Baltimore is a rare thing in Maryland: a city with no surrounding county government over it, which means every autism-related public system here — early intervention, Child Find, the disability-waiver access point — answers to the city itself rather than splitting jurisdiction with a county seat somewhere else.

This guide gathers the phone numbers, referral routes, and web addresses those Baltimore City agencies publish directly, alongside the Kennedy Krieger Institute's evaluation pathway and the DDA regional office that actually processes a Baltimore family's waiver paperwork.

Statewide programs, numbers, and rights are on the Maryland page. This page adds the local entry points that are specific to Baltimore (independent city).

Early intervention under 3: Baltimore Infants and Toddlers Program (BITP)

Baltimore City runs its own Part C early intervention program rather than sharing one with a neighboring jurisdiction, and the Baltimore Infants and Toddlers Program is it — housed inside the city Health Department at 3002 Druid Park Drive. A parent, doctor, or child care provider can open a referral by phone at 410-396-1666, by email at BITP2@baltimorecity.gov, by fax at 410-396-7397, or through the state's shared online portal at referral.mditp.org. Maryland's Part C rules let a child qualify three separate ways — a documented 25% delay in a developmental area, an atypical pattern of development, or a diagnosed condition likely to cause delay — so a formal autism diagnosis is never a prerequisite to start. Once a BITP-enrolled child nears age 3, responsibility shifts to Baltimore City Public Schools, and families of a child already past that birthday should skip BITP and call the district's Child Find line at 443-642-3032 instead.

• Baltimore Infants and Toddlers Program (BITP)
• Referral phone: 410-396-1666 (BITP referral) · 443-642-3032 (Child Find, ages 3+)

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

School districts and special education

Baltimore City is its own school district and its own Local Education Agency, so there is no address-by-address guessing about which system runs Child Find here — it is Baltimore City Public Schools for every family inside city limits, full stop. The district frames its duty as providing a Free Appropriate Public Education from birth through age 21, and routes escalations through its Parent Response Unit and the Partners for Success program when an issue can't be resolved at the school level. Families whose child needs a more intensive, autism-specific day placement than a home school can offer have a second option worth knowing about: The Chimes School, an MSDE-licensed nonpublic special-education school inside the city that serves students with autism, intellectual disability, and multiple disabilities, and that takes referrals from any local jurisdiction, not just Baltimore.

• Baltimore City Public Schools — special education overview, Parent Response Unit, and Partners for Success program; Child Find (ages 3+) 443-642-3032
• The Chimes School — MSDE-licensed nonpublic day school, ages 5-21, for students with autism, intellectual disability, or multiple disabilities; 410-358-8270; placement is arranged through a student's home school system

IEP or 504 · If you disagree with the school

Evaluation and diagnosis pathways in Baltimore

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.

• Kennedy Krieger Institute — Center for Autism Services, Science and Innovation (CASSI) — interdisciplinary autism evaluation and diagnosis plus ongoing intervention — speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, social skills groups, psychiatry, and parent-training programs including PECS clinics; the Early Achievements program begins at age 2 · 443-923-7630 (new patient intake) · 888-554-2080 (general referral line)
• Proud Moments ABA — Baltimore — in-clinic and in-home ABA therapy for children with autism, using a six-step intake that starts with a phone consultation and moves to a BCBA-led assessment before a care team is assigned · 410-205-2315 · the provider's own page states it is currently accepting new clients with no waitlist

How assessment works · What to do while you wait

Disability services and waivers: Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) — Central Maryland Regional Office

DDA, the division of the Maryland Department of Health that funds residential, day, employment, and in-home disability supports, assigns Baltimore City to its Central Maryland Regional Office, which also covers Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Harford, and Howard counties. As of October 6, 2025, the state retired its three separate DDA Medicaid waivers and folded them into one combined program, still called the Community Pathways Waiver, so a Baltimore family applying today registers for a single waiver rather than choosing among three. Registration runs through DDA's own eligibility process — a separate track from both early intervention and a school IEP — and the regional office is the practical first call for a Baltimore City family trying to start it.

• Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) — Central Maryland Regional Office
• Phone: 410-234-8200 (Central Maryland Regional Office) · 877-874-2494 (toll-free)

Local organizations that help Baltimore families

• Pathfinders for Autism — Maryland's largest autism nonprofit, headquartered in Timonium; resource helpline 443-330-5341 and a searchable statewide provider directory
• Autism Society of Maryland — statewide chapter; Family Navigator program for newly diagnosed families and a sensory-friendly business directory; 410-290-3466
• We Rock the Spectrum Baltimore — autism-focused indoor sensory gym and open-play space, plus social skills groups through its nonprofit partner; 410-497-6250

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 Baltimore City family signs consent for a school evaluation, Maryland's own IEP timeline resource gives the team 60 calendar days to hold the eligibility meeting, then 30 more days to write the IEP if a child qualifies. (source)
• BITP's 45-day clock, set by state regulation, has to cover the full evaluation, the family assessment, and a completed IFSP meeting from the date of referral — not from whenever a signed consent form comes back in. (source)
• DDA reported roughly 4,000 people on its statewide waiver waiting list as of late 2022, a figure the department cited to the legislature while tracking progress under the End the Wait Act; a Baltimore City family can ask the Central Maryland Regional Office where a specific application currently sits. (source)