Which counties does Tri-Counties Regional Center cover?

Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties. If a child moves between county groups, their services transfer to the regional center for the new county.

How do I become a TCRC vendor?

Apply through TCRC's provider services / 'Becoming a Service Provider' process: application, credentials, insurance, and rate setting per service code. You must be vendored before providing reimbursable services, and vendored for the specific service you will deliver.

How do I sign up for eBilling with TCRC?

Complete TCRC's eBilling enrollment form (on its Service Providers pages). Once enrolled you receive a login to the state eBilling system with access to your authorizations, invoice submission, and payment history.

Can I bill TCRC for a visit delivered before the authorization was approved?

Generally no. TCRC's procedure requires all services to be authorized prior to beginning. Retroactive authorizations are uncommon and never something to count on.

Where do I find TCRC's billing calendar and cutoff dates?

TCRC publishes billing information for providers on its website (the Service Providers billing section). The monthly cutoff matters: invoices submitted after it are processed in the following cycle.

Guide · California Early Start

Billing Tri-Counties Regional Center: a provider's guide

Tri-Counties Regional Center (TCRC) serves Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties. To get paid for Early Start services there you must be vendored by TCRC for your specific service, hold a POS authorization before services begin, and submit invoices through eBilling — TCRC's own accounting cycle starts when a service coordinator generates the authorization and it is bridged to the accounting system.

Last reviewed: September 2026. Written to explain, not to sell — sources are the Department of Developmental Services and the regional centers themselves.

Who TCRC is

Tri-Counties Regional Center is one of California's 21 regional centers, covering Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties. Its Early Start program serves eligible infants and toddlers from birth to 36 months, coordinated with local school districts.

Like every regional center, TCRC is a separate nonprofit with its own provider services department, enrollment forms, and billing calendar. Processes that feel universal across California (vendorization, POS authorizations, eBilling) are run locally, so always follow TCRC's own instructions where they differ from another regional center's.

Step 1: get vendored

You must be vendored by TCRC before you can provide and be reimbursed for services. Vendorization is TCRC's approval process: an application through its provider services department, your professional credentials and liability insurance, and a service code and rate. Many Early Start services pay at the statewide median rate for the service code.

You must be vendored for the specific service being authorized — a vendored speech provider is not automatically vendored for OT. If you add a discipline later, expect a vendorization addendum.

Step 2: the authorization comes first

TCRC's accounting cycle starts with the service coordinator generating a Purchase of Service authorization, which a Services & Supports Manager approves and which is then bridged to the accounting system. The practical rule that follows: all services must be authorized before they begin, and providers must be vendored for the specific service being authorized.

Each authorization states the child, service code, units, and effective dates. Delivering visits before the authorization start date or after its end date is the most reliable way to produce an unpaid invoice.

Step 3: enroll in eBilling and submit

DDS requires providers to bill electronically. TCRC's eBilling access gives you a login to the state eBilling system where you can see your authorizations, submit invoices, and review billing and payment history at any time. To start, complete TCRC's eBilling enrollment form; credentials follow.

At invoicing time you can enter visits manually or upload a file containing the month's attendances. Submissions are validated against your authorizations in an overnight batch, and rejected lines come back with reasons the next business day. Watch TCRC's monthly billing cutoff — a file uploaded after the cutoff rolls to the next cycle.

The failure modes worth avoiding

casedaisy tracks each TCRC client's authorization dates and units as you schedule, warns you when a child is running out of units or an authorization is about to lapse, and exports the eBilling upload file at month end — so the failure modes above get caught in your schedule, not in a rejection notice.

Serving before the authorization's start date, or after it ends.
Delivering more units than the authorization allows in its period.
Billing a service code you aren't vendored for.
Missing the monthly billing cutoff and pushing payment out a full cycle.
Assuming an IFSP renewal means the authorization renewed — it doesn't; confirm the new authorization exists.

Authorizations and billing, without the spreadsheet

casedaisy tracks authorization dates and units per client, plans your driving route, and exports the DDS eBilling file at month end. Built with working EI therapists.

Start free casedaisy for Early Intervention

Frequently asked questions

Which counties does Tri-Counties Regional Center cover?: Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties. If a child moves between county groups, their services transfer to the regional center for the new county.
How do I become a TCRC vendor?: Apply through TCRC's provider services / 'Becoming a Service Provider' process: application, credentials, insurance, and rate setting per service code. You must be vendored before providing reimbursable services, and vendored for the specific service you will deliver.
How do I sign up for eBilling with TCRC?: Complete TCRC's eBilling enrollment form (on its Service Providers pages). Once enrolled you receive a login to the state eBilling system with access to your authorizations, invoice submission, and payment history.
Can I bill TCRC for a visit delivered before the authorization was approved?: Generally no. TCRC's procedure requires all services to be authorized prior to beginning. Retroactive authorizations are uncommon and never something to count on.
Where do I find TCRC's billing calendar and cutoff dates?: TCRC publishes billing information for providers on its website (the Service Providers billing section). The monthly cutoff matters: invoices submitted after it are processed in the following cycle.