Urban Honolulu is not, technically, a city at all: Hawaiʻi has no incorporated municipalities under state law, so the neighborhoods most people mean when they say "Honolulu" — from Kalihi to Waikīkī — sit inside a single Census-designated place governed by the City and County of Honolulu. That distinction rarely matters day to day for a parent, except that it explains why every autism-related system on this page is a state or statewide program rather than a city department: Hawaiʻi's Department of Health runs early intervention statewide, its Department of Education is the state's only school district, and its Developmental Disabilities Division administers the Medicaid waiver out of a single Honolulu headquarters.

Because so much of Hawaiʻi's state government sits physically in Honolulu, an urban-core family is often closer to the source than families anywhere else in the state. This page names the specific complex areas, hospital clinic, and intake offices a Honolulu address actually reaches, along with the phone numbers and referral rules each one publishes.

Statewide programs, numbers, and rights are on the Hawaii page. This page adds the local entry points that are specific to Honolulu (City and County of Honolulu, Oʻahu).

Early intervention under 3: Hawaii Early Intervention Section (EIS)

Hawaiʻi's Department of Health, through its Family Health Services Division's Children with Special Health Needs Branch, runs a single statewide Early Intervention Section (EIS) implementing IDEA Part C for every child from birth to age 3. A Honolulu family reaches it at 808-594-0066, the Oʻahu information-and-referral line, and the department's own guidance simply invites anyone concerned about a child's development to call — the standard EIS screens against is a documented delay, or risk of one, across five domains (physical, cognitive, communication, social/emotional, and adaptive), not a diagnosis obtained beforehand. EIS charges families nothing and applies no income test, though it will bill Medicaid or private insurance with a parent's permission where coverage exists. At age 3, responsibility for services shifts to the Department of Education's special education preschool system.

• Hawaii Early Intervention Section (EIS)
• Referral phone: 808-594-0066 (Oʻahu information and referral)

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

School districts and special education

Hawaiʻi has just one school district statewide — the Department of Education — so "which district" is never the question a family needs answered; "which complex area" is. Under IDEA's Child Find duty, the department must locate and evaluate any student it suspects has a disability, from birth through age 21, at no cost to the family, and the process starts with a request to the neighborhood school by phone, in person, or in writing. An urban Honolulu address falls into one of two Honolulu District complex areas — Kaimukī-McKinley-Roosevelt or Farrington-Kaiser-Kalani, depending on neighborhood — both administered from the same district office.

• Kaimukī-McKinley-Roosevelt Complex Area — 808-784-6600; covers central Honolulu neighborhoods including Mānoa and Kaimukī; shares its Honolulu District office with Farrington-Kaiser-Kalani
• Farrington-Kaiser-Kalani Complex Area — 808-784-6600; the second Honolulu District complex area, sharing the same district office at 4967 Kīlauea Ave.

IEP or 504 · If you disagree with the school

Evaluation and diagnosis pathways in Honolulu

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.

• Kapiʻolani Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics — evaluation and ongoing care for developmental, behavioral, and learning concerns including autism spectrum disorder and ADHD, from developmental-behavioral pediatricians Jeffrey Okamoto, MD and Mari Uehara, MD · 808-373-7555
• Kapiʻolani Neurodevelopmental Pediatrics Clinic — evaluation of developmental, behavioral, and learning concerns in children, delivered in coordination with primary care providers and other specialists · 808-983-8394
• Step Ahead ABA — Honolulu — in-home applied behavior analysis therapy for ages 1 to 21, with online intake and insurance verification support, including Medicaid · 888-238-1818

How assessment works · What to do while you wait

Disability services and waivers: Hawaii Department of Health — Developmental Disabilities Division (DDD)

The Department of Health's Developmental Disabilities Division (DDD) — not the Department of Human Services — is Hawaiʻi's front door for intellectual and developmental disability services, including the state's Medicaid 1915(c) Home and Community-Based Services waiver; its main office sits at 1250 Punchbowl Street, a short drive from most of urban Honolulu. Enrollment starts with DDD's own Intake and Eligibility Determination, and DDD is explicit that clearing that bar does not by itself secure a waiver slot — a family must separately qualify for Medicaid and meet a level-of-care standard. Medicaid itself is administered by a different agency, the Department of Human Services' Med-QUEST Division, which DDD describes as its partner in designing and running the waiver.

• Hawaii Department of Health — Developmental Disabilities Division (DDD)
• Phone: 808-586-5840 (DDD general inquiries) · 808-733-1689 (Oʻahu intake and eligibility)

Local organizations that help Honolulu families

• Autism Society of Hawaii — statewide education, resources, and events including the Hele for Autism walk and resource fair; 808-342-0364
• SPIN Hawaii (Special Parent Information Network) — parent-to-parent support, information and referral, and special education guidance, based in Honolulu; 808-586-8126
• Hawaiʻi Disability Rights Center — the state's federally designated protection-and-advocacy agency for disability rights; 808-949-2922
• AccesSurf Hawaiʻi — adaptive surfing, swimming, and outrigger canoe programs for people with disabilities, based in Waikīkī; 808-236-4200
• Special Olympics Hawaiʻi — year-round adaptive sports and Young Athletes programming across every island; 808-943-8808

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.

• DDD's own application guidance states plainly that eligibility for DDD services does not guarantee Medicaid I/DD Waiver services — a family must separately qualify for Medicaid and meet a level-of-care standard before a waiver slot opens. (source)
• Hawaiʻi's Department of Education must complete evaluation and determine eligibility within 60 school days of receiving written consent from you. (source)
• After referring to the Early Intervention Section (EIS), the program's evaluation and initial IFSP meeting must be completed within 45 calendar days. (source)
• Hawaiʻi reported zero people waiting for the Medicaid I/DD Waiver as of the 2025 survey. (source)