Huntsville families reach Alabama's Early Intervention System (AEIS) through a single statewide Child Find number that routes to a District Early Intervention Coordinator, work through either Huntsville City Schools or Madison County Schools for a school-age evaluation depending on address, and can turn to the Madison County 310 Board for longer-term disability waiver services.

This page lists the phone numbers and pages behind each of those doors, along with what's publicly documented about Alabama's autism insurance mandate and Medicaid's ABA coverage.

Statewide programs, numbers, and rights are on the Alabama page. This page adds the local entry points that are specific to Huntsville (Madison County).

Early intervention under 3: Alabama's Early Intervention System (AEIS) — Madison County

AEIS, Alabama's Part C program, works as a single point of entry: every referral in the state comes into one Child Find line and is then assigned to a District Early Intervention Coordinator (DEIC) for the family's area. A parent, doctor, or child care provider can call directly, and the DEIC is expected to reach out within about two weeks to explain the evaluation process. The state's lead agency for early intervention is the Department of Rehabilitation Services (ADRS), and for children with a confirmed autism diagnosis or characteristics of autism, providers are directed to use specific naturalistic developmental behavioral practices during visits.

• Alabama's Early Intervention System (AEIS) — Madison County
• Referral phone: 1-800-543-3098

New to early intervention? Read the plain-language guide first.

School districts and special education

Huntsville sits across two school systems depending on address: Huntsville City Schools inside the city, and Madison County Schools in the surrounding unincorporated county and smaller municipalities. Both carry Alabama's Child Find duty, a joint effort of the state Department of Education and ADRS to locate, identify, and evaluate every child from birth through 21 — including children who are homeschooled or in private school — at no cost to the family.

• Huntsville City Schools — special education office, 256-428-6872
• Madison County Schools — special education office, 256-852-7073, serving the unincorporated county outside Huntsville and Madison city limits

IEP or 504 · If you disagree with the school

Evaluation and diagnosis pathways in Huntsville

We have not yet verified a hospital or university evaluation program with public intake information in Huntsville. That is a gap in our research, not a sign there is nothing here — and it does not stand between you and an evaluation. The school district evaluation above is free, and early intervention under 3 does not need a private diagnosis first.

How assessment works · What to do while you wait

Disability services and waivers: Madison County 310 Board (MC310), under the Alabama Department of Mental Health

Alabama's Department of Mental Health delegates local intake for intellectual disability waiver services to county-level 310 Boards, and in Madison County that's MC310. The board acts as the single point of entry for people seeking the Intellectual Disabilities or Living at Home waivers and provides ongoing service coordination once a person is enrolled. To start the waitlist application for either waiver from anywhere in Alabama, families can also call the state's central waiver line.

• Madison County 310 Board (MC310), under the Alabama Department of Mental Health
• Phone: 256-837-5777

Local organizations that help Huntsville families

• The Arc of Madison County — local chapter serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the Huntsville area

Documented waits and access notes

Wait times change. Each note below links to the public source it came from — confirm current status directly with the program.

• Alabama's administrative code holds both Huntsville City Schools and Madison County Schools to the same clock: 60 days from signed consent to complete the evaluation, 30 more days to decide eligibility, and 30 further days to hold the IEP meeting for a child who qualifies. (source)
• The full AEIS evaluation and initial IFSP meeting have to be wrapped up within 45 days of the referral date, not just the roughly two-week window before a District Early Intervention Coordinator first reaches out to a Madison County family. (source)
• Statewide, roughly 1,848 people sit on Alabama's Intellectual Disabilities Waiver waitlist, with a commonly cited wait of five to ten years for a non-crisis application — the Madison County 310 Board can speak to how that plays out locally. (source)