Terms

This site is general information, not advice about your family. We never decide whether you qualify for anything — the agency that runs the program decides, after you apply. Everything here is free for parents. Providers pay flat fees, set in advance and published on the For providers page. Paying never changes a check or a review. No provider has been checked yet, so the directory is alphabetical and every check says “Not yet checked.” If anything on the site is wrong, tell us and we will re-check it.

Answers for Families is independent. It is not a government agency. We are not part of any county, the State of California, the Department of Social Services, the Department of Developmental Services, the Department of Health Care Services, any Regional Center, the Internal Revenue Service, or the Social Security Administration. We do not speak for them, and they have not reviewed or endorsed this site.

We take no money from any government agency, and we never take money per family. Parents never pay for anything on this site, including the text helper. Businesses that serve these families pay for fuller listings and sponsored spots, and that pays for everything parents see here.

This site is general information and preparation help, based on the rules agencies publish. Every fact we state links to the official page it comes from. Rules change on their own schedule, and a page can be out of date before we catch it. Always check the linked source and ask the agency.

This site is not legal, tax, medical, or financial advice, and it is not a decision about whether you or your child qualify for anything. Only the agency that runs a program can decide that, and only after you apply. Nothing here creates a lawyer–client, tax-preparer–client, doctor–patient, or advisor–client relationship. For your own situation, talk to your doctor, your tax preparer, or your financial advisor.

We never tell a family they qualify, and we never show a dollar amount for a family. The figures on this site, where any appear, are written as “up to” amounts for families who qualify, with the arithmetic shown. Your result may be lower, or zero. Hours are set by the county after an assessment, rates change, and no one can promise you an amount.

We do not recommend, describe, or link to any medical treatment. Nothing on this site is about treating autism or any other condition. Our “what to say” wording helps you describe your child’s real needs completely and clearly. It never suggests describing a need your child does not have. Please answer every question from an agency truthfully.

An outside expert has not yet checked the facts on this site. Until one does, every parent-facing page carries the draft notice, and no page claims outside-expert verification. When a page is signed, the notice comes off and the page says who reviewed it and when.

The directory is in the same position: as of today, no provider has been checked yet. Every check on every listing shows “Not yet checked” with no date, and listings appear in alphabetical order — not ranked. We do not rate the therapy itself, because we have never seen it. Our checks cover facts we can look up or test on a date: credential, discipline, vendor status, Medi-Cal plans, reachability, openings, and consistency. See How we check.

You may use the site’s information to prepare for applications and meetings. Do not use it to mislead an agency, a provider, or anyone else. Do not submit false information in any form on this site, including reviews. Do not copy our pages and present them as your own, or as an official government publication.

We never ask for your child’s name or diagnosis. Please do not send them to us. There is no parent account and no child profile on this site.

Only a parent or guardian of a child a provider served may post a review, and we ask them to confirm that. Reviews are parents’ own words, dated, and never edited for meaning. Old reviews stay up.

Reviews are never paid for, by us or by a provider. A provider may not offer anything for a review. We remove a review only if it threatens someone, names a child or shares private information, is not from a real client, or is about a different provider. When we remove one, we note that a review was removed and why.

A provider’s reply appears under the review, labeled as the provider’s. Reviews are not our rating: we check facts; we do not rate therapy.

Free listing. Every provider on a Regional Center vendor list gets a free listing and the same checks, whether or not they pay.

Flat fees only. Verified profiles, sponsored spots, and badge licenses are charged at the flat prices published in advance on the For providers page — the same price for every business in a category. We never charge per family, per call, per booking, per child who starts services, or as a percentage of what a provider bills. There are no “deals” and no price that differs from the published card. Attorneys pay only for advertising: no success fees and no fee splits, ever.

Paying buys placement, never a result. Paying buys a fuller profile, a labeled sponsored spot, or a badge license. It never changes a check, never removes a review, and never moves a provider above one that scored better on the same checks, except inside the labeled sponsored spots. Sponsored spots are limited to 3 per county per category and always say “Sponsored” where a parent can see it.

Right of reply. Every provider can reply publicly to a review and to its listing, and can ask for a correction.

Corrections. If anything on a page is wrong, tell us at hello@answersforfamilies.com. We re-check within 5 business days. If we were wrong, we fix the page and note the correction. If we were right, we say what we found.

Keeping your listing current. A provider with a verified profile keeps its openings field current, and every update is dated. If your details change — phone, address, ages served, Medi-Cal plans — tell us so the listing stays right.

What we never list. We never list anything marketed as treating autism — supplements, “biomedical” protocols, chelation, detox, hyperbaric oxygen, stem cells, cleanses, or restrictive-diet programs — lab tests sold directly to parents, or travel for autism treatments. A provider whose site markets any of those is not listed. Government agencies are always free listings and never paid listings.

Sponsoring the helper. A sponsor may pay a flat, labeled fee to support the free text helper for parents in a county. A sponsor never pays for a service the sponsor itself delivers to parents, and nothing a sponsor pays for can buy a recommendation: the helper never names providers.

Provider subscriptions are the only paid subscriptions on this site. The full price schedule is shown on the For providers page before you pay anything, and you agree clearly before any charge is made.

Reminder before renewal. We send a reminder before your subscription renews, stating the price and the renewal date.

Cancel in one click. You can cancel as easily as you signed up, in one click, with no cancellation fee and no cancel flow that takes three calls.

Coming back. If you cancel and return later, a re-verification fee applies. The amount is still to be confirmed before launch. The first 25 providers in each county pay no verification fee, and their rate is locked while they stay.

These renewal and cancellation rules follow California’s automatic-renewal requirements. The exact wording and the renewal reminder timing are still to be confirmed by the lawyer.

The text helper is free for parents. Spots open as we grow, county by county. Joining the waitlist does not guarantee a spot, and we will text you only if you consented on the form. No texting happens until the business texting number is registered with the carriers and STOP and HELP have been tested. Reply STOP at any time to cancel, HELP for help.

The helper answers only from our checked guide and links the official page. If it does not know, it says so and a person follows up. It never decides whether a family qualifies, never names providers, and never states a dollar amount for a family.

If anything on a page is wrong, tell us at hello@answersforfamilies.com and we will re-check it within 5 business days, as described above.

We work to keep every fact right and current, and every fact links to its official source. But rules change, registries change, and providers change their details. We do not promise that any page is complete or up to date, and we are not responsible for decisions made from information on this site. Always check the official page we link, and ask the agency or provider before you act.

If these terms change, the new version will appear on this page with the date it changed. Until the lawyer has reviewed them, this page stays marked “Draft; lawyer review pending.”

Contact: hello@answersforfamilies.com. Last updated: November 7, 2026.