Child FindChild Find A Search for Children with Disabilities Birth – Age 21 What is Child Find? Child Find is the process of identifying, locating and evaluating children with disabilities who may be in need of special education and related services. Why does Child Find exist? Both state and local education agencies are given the responsibility by federal and state law to conduct Child Find activities so that children who need special services have the opportunity to receive those services. What is the purpose of Child Find? To promote public awareness of disabilities To alert parents, professionals, and the public to children who may have special needs To assist school districts in finding children who may have disabilities and who otherwise may not have come to their attention To enable children and families to receive the special education services that is needed What is a disability? Birth to Age 3 An established condition known to result in delay, or a documented developmental delay Ages 3 to 5 A documented deficit in one or more of the following developmental areas: communication, vision, hearing, motor skills, social emotional/behavioral functioning, self-help skills, and/or cognitive skills Ages 5 to 21 Identification of one or more of the following conditions: autism, deaf-blindness, hearing impairment including deafness, mental retardation, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, emotional disturbance, specific learning disability, speech or language impairment, traumatic brain injury, and/or visual impairment including blindness Who can help? Parents, guardians, relatives, public and private agency employees, and concerned citizens are used to help school districts find any child, birth through age 21, who may have a disability and need special education and related services. If you are aware of a child who may have special needs, please notify his/her school district. Schools can do their job better with your help. What happens next? The school district will contact the parents or guardians of the child to find out if the child needs to be evaluated. Free testing is available to families to determine whether or not a special need exists. If a need is identified, the child can begin receiving special education and related services.
If you know a child who may have special needs, help is available. Contact your local school at 303-637-9234. |
