Boston runs on three unconnected systems. Before your child turns 3, the door is a certified Early Intervention program contracted by the state Department of Public Health — five of them cover the city. From age 3, it is the Boston Public Schools Office of Specialized Services. For long-term disability supports at any age, it is the Department of Developmental Services.

Nobody hands you from one to the next, so this page names all three with their published phone numbers, and lists the source behind every fact.

Statewide programs, numbers, and rights are on the Massachusetts page. This page adds the local entry points that are specific to Boston (Greater Boston).

Early intervention under 3: Massachusetts Early Intervention — certified programs serving Boston

Massachusetts does not deliver Part C itself. The Early Intervention Division of the Department of Public Health certifies local programs and those programs do the visits, which is why Boston has several rather than one. Boston Children's Hospital Early Intervention, at 75 Bickford Street in Jamaica Plain, describes itself as one of five programs serving families who live in Boston (apart from East Boston and Charlestown) or in Brookline; its main line is 617-919-7872 and its intake coordinator is 617-919-7881. Thom Boston Metro Early Intervention works out of 555 Amory Street in Jamaica Plain on 617-383-6522, and the Dimock Center's program is at 55 Dimock Street in Roxbury on 617-442-8800 extension 1375. A parent, doctor, caregiver, teacher or friend can make the call, and no referral is needed to contact a program. If you would rather not guess which one covers your street, the state's Central Directory on 1-800-905-8437 will tell you.

• Massachusetts Early Intervention — certified programs serving Boston
• Referral phone: 1-800-905-8437 (statewide Central Directory) · 617-919-7872 (Boston Children's Hospital Early Intervention)

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

School districts and special education

Boston is a single municipal school district — there is no county layer above it in Massachusetts — so the first route is Boston Public Schools and the second is the state. Put your evaluation request in writing rather than raising it in a hallway conversation, and keep a copy with the date on it. Under IDEA's Child Find duty every district must identify and evaluate children it suspects have a disability, at no cost to the family. If the district does not respond, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's special education office is the place to take it.

• Boston Public Schools — Office of Specialized Services — specialeducation@bostonpublicschools.org; BPS helpline 617-635-8873; the BPS Welcome Center at 312 Border Street handles enrolment questions on 617-635-9597

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.

• Massachusetts DESE — Office of Special Education Planning and Policy — the state route rather than a second district, since Boston has only one: 781-338-3375, specialeducation@doe.mass.edu, 135 Santilli Highway, Everett

IEP or 504 · If you disagree with the school

Evaluation and diagnosis pathways in Boston

We have not yet verified a hospital or university evaluation program with public intake information in Boston. 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: Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services — Metro Region

DDS is the agency behind adult and long-term supports, and it is also where the Children's Autism Waiver lives. Eligibility is decided by a regional eligibility team under the department's regulations, so the region is where a Boston family starts: the Metro Region office is at 465 Waverly Oaks Road, Suite 120 in Waltham, on 781-314-7500. Day-to-day work happens at the area office, and for most of the city that is the Greater Boston Area Office at 65 Sprague Street in Hyde Park on 617-363-2900, whose published coverage includes Allston, Beacon Hill, Brighton, Brookline, Charlestown, Chelsea, Chinatown, Dorchester, East Boston, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, the North End, Revere, Roslindale, Roxbury, the South End and Winthrop. DDS also publishes an area office locator you can search by city, and its family support centres will help a family apply and will still make referrals for families found not eligible.

• Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services — Metro Region
• Phone: 781-314-7500 (Metro Region) · 617-363-2900 (Greater Boston Area Office)

Local organizations that help Boston families

• Family Ties of Massachusetts — Early Intervention programs by city — the state's Central Directory listing of certified programs, searchable by city or town; 1-800-905-8437
• Boston Children's Hospital Early Intervention — 75 Bickford Street, Jamaica Plain; 617-919-7872, intake coordinator 617-919-7881
• Thom Boston Metro Early Intervention — 555 Amory Street, Jamaica Plain; 617-383-6522
• The Dimock Center — Early Intervention — 55 Dimock Street, Roxbury; 617-442-8800 ext. 1375
• Massachusetts Advocates for Children — statewide education advocacy organisation publishing autism-specific guidance for families
• City of Boston — Office of Early Childhood — the city's own page on education and intervention for young children

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.

• Once a Boston parent signs consent, state regulation splits the 45-school-day evaluation deadline into two pieces: 30 school days to finish testing, then 15 more to hold the Team meeting that decides eligibility. (source)
• Massachusetts keeps the federal Part C deadline as written rather than adding state time: a certified Early Intervention program serving Boston must finish the evaluation and hold the first IFSP meeting within 45 days of referral. (source)
• DDS's own program overview says the Autism Division reserves just 20 statewide slots for applicants who are exactly 3 years old, a detail worth knowing before the October enrolment window opens. (source)