Sarah Franco, M.A., is the Manager of Client Services, Early Childhood, at the San Diego Regional Center where she has worked for more than 21 years.  Sarah was instrumental in developing processes and procedures for smooth transitions for referrals from Part C to Part B under IDEA.  SDRC has excellent working relationships with local education agencies in addition to strong interagency agreements. Sarah is the  0-5 Transition Liaison for San Diego Regional Center. Sarah is the  Child Welfare Services Early Start Liaison for San Diego Regional Center. Sarah is very engaged in education and outreach, and is part of 2 large DDS grants focused on outreach to underserved populations which includes children experiencing homelessness, children experiencing immigration issues, and Tribal outreach. Sarah has been part of numerous DDS audits  where SDRC has reached 100% compliance in relation to transition.  Sarah has a passion for ensuring that infants and toddlers in San Diego County continue to receive quality services.  Sarah  takes pride in her strong community partnerships.

Lucia Garay, consultant, has worked in the field of education for more than 38 years.  Her collective experiences as an aide, teacher, and site, district and county administrator have provided a strong base for her work in support of 0-5 programs in California.  Ms. Garay’s work has focused on quality improvement in early education and care settings; increased inclusive opportunities through facilitation of interagency agreements and their implementation; maximizing resources across special education, general education, and community-based organizations for the work force serving 0-5 year-olds; alignment and transition to TK-12 by supporting local program administrators to maximize program funding and to understand required accountability requirements; and aligning policies and processes to facilitate linguistically and culturally appropriate child-focused program implementation through California’s very complex, diverse early education and care system. She is a firm believer in collaboration and is committed to continuous improvement in the field of early childhood.    

Heather DiFede is the Executive Director of the High Quality IEPs project which is through East County SELPA in San Diego, California.  During her tenure as a SELPA Director and district Director, she has led collaborative meetings with San Diego Regional Center (SDRC) resulting in IFSP form development, Interagency Agreement revisions, and countywide joint trainings with SDRC & LEAs.  Heather has served on the San Diego Part C Interagency Leadership Committee for more than 10 years, serving as its chair for several years.  She has been an administrator for Local Education Agencies that provide IDEA Part C services for more than 7 years.  In addition to work in Part C, Heather has provided numerous trainings specializing in special education data throughout California. She has served as the Chair of the SELPA Administrators' Association of California, and was awarded the Association of California School Administrators Special Education Administrator of the Year in 2016.