Mobile is unusual among Alabama's larger cities in having just one public school system for the entire county, the Mobile County Public School System, so this page pairs that district's evaluation process with the Alabama Parent Training and Information Center, the state's federally designated resource for families who want an independent second opinion on their rights.

Early intervention for children under 3 runs through Alabama's Early Intervention System, a single statewide referral point, and longer-term disability services route through the state Department of Mental Health's waiver system.

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

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

AEIS operates as a single point of entry statewide: a parent calls one Child Find number, and the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services routes the referral to a District Early Intervention Coordinator for Mobile County. That coordinator is expected to make contact within about two weeks to walk the family through the evaluation process and, where a delay is confirmed, help build an Individualized Family Service Plan. No diagnosis is required to make the referral, and Alabama directs providers working with autistic toddlers, or those showing characteristics of autism, to use specific naturalistic developmental practices during home visits.

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

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

School districts and special education

Mobile County has one public school district covering the entire county, the Mobile County Public School System, so there's no second district the way there might be in a city split across county lines. A school's Problem Solving Team typically reviews a struggling student first, though a parent can also request a comprehensive evaluation directly; either way, federal law requires the district's school psychologists to evaluate any student suspected of having a disability, at no cost to the family.

• Mobile County Public School System — Psychological Services runs comprehensive evaluations for students from pre-K through grade 12; the sole public school district covering Mobile County

Other places to ask — not a substitute for the district

An evaluation request has to go to the school district itself; only the district can start the legal timeline. These are for asking questions about the process, or for when the district has not responded.

• Alabama Parent Training and Information Center (AL PTI) — not a school district — Alabama's federally designated Parent Training and Information Center, operated by the Alabama Parent Education Center, offering free help understanding special education law statewide; 866-532-7660

IEP or 504 · If you disagree with the school

Evaluation and diagnosis pathways in Mobile

We have not yet verified a hospital or university evaluation program with public intake information in Mobile. 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: Alabama Department of Mental Health — Division of Developmental Disabilities

Alabama's Department of Mental Health sets statewide policy for intellectual and developmental disability services through its Division of Developmental Disabilities, delivered locally in most counties through a 310 Board or, around Mobile, through the regional community provider network. Families beginning the process for a Medicaid home and community-based waiver — the Intellectual Disabilities Waiver or the Living at Home Waiver — can call the state's central waiver waitlist line to start; both waivers carry a multi-year wait.

• Alabama Department of Mental Health — Division of Developmental Disabilities
• Phone: 1-800-361-4491

Local organizations that help Mobile families

We have not yet verified a local parent organization in Mobile. Statewide help still covers you: the Alabama guide lists the federally funded parent center and the free disability rights organization for the whole state, and both take calls from families anywhere in Alabama.

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.

• Mobile County Public School System has 60 calendar days from a parent's signed consent to complete its evaluation, another 30 days after that to decide eligibility, and 30 more days to hold an IEP meeting once a child is found eligible. (source)
• The 45-day AEIS deadline covers more than just that first call back — it's the full window for finishing the evaluation and holding the initial IFSP meeting for any Mobile County toddler referred through Child Find. (source)
• Alabama's Intellectual Disabilities Waiver waitlist runs to roughly 1,848 people statewide, and a non-crisis application is commonly described as a five-to-ten-year wait — worth asking about directly when a Mobile family calls the state's central waiver line. (source)