Many families assume that once they’re assigned a Support Coordination agency through New Jersey’s Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD), that’s the agency they’re stuck with. That’s not the case. If your current Support Coordination agency isn’t meeting your needs — poor communication, a plan that hasn’t kept pace with your family’s real situation, or high staff turnover that keeps resetting your relationship — you’re allowed to change agencies. Here’s how the process generally works.
Signs It Might Be Time to Switch
Before walking through the how-to, it helps to know what “not working” actually looks like in practice:
- You struggle to reach your Support Coordinator, or calls and messages go unanswered for weeks
- Your Individualized Service Plan (ISP) hasn’t been updated even though your needs have clearly changed
- Your Support Coordinator has changed multiple times without explanation, and no one is tracking continuity
- You feel like you’re the one doing all the coordinating, rather than being supported by the process
- Services outlined in your ISP consistently aren’t happening as written
Any one of these on its own might not mean it’s time to switch — but a pattern of them usually is.
The General Process for Switching Agencies
1. Review your current ISP and budget documentation. Before switching, know what’s currently approved so nothing gets lost in the transition.
2. Research other approved Support Coordination agencies serving your county. DDD maintains a list of qualified agencies, and word-of-mouth from other families in similar situations can be valuable too.
3. Contact the new agency to confirm they’re accepting new participants and can take on your case.
4. Formally notify DDD and your current agency of your intent to change coordination agencies. There’s typically a transition process to make sure your budget and ISP carry over correctly.
5. Coordinate the handoff — a good new Support Coordinator will want to review your existing ISP, provider relationships, and any pending issues so nothing falls through the cracks during the switch.
Will Switching Agencies Interrupt My Services?
This is the concern we hear most, and it’s a fair one. In a well-managed transition, your approved budget and the providers delivering your actual services — like your Direct Support Professional — should continue uninterrupted. The switch changes who is coordinating and monitoring your plan, not the underlying DDD approval or the providers you’ve already chosen, unless you decide to change those too. That said, transitions do take some administrative time, so it’s worth starting the process before you hit a crisis point with your current agency, not during one.
What to Look for in a New Support Coordination Agency
- Clear, consistent communication practices (and staff who actually follow them)
- A track record of low staff turnover, so you’re not restarting the relationship every few months
- Willingness to genuinely listen during ISP development, rather than defaulting to a standard plan
- Responsiveness when problems come up with a provider or a service gap
Your Direct Support Professional Doesn’t Have to Change
One reassuring detail: switching Support Coordination agencies does not require you to switch your Direct Support Professional provider. If Priority Groups NJ has been delivering your day-to-day DSP services and that relationship is working well, it can continue as-is through your transition to a new Support Coordination agency — we simply keep working from your updated ISP.
We’re Here If You Need a Steady Hand During the Transition
Switching agencies can feel like one more complicated step in an already complicated system. Priority Groups NJ works with Support Coordination agencies across Essex, Hudson, and Bergen counties and can help make sure your Direct Support Professional services stay consistent no matter which coordination agency manages your plan.
Call (718) 400-6166 or visit prioritygroupsnj.org/ddd-support-coordination/ if you have questions about switching Support Coordination agencies or keeping your services stable during the transition.