

3 years ago

★★★★★

So, this is a government agency, meaning, its staff is under paid and overworked. There is a high turnover rate, and you constantly get new case workers. That said, they’ve had my son’s back for 13 years for the big issues (like assigning behaviorists and a crisis team) and the small (like hooking him up with a gym membership). My son was diagnosed in a time where the regional centers were better funded — the golden age, if you will — but the staff’s dedication to serving children, teens, and adults with disabilities hasn’t wavered.