Golden Gate Regional Center is a state- and federal-funded nonprofit organization serving individuals with developmental disabilities in Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties.  Below is a brief history detailing the founding of the regional center system (of which GGRC is a part) and the gradual expansion of its mission.

The regional center system was established in California through legislation supported primarily by State Assembly member Frank D. Lanterman. Its origins, however, lay in the California State Legislature's authorization of pilot regional centers in the San Francisco Bay Area (what is now GGRC) and Los Angeles County (now Lanterman Regional Center). The purpose of these early regional centers, which began operating in 1966, was to assist persons with intellectual disabilities (formerly known as "mental retardation") and their families in locating and developing services for their special needs.

Following the establishment of the pilot projects, which had promising early results, the State Legislature passed the Lanterman Mental Retardation Services Act. Enacted in 1969, the legislation established a statewide system consisting of the two original regional centers plus five more, each serving a distinct geographical area. (Subsequent legislation has grown the number of regional centers to 21.)

A second Lanterman act, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, was made law in 1974. It expanded the regional centers' service population to include persons with cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism and other disabling conditions found to be closely related to intellectual disability.

In 1993, the California Early Intervention Services Act expanded the regional centers' purview once more, this time to include early intervention ("Early Start") services for infants and toddlers (up to 36 months of age) who have a developmental delay or are at high risk of developing a delay. 

To learn more about Lanterman Act and Early Start services, see the Guiding Legislation page; to learn how to apply for GGRC services, see the Applying for Services page.