Support for everyday life. More independence, your way.
bttr Living supports adults 18 and older with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including autistic adults, and the families who stand beside them. We provide services through Regional Center of the East Bay and Golden Gate Regional Center, and through the Self Determination Program at every regional center in California. Start with what you want help with. We will help you find the service name and the funding path.
Free consultation, in English or Spanish. (510) 709 5809, seven days a week, 9am to 9pm.
What support does bttr Living provide for adults with developmental disabilities?
bttr Living is a vendored service provider for adults 18 and older with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the San Francisco Bay Area. We teach everyday skills such as cooking, budgeting, planning, transit, and communication through Independent Living Services, we help families coordinate supports and resources through Coordinated Family Support, and we provide ongoing in home support through Supported Living Services. Traditional services are funded by Regional Center of the East Bay (Alameda and Contra Costa counties) and, for Coordinated Family Support, by Golden Gate Regional Center (San Francisco, San Mateo, and Marin counties). Participants in California's Self Determination Program can include bttr services in their spending plan at any regional center. Services depend on regional center eligibility and authorization, or on an approved Self Determination plan.
What would you like help with?
You do not need to know the name of a service. Pick what sounds like your day, and we will point you to the service that usually fits. Final fit always depends on your goals, your assessment, and your regional center or Self Determination plan.
Optional. Choosing one adjusts the examples below.
Cooking and home routines
Mornings feel chaotic, meals are mostly takeout, and laundry piles up.
- Planning a week of simple meals and shopping for them
- Building a morning and evening routine that sticks
- Keeping a home clean and safe without someone doing it for you
Myself: You decide which routines matter to you. A coach practices them with you until they are yours.
A family member: Your family member leads. You see progress through regular session notes.
A client I coordinate: Fits ILS goals around daily living and home management in the IPP.
Independent Living ServicesTaught through ILS skill coaching. Goals and hours follow the IPP or the Self Determination plan.
Money and everyday spending
Paychecks or benefits arrive, and by the end of the month it is unclear where the money went.
- Setting up a simple budget and bill reminders
- Safer shopping, cards, and online purchases
- Understanding SSI and CalABLE basics
Myself: Your money stays your money. Coaching builds habits, not control.
A family member: A coach teaches the skill directly, so you do not have to be the only one explaining it.
A client I coordinate: Common ILS goal area. Benefits decisions remain with the agency that issues them.
Independent Living Servicesbttr does not make benefits determinations. For questions about a benefit, we help you prepare and connect with the right office.
Planning, appointments, and schedules
Appointments get missed, tasks start but do not finish, and the calendar lives in someone else's head.
- Using a phone calendar and reminders that actually work for you
- Breaking a big task into steps you can start today
- Preparing for a medical or benefits appointment
Myself: Executive functioning support built around how your brain works, not a template.
A family member: Helps shift the planning load from you to your family member, step by step.
A client I coordinate: Often written as ILS goals for scheduling, organization, and health routines.
Independent Living ServicesExecutive functioning support is delivered inside ILS coaching, including for autistic adults.
Getting around and joining the community
Getting to places independently feels out of reach, so plans depend on rides.
- Learning a BART or bus route to work, class, or a friend's place
- Using transit apps and staying safe along the way
- Finding and joining activities you actually enjoy
Myself: Practice real routes with a coach until you are comfortable going alone.
A family member: Watch independence grow with someone alongside for the early trips.
A client I coordinate: Transportation training is taught within ILS skill tracks. Tailored Day Services through SDP can also focus on community participation.
Independent Living ServicesFor SDP participants, Tailored Day Services offer one to one community based support organized around interests and goals.
Confidence, communication, and connections
Speaking up, asking for help, or making friends takes more energy than it should.
- Practicing how to ask for what you need at work, school, or a clinic
- Preparing to speak for yourself at your own IPP meeting
- Building friendships and natural supports in your community
Myself: Self advocacy is a skill. You can learn it, and it stays with you.
A family member: Your family member gains their own voice in meetings and decisions.
A client I coordinate: Maps to ILS goals on communication and self advocacy, and to TDS social goals through SDP.
Independent Living Servicesbttr uses neurodiversity affirming, sensory respectful approaches. We do not provide clinical treatment.
Coordinating family services and resources
The adult lives at home with family, and the family is holding every appointment, form, and provider together alone.
