Roswell has been an incorporated city since 1854, long before Fulton County had most of the cities it does today, and its Recreation, Parks, Historic & Cultural Affairs Department runs one of the only city-operated 'Adaptive' program tracks found anywhere in this research — a genuinely local option layered on top of the countywide systems described below.

For nearly everything else — the early-intervention referral line, the school district, the disability-waiver office — Roswell shares Fulton County's systems with Sandy Springs and South Fulton, so most of this page applies equally in any of the three; what's specific to Roswell is called out by name, including where a dedicated ABA office inside the city could not be confirmed.

Statewide programs, numbers, and rights are on the Georgia page. This page adds the local entry points that are specific to Atlanta metro (north Fulton County).

Early intervention under 3: Babies Can't Wait (Georgia's early intervention program)

Any parent who suspects a developmental delay in a Roswell child under 3 can self-refer straight into Babies Can't Wait, Georgia's free Part C program, by dialing (770) 520-7500, Fulton County's Children 1st intake number — no physician's referral stands between a family and that first call, and the eligibility evaluation itself is free. Georgia funds continuing BCW services on a sliding scale that factors in insurance and Medicaid, and state guidance promises that a family's inability to pay will not be the reason a child loses services already found necessary. Because Roswell sits entirely within Fulton County, its referral line, its BCW-to-preschool transition process, and its eventual handoff to Fulton County Schools around age 3 match every other city profiled in this guide.

• Babies Can't Wait (Georgia's early intervention program)
• Referral phone: 1-888-651-8224 (state Babies Can't Wait office)

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

School districts and special education

Fulton County Schools, not a Roswell-specific system, handles special education here, just as it does everywhere else in the county outside Atlanta; its Child Find process identifies and evaluates children from birth through 21 at no charge, including those who are homeschooled or privately educated within district lines. A written evaluation request is what starts the clock for the district; from the date you sign consent, current rule gives Fulton County Schools 60 calendar days to finish testing. Roswell families who enroll in Georgia Cyber Academy instead — a statewide virtual public charter school — get a parallel Child Find process there, because GCA operates as its own school district for special-education purposes rather than folding into Fulton's. In both settings, the school eligibility team's ruling under Georgia's autism criteria is decided independently of any medical diagnosis a child may already have.

• Fulton County Schools — covers every Fulton County city besides Atlanta; general district line 470-254-3600
• Georgia Cyber Academy — a statewide virtual charter option that runs its own Child Find process as a separate LEA, (404) 334-4790

IEP or 504 · If you disagree with the school

Evaluation and diagnosis pathways in Roswell

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.

• Marcus Autism Center (Children's Healthcare of Atlanta) — the region's largest dedicated autism center, about 25 minutes south of Roswell — a single intensive diagnostic day for children 2 and under, two-visit evaluations for children 3 and older, and ongoing behavior, language, and feeding programs up to age 21. All new patients need a referral from a licensed provider except for the feeding program, which is self-referral. · 404-785-9400 · no published wait figure; Marcus maintains a dedicated resource page for families waiting on services, and local news has previously reported waits of six months or longer.
• Emory Autism Center — diagnostic assessment in Decatur for patients from about age 1 through adulthood, currently accepting patients 17 and under; intake begins with an online interest form and a follow-up call from a coordinator rather than a direct booking link. · 404-727-8350 · intake materials describe a wait-list step as part of the process; no specific wait time is published.

How assessment works · What to do while you wait

Disability services and waivers: Georgia DBHDD (Region 3 Field Office, Decatur)

DBHDD is the state agency behind Georgia's NOW and COMP Medicaid waivers, which fund adult and family supports — respite, day programs, supported employment — well beyond what early intervention or a school IEP covers. Roswell families apply through the Region 3 Field Office in Decatur, using the Individual IDD Connects online portal (georgiacollaborative.com) or a paper application; Region 3 staff verify the paperwork before a DBHDD psychologist decides pre-eligibility. Applicants who pre-qualify go onto Georgia's statewide I/DD Planning List, and DBHDD has said for years that movement off that list is driven by assessed need, not simply by how long someone has been waiting.

• Georgia DBHDD (Region 3 Field Office, Decatur)
• Phone: (404) 244-5050 (Region 3, Decatur) · 678-248-7449 (Katie Beckett centralized team)

Local organizations that help Roswell families

• Roswell Recreation, Parks, Historic & Cultural Affairs — Adaptive Programs — runs an 'Adaptive' program registration category through the city's online sign-up system; call (770) 594-6420 or email rrpd@roswellgov.com for what's currently offered (38 Hill Street, Suite 235)
• Parent to Parent of Georgia — Georgia's federally designated Parent Training and Information Center; free one-on-one parent matching and support groups statewide, birth through 26 (800-229-2038)
• Autism Society of Georgia — information and referral specialists, statewide support groups, and workshops across the lifespan (844-404-2742)
• Special Olympics Georgia — North Fulton United (Area 4) — the north Fulton community delegation under Special Olympics Georgia's Area 4; Fulton County Schools also fields its own Area 4 Unified Sports program (Area 4 contact: liz.smith@specialolympicsga.org, 770-414-9390)
• United Way of Greater Atlanta 2-1-1 — dial 211, or search the database online, 24/7, for local health and human-service referrals

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.

• Under Ava's Law, state-regulated Georgia health plans must cover autism services, though the law permits a $35,000 annual ceiling on ABA benefits and, because it doesn't touch self-funded employer coverage, plenty of Roswell families fall outside its protection entirely. (source)
• Georgia's DD waiver planning list is a chronic bottleneck, not a temporary one: a 2024 legislative budget review counted more than 7,000 people on it statewide, a number that has hovered in that range for years. (source)
• Some ABA companies market services to Roswell families without keeping a street address inside the city — two examples checked in this research, Flywheel Centers and Elevation Autism, both deliver from a nearby Alpharetta center or directly at a Roswell home rather than from a Roswell office. (source)
• Fulton County Schools has 30 calendar days after an eligibility decision to hold the IEP meeting, on top of the 60 days it's given to complete the evaluation itself. (source)
• Fulton's Babies Can't Wait intake, reached through the same Children 1st line Roswell families call, is bound like every Georgia Part C office to hold the IFSP meeting within 45 days of referral. (source)
• Ava's Law's autism-coverage duty for state-regulated plans lapses at age 21, a separate limit from its $35,000 yearly ABA ceiling. (source)