New Haven families work through Connecticut's statewide Birth to Three program before age 3, New Haven Public Schools' Office of Special Education & Student Services from age 3 on, and — unusual for a city this size — a university-based diagnostic clinic through Yale. The state's developmental-disability agency also keeps a satellite office inside the city.

This page lists what is publicly documented about each of those doors: phone numbers, web addresses, and the regional special-education service center that supports New Haven's own district.

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

Early intervention under 3: Connecticut Birth to Three System

Birth to Three is Connecticut's Part C early intervention system for infants and toddlers, coordinated by the Office of Early Childhood and delivered through a statewide network of contracted providers rather than one New Haven office. A parent, pediatrician, or child care provider can call the referral line or submit the parent form online, and no diagnosis is required before a first conversation. Benchmark, one of the providers serving the region, lists coverage across 41 towns spanning Fairfield and New Haven counties.

• Connecticut Birth to Three System
• Referral phone: 800-505-7000

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

School districts and special education

New Haven Public Schools' Office of Special Education & Student Services carries the district's Child Find responsibility: identifying, evaluating, and serving students with disabilities at no cost to families, through a Planning and Placement Team process that produces each child's Individualized Education Program. Families can also draw on ACES, the Regional Educational Service Center headquartered nearby in North Haven, which runs special-education day schools and behavior services used by districts across south central Connecticut, New Haven among them.

• New Haven Public Schools — Office of Special Education & Student Services; families begin with their school's Student Services staff before the Planning and Placement Team process

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.

• Area Cooperative Educational Services (ACES) — Regional Educational Service Center headquartered in North Haven, 203-498-6800, serving 25 south central Connecticut districts including New Haven — a regional cooperative, not a second school district

IEP or 504 · If you disagree with the school

Evaluation and diagnosis pathways in New Haven

These are hospital and university programs with public intake information. Listing here is informational — it is not a recommendation, and it is not medical advice. Public school evaluation is free and does not require any of these.

• Autism Program at the Yale Child Study Center — a two-day diagnostic evaluation combining interviews and assessments from a speech-language pathologist, child psychologist, and child and adolescent psychiatrist, plus treatment and school-consultation services · 203-737-3439

How assessment works · What to do while you wait

Disability services and waivers: Connecticut DDS — South Region

The Department of Developmental Services (DDS) oversees Connecticut's long-term disability supports and the state's Medicaid Home and Community Based Services waiver, and New Haven falls under DDS's South Region, which also covers Middlesex and New London counties. The South Region keeps a satellite office at 370 James Street in New Haven, in the same building as ACES's North Haven-area operations. Families move through eligibility determination and a needs evaluation before a case manager helps build a plan.

• Connecticut DDS — South Region

Local organizations that help New Haven families

• Autism Services & Resources Connecticut (ASRC) — statewide advocacy and family-support organization based at Clifford Beers in New Haven
• The Arc Connecticut — statewide organization with a directory of local Arc chapters
• 211 Connecticut — dial 211 for free referrals to health, disability, and family services across the state

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.

• New Haven's PPT works against Connecticut's own 45-school-day rule rather than IDEA's 60-calendar-day default — a change the state made starting in the 2020-2021 school year. (source)
• For a New Haven toddler, the Birth to Three system must finish its assessment and hold the initial IFSP meeting within 45 calendar days of the family's call to Child Development Infoline. (source)
• DDS assigns a New Haven applicant to either the Waiting List, reserved for people needing residential support inside roughly a year, or the Planning List for less immediate need. (source)
• Before 2014, Connecticut's mandate let insurers cap ABA at figures as low as $25,000 a year once a child turned 13; state bulletins that year eliminated those age-based dollar tiers for state-regulated coverage. (source)
• As of a November 2025 law, Connecticut will require ABA coverage through age 26 rather than stopping at 21, once the change takes effect on January 1, 2027. (source)