Pick what your child needs. Each one shows where to ask, in order, and what to say.
Your child's doctor decides what your child needs. Each program decides who qualifies.
The whole road
6 steps, in order. You do not finish one before you start the next. Tap a step to open it.
Today
Skipped for now.
Skipped for now.
Skipped for now.
At or under the limitYour side
Over, or not sureYour side
Both sides
Skipped for now.
Start with part 1. The rest are separate asks, in any order.
Skipped for now.
4Soon, step 4: Help at schoolThis starts at age 3. Step 1, part 7 covers planning for it.
Skipped for now.
Skipped for now.
HELPfor your childSteps 1 to 4
MONEYfor their careSteps 5 and 6
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Your child's plan
Your road, in your order — what's done, what's next. Built on this phone from your check marks. Free, and it never leaves this device.
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The What-to-Say Kit
Every form filled in. Every call scripted. What to say when they say no.
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Every form, with an example filled in
What to say on each call — and what to say if they say no
Your county's numbers and every deadline
Deadline reminders as calendar files for your phone
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Nobody can promise a result. Each agency decides after you apply.
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UNVERIFIED: do not rely on these yet
Help at school (step 4): the time limits and the steps of a school disagreement. The only source read is the California Department of Education, which is outside the approved source list: https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/se/pssummary.asp
Help at school (step 4): whether the request must be in writing, and what the school's first form is called. The page that was read does not say.
Covered California prices, financial help, and rules. Its website is outside the approved source list. The state's Medi-Cal apply page links to it.
Whether the separate county program for children above the income limit (San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara; up to 322% in older state documents) is open in 2026.
The date of the state chart that gives 266% for children. The chart is undated. The 2026 dollar figures come from the dated 2026 chart.
Provisional eligibility for Regional Center services: the age range. The state's eligibility page says birth to four years of age, and its February 2025 guide says under age 5. The panels use those 2. Another state page that was read says ages 3 and 4 only.
How timesheet approval works when the person getting care is a child, and when pay arrives.
How each county takes applications for paid care at home (by phone, online, or on paper). Only the state's general instruction was confirmed.
What each health insurance plan, Regional Center, school, or county office offers in step 3 (ABA and behavior help), beyond what the state's Medi-Cal page says. What private insurance plans cover was not checked.
Whether a parent paid as caregiver is covered by Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment insurance (carried over from the benefits list).
The monthly hour limit for Protective Supervision (carried over from the benefits list).
The order of the Medi-Cal application and the Regional Center's waiver referral. A 2023 state letter, written about spouses, says that for children the county must first determine Medi-Cal with the family members included. No page that was read gives the Regional Center's own order.
What counts as a qualifying condition and a qualifying service for the Regional Center way into Medi-Cal (step 2, part 4). The state page that lists them was written for the Self-Determination Program and does not define them. Whether a class or a parent conference counts comes from 1 Regional Center, not from an official page.
Whether a child under 3 who is in Early Start can use the Regional Center way into Medi-Cal. No page that was read says.
Social Security's income rules for a child in California. Its chart for children does not apply here, and no California figures were found on the pages read.
What the Health Insurance Premium Payment program pays. Its page lists conditions but does not say plainly what it pays.
The newest state chart of income and deduction types. The state website lists a version posted in April 2026, but its link did not open. The chart that was read has a revision date of September 4, 2020, so its list of what is subtracted may be out of date.
Whether the 266% limit for children already includes the 5% income disregard that federal Medicaid rules describe. No state page that was read says.
The minutes in the list of 3 things to start today (about 15, 30, and 10) are placeholders. Nobody has timed them, and no official page that was searched gives a time. The owners need to replace them with real times.
CarePayGuide is independent. It is not a government agency. This map is general information. It is not legal, tax, medical, or financial advice, and it is not a decision about whether any family qualifies for anything. For each program, the agency that runs it decides, after you apply. Rules change. Always check the linked official page and ask the agency.
Draft, not ready for families. Program facts were read on the linked official pages with an artificial intelligence research tool from October 4 to 8, 2026. No person and no outside expert or lawyer has checked them yet.
Draft note: this part uses a source outside the approved list.
What this is
What it can get you
Exactly what to do
What happens next
Which side are you on?Over the limit does not always mean no. That side has the Regional Center way, which does not count the parents' income.Your choice is saved on this device only.
Official sources
Draft. General information, not legal, tax, medical, or financial advice. Each agency decides who qualifies. No expert has checked this yet.