- Organizing schedules, providers, and supports so they work together
- Preparing for IPP meetings and following up on goals
- Connecting to community and generic resources, and planning for the future
Myself: Your choices lead the plan. Your family is a partner, not the manager.
A family member: One point of contact at bttr, regular updates, and less to coordinate on your own.
A client I coordinate: CFS through RCEB and GGRC for adults 18 and older in the family home. SARC is coming soon.
Coordinated Family SupportCFS complements, and does not replace, regional center service coordination, legal representation, benefits determinations, or clinical care.
Preparing for adult life or college routines
High school is ending or college has started, and the routines that used to be managed for you are now yours.
- Campus routines, class schedules, and study blocks
- Managing meals, laundry, and a budget away from home
- Work readiness and the first steps toward a job
Myself: Adult life on your terms, with a coach who meets you on campus or in the community.
A family member: A steadier transition after high school, with progress you can see.
A client I coordinate: Transition age adults can combine ILS with Tailored Day Services through SDP.
Independent Living ServicesRegional center services continue after 18 when the adult remains eligible. School services end with the school system.
Ongoing in home support or planned breaks for family
Daily life needs steady hands on support, or family members who provide support need a planned break.
- Supported Living Services for an adult living in a home they rent or own
- Help with daily routines, health, safety, and household tasks
- In Home Respite so family members can step away with confidence
Myself: Supported Living Services are about your own home and your own life, at the intensity you need.
A family member: Respite is a planned break for you while a trained support professional stays with your family member.
A client I coordinate: SLS is available through RCEB and statewide through SDP. In Home Respite is available through SDP.
Supported Living ServicesThese are support services, not skill coaching. In Home Respite is currently available through the Self Determination Program.
The services, explained
Most people combine more than one. bttr delivers them as one team with one point of contact.
Regional Center of the East Bay, and statewide through SDP
Independent Living Services (ILS)
One to one skill coaching for adults who want to do more on their own, now or in the future. ILS teaches skills; it is not personal care. A bttr coach practices real tasks with you at home and in the community across six skill tracks:
- LIFE
- MONEY
- TECH
- HEALTH
- EXPRESS
- CONNECT
Transportation, executive functioning, and self advocacy are taught within these tracks.
About ILSRegional Center of the East Bay and Golden Gate Regional Center
Coordinated Family Support (CFS)
For adults 18 and older who choose to live in the family home. A bttr coordinator helps the participant and family organize supports, connect to resources, prepare for IPP meetings, and plan ahead. CFS works alongside your regional center Service Coordinator and does not replace that role, legal representation, benefits determinations, or clinical treatment.
About CFSRegional Center of the East Bay, and statewide through SDP
Supported Living Services (SLS)
Ongoing hands on support for an adult living in a home they own or rent, not a licensed facility. Built around daily life: routines, health, safety, household, and community, at whatever intensity is needed.
About SLSStatewide through the Self Determination Program
Tailored Day Services (TDS)
A day program without the program room. One to one, out in the community, organized around the person's interests, routines, and goals, including college and work readiness.
About TDSStatewide through the Self Determination Program
In Home Respite
Planned breaks for family members who provide support, while a trained bttr support professional keeps the person safe and comfortable at home.
About respiteAvailable in a participant's approved spending plan
Also through the Self Determination Program
Adaptive fitness coaching, housing search support, and adaptive skills training. We map these to your spending plan together with your Independent Facilitator.
See all SDP servicesbttr is a service provider. We are not an Independent Facilitator or a Financial Management Service, and we do not determine regional center eligibility.
How these services are funded
Traditional regional center services
Your regional center determines eligibility, writes the need into your Individual Program Plan (IPP), and authorizes the hours. Then the regional center pays bttr directly. You do not manage a budget or staff.
Self Determination Program (SDP)
You receive an individual budget, build a spending plan with an Independent Facilitator, and a Financial Management Service (FMS) pays providers. bttr services depend on your approved plan, the service requirements, and a provider agreement with your FMS.
About diagnoses
An autism or other diagnosis on its own does not guarantee regional center eligibility or funding for a specific service. Eligibility is determined by the regional center, and services follow the goals and needs in your plan.
What decides the service
Your goals and the support you need matter more than the label. Tell us what you want to change in daily life and we will explain which service usually covers it and what the next step looks like.
Where bttr provides services
Coverage depends on the service and the funding path. Here is the current picture.
