Peoria's Child and Family Connections office for Early Intervention sits right in the city, and Peoria Public Schools District 150 handles the bulk of school-age special education, with a smaller neighboring district covering the Peoria Heights area.

Peoria is also home to a regional Easterseals affiliate offering ABA therapy — a genuinely local option rather than a drive to Chicago — alongside the statewide systems that apply the same way everywhere in Illinois: Early Intervention referral, the PUNS disability waiver waitlist, and how ABA gets funded.

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

Early intervention under 3: Illinois Early Intervention (Part C)

Illinois Early Intervention is for children from birth to age 3, and responsibility for running it shifted on July 1, 2026 to the newly formed Illinois Department of Early Childhood. Peoria's own Child and Family Connections office, at 1014 W. Pioneer Pkwy., also covers Henry, Stark, Tazewell, and Woodford counties. There's no cost for that first evaluation and no diagnosis required either — a parent, relative, or doctor can simply make the referral.

• Illinois Early Intervention (Part C)
• Referral phone: 309-672-6360 (CFC 14, Peoria County) · 1-800-843-6154 (statewide locator)

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

School districts and special education

Child Find is what Illinois calls a district's duty to find and evaluate, at no cost to families, any child from birth through 21 who may need special education. Peoria Public Schools District 150 is the largest district and serves most of the city, while Peoria Heights Community Unit School District 325 covers the Peoria Heights suburb and adjacent parts of the city. Written requests start two clocks running — 14 school days for the district to decide whether to evaluate, and after your written consent, up to 60 school days to complete the evaluation and hold the eligibility meeting.

• Peoria Public Schools District 150 — the largest district in the city; district-wide special education services
• Peoria Heights Community Unit School District 325 — covers the Peoria Heights suburb and adjacent area

IEP or 504 · If you disagree with the school

Evaluation and diagnosis pathways in Peoria

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.

• Easterseals Central Illinois — Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy for children with autism, using evidence-based strategies for communication, social, and daily living skills, plus pediatric rehabilitation services · 309-686-1177

How assessment works · What to do while you wait

Disability services and waivers: IDHS Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD)

Illinois routes long-term disability supports through Medicaid waivers, accessed by joining PUNS, a statewide waitlist, rather than through a Peoria County agency. Eligibility and the PUNS interview go through an Independent Service Coordination agency, and a child can be entered starting at age 2.5. Adults in the 'Seeking Services' category are, under the state's Ligas Consent Decree commitment, meant to be selected for waiver funding within five years of enrolling.

• IDHS Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD)
• Phone: 1-888-DD-PLANS (1-888-337-5267) · 1-866-376-8446 (TTY)

Local organizations that help Peoria families

• Easterseals Central Illinois — ABA therapy and pediatric rehabilitation services based in Peoria; 507 E. Armstrong Ave., 309-686-1177
• The Arc of Illinois — Family Support Network — statewide help with PUNS enrollment and waiver navigation; 708-331-7370
• Equip for Equality — Illinois' Protection & Advocacy agency; statewide helpline 800-537-2632

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.

• Illinois Early Intervention gives Peoria's Child and Family Connections office 45 days from a referral to finish evaluating a toddler and hold the initial IFSP meeting. (source)
• The state's autism insurance mandate sets a $36,000 annual limit on the plans it covers, though self-insured employer plans, not unusual among Peoria's larger employers, fall outside its reach. (source)