Port St. Lucie sits on Florida's Treasure Coast, a region that runs its own Early Steps office out of a Port St. Lucie street address rather than routing families to a distant hub, and that is about to open a public charter school built specifically for autistic students in the 2026-27 school year.

This page lists those Treasure Coast-specific resources alongside the statewide systems every Florida family can use — school Child Find, Florida's Medicaid waiver, and the CARD network — each with a phone number or URL behind it.

Statewide programs, numbers, and rights are on the Florida page. This page adds the local entry points that are specific to Treasure Coast (St. Lucie County).

Early intervention under 3: Treasure Coast Early Steps (Easter Seals Florida)

Early Steps is Florida's early intervention system for children from birth to 36 months, delivered at no cost to families. On the Treasure Coast, the program is run by Easter Seals Florida out of an office at 10570 S. Federal Highway, Suite 200, in Port St. Lucie, and covers Martin, St. Lucie, Okeechobee, and Indian River counties. Any adult who knows the child — a parent, relative, pediatrician, or child care provider — can start a referral, and no diagnosis is required beforehand. After the referral, the child is screened or evaluated, and if eligible, a service coordinator helps the family write an Individualized Family Support Plan.

• Treasure Coast Early Steps (Easter Seals Florida)
• Referral phone: 772-380-9972 (Treasure Coast Early Steps, Port St. Lucie office) · 1-800-218-0001 (statewide referral line)

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

School districts and special education

Florida's Child Find rule obligates every district to locate, evaluate, and serve resident children with disabilities from birth through age 21 at no charge. Send a written request to your child's school to start the process; the district then has 60 school days from your written consent to complete the evaluation. St. Lucie County families along the Martin County line sometimes deal with both districts, and either way, the Treasure Coast School for Autism is a new public charter option once a child already has an autism diagnosis.

• St. Lucie Public Schools — Exceptional Student Education department (772) 429-4577
• Martin County School District — 1939 SE Federal Highway, Stuart; (772) 219-1200

IEP or 504 · If you disagree with the school

Evaluation and diagnosis pathways in Port St. Lucie

We have not yet verified a hospital or university evaluation program with public intake information in Port St. Lucie. 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: Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) — Southeast Region

APD is Florida's state agency for long-term developmental-disability services and runs the iBudget Medicaid waiver, which pays for home and community-based supports. St. Lucie County is served by the Southeast Region's West Palm Beach field office, which also covers Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee, and Palm Beach counties. Once a child is found eligible, they are placed on the iBudget waitlist by application date rather than by urgency of need, across seven priority tiers — so families are encouraged to apply as soon as a delay is suspected, before a diagnosis is even finalized. A separate crisis-enrollment path exists for households facing homelessness or an immediate safety emergency.

• Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) — Southeast Region
• Phone: (561) 837-5564

Local organizations that help Port St. Lucie families

• Treasure Coast School for Autism — new tuition-free public charter school at 4291 SW Darwin Blvd, Port St. Lucie, opening for 2026-27 with PreK through 2nd grade and adding a grade each year; admissions via email to the Regional Executive Director with a current IEP; (561) 533-9917
• FAU CARD — Port St. Lucie — the regional Center for Autism and Related Disabilities site at 500 NW California Blvd, Port St. Lucie; free family consultation and referrals; (772) 873-3367
• The Arc of the Treasure Coast — serving the Treasure Coast since 1956 with residential, employment, behavioral, and children's programs; (772) 283-2525
• Treasure Coast Autism Resources — a parent-run local resource hub started by a Treasure Coast parent of two autistic children, aggregating regional services and contacts
• November & Associates Therapy Center — speech-language and occupational therapy, serving the area for more than 30 years; (772) 342-1435
• Family Network on Disabilities of Florida — Parent to Parent — statewide trained-volunteer parent-matching program that lists St. Lucie County among the counties it serves; (800) 825-5736

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.

• The Florida Department of Law Enforcement launched the Florida Spectrum Alert statewide on June 24, 2026 — a rapid public-notification system for a missing child under 18 reasonably believed to have autism spectrum disorder and to be in danger — with sign-up available through FDLE's missing-persons clearinghouse and a request that the public call 911 with any information. (source)
• St. Lucie County commissioners and local educators broke ground on the Treasure Coast School for Autism on December 9, 2025; school leaders said Port St. Lucie's rapid population growth had created a need for expanded services for autistic students that the new school is meant to fill. (source)
• The Treasure Coast's Easter Seals-run Early Steps program is held to Florida's statewide 45-day standard for finishing an evaluation and initial family plan after referral. (source)
• Once St. Lucie County Schools determines a child eligible for exceptional student education, state rule sets a 30-calendar-day deadline to convene the IEP meeting. (source)