Regional Center of the East Bay
Alameda and Contra Costa counties
ILS, CFS, and SLS as traditional vendored services
Including Fremont, Newark, Union City, Hayward, Oakland, Berkeley, San Leandro, Dublin, Pleasanton, Livermore, Concord, Walnut Creek, San Ramon, Richmond, Antioch, and nearby cities.
Golden Gate Regional Center
San Francisco, San Mateo, and Marin counties
CFS as a traditional vendored service
bttr has an office in Menlo Park serving the Peninsula. ILS and SLS are available to GGRC participants through the Self Determination Program.
Self Determination Program
All 21 California regional centers
ILS, SLS, TDS, In Home Respite, and more
Statewide access through an approved spending plan. In person availability of support professionals is confirmed with you before a service is added, so you know up front whether we can serve your area and when.
Our headquarters is at 39899 Balentine Drive, Newark, CA 94560. Services happen at home and in the community, so please contact us before visiting.
How to start
Tell us what you want help with
Email, call, or text. Describe daily life and what you would like to change. No service names needed.
We clarify the service and the funding path
A free consultation in English or Spanish. We explain which service usually fits, whether it runs through your regional center or SDP, and what we can offer in your area.
Referral, authorization, then matching
Your Service Coordinator or Independent Facilitator sends the referral or adds bttr to the plan. Once the service is authorized, we complete intake, match a support professional based on your assessment, and schedule together.
Contacting bttr does not guarantee approval or a start date. Authorization comes from your regional center or your Self Determination plan.
Questions, answered
Does bttr support autistic adults?
Yes. bttr supports autistic adults and transition age youth, along with adults with intellectual disability, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and other developmental disabilities. Our approach is neurodiversity affirming and built around the person's communication style and goals. See our page on support for autistic adults for more detail.
Support for autistic adultsCan I receive support while living with family?
Yes. Coordinated Family Support is designed for adults 18 and older who live in the family home, and Independent Living Services can be delivered there too. Many participants use both. CFS is available through Regional Center of the East Bay and Golden Gate Regional Center.
Coordinated Family SupportWhat is the difference between life skills coaching and personal care support?
Independent Living Services teach you to do things yourself or with minimal help, like cooking, budgeting, and getting around. Supported Living Services and respite provide ongoing hands on support with daily life rather than teaching it. Your goals and your plan determine which one fits.
Can someone help me learn cooking, budgeting, and routines?
Yes. These are core Independent Living Services goals. An ILS coach practices them with you at home and in the community until they become part of your routine.
Independent Living ServicesWhat is Coordinated Family Support?
Coordinated Family Support (CFS) is a regional center service for adults who live with family. A bttr coordinator helps organize supports, connect to community resources, prepare for IPP meetings, and plan for the future. It works alongside your regional center Service Coordinator and does not replace that role, legal advice, benefits determinations, or clinical care.
Can the regional center or the Self Determination Program fund these services?
Yes, when the service is authorized. Traditional services are funded by your regional center through your IPP. Self Determination participants include bttr services in an approved spending plan paid through their Financial Management Service. bttr does not determine eligibility or approve funding.
Do I need to know which service to request?
No. Describe what you want help with and we will explain which service usually fits and how the funding works. Your Service Coordinator or Independent Facilitator makes the final request with you.
Is support available in Spanish?
Yes. Coaching, coordination, communication, and session notes are available in Spanish. Free consultations are also offered in Spanish, and ASL is available for consultations. Visit this page in Spanish for the full version.
Leer en españolWhere does bttr provide services?
Through Regional Center of the East Bay in Alameda and Contra Costa counties for ILS, CFS, and SLS. Through Golden Gate Regional Center in San Francisco, San Mateo, and Marin counties for CFS. Through the Self Determination Program at every California regional center, with in person availability confirmed before a service is added to a plan.
How do I get started?
Email team@bttrliving.com, call or text (510) 709 5809, or request a free consultation. We will talk through goals, the likely service, and the funding path. When you are ready, your Service Coordinator or Independent Facilitator sends the referral or adds bttr to your plan.
Tell us about your goals.
Describe the person, what a good day looks like, and what you would like to change. We will respond with the service that usually fits, how it is funded, and what we can offer where you live. Every email reaches a real person on our team.
Please do not include diagnoses, UCI numbers, or medical documents in a first message. We will ask for what is needed, when it is needed.
