Cary is one of Wake County's largest towns, sitting just southwest of Raleigh, and families here move through the same statewide structure every North Carolina county uses: a county-based agency for early intervention before age 3, a school district Child Find duty from 3 on, and a regional public authority managing Medicaid behavioral health and the state's autism waiver.

This page lays out Wake County's specific contacts within that structure for a Cary family — who to call for early intervention, which districts serve the town, where to find a diagnostic evaluation, and how the local Medicaid system works — with every fact sourced to the agency's own page.

Statewide programs, numbers, and rights are on the North Carolina page. This page adds the local entry points that are specific to Cary (Wake County).

Early intervention under 3: North Carolina Infant-Toddler Program (NC ITP), delivered locally by the Raleigh CDSA

Part C early intervention in North Carolina is called the NC Infant-Toddler Program, and it's delivered locally by 16 regional Children's Developmental Services Agencies. All of Wake County, including Cary, is served by the Raleigh CDSA. A referral can be opened by a parent, doctor, allied health worker, or teacher, using the phone, fax, mail, an in-person visit, or the state's NC ITP Referral form — a diagnosis is not required to start. CDSA staff then gather a child's developmental and health background and complete the evaluations used to decide eligibility for children under 3. Every family receives screening, evaluation, and service coordination free of charge, whatever its income or insurance.

• North Carolina Infant-Toddler Program (NC ITP), delivered locally by the Raleigh CDSA
• Referral phone: 919-664-1800 (Raleigh CDSA)

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

School districts and special education

Statewide, the NC Department of Public Instruction's Exceptional Children Division coordinates Child Find — the duty to find and evaluate children from birth through 21 who may have a disability — but families work directly with their district. Cary sits entirely within Wake County Public School System, the state's largest district, so a written request to your child's school is the starting point. The Census Bureau's Raleigh-Cary metropolitan area also includes Franklin County to the northeast, whose own district runs a separate process for families outside Wake's boundary.

• Wake County Public School System — covers all of Cary; Family and Community Engagement office 919-431-7334 (Spanish line 919-431-7143)
• Franklin County Schools — neighboring district in the Raleigh-Cary metropolitan statistical area; district office 919-496-2600

IEP or 504 · If you disagree with the school

Evaluation and diagnosis pathways in Cary

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.

• UNC TEACCH Autism Program — Raleigh Center — diagnostic evaluation, intervention and therapy services, education, and consultation for individuals on the autism spectrum, serving Wake County including Cary as part of UNC's statewide TEACCH network; a professional referral form is referenced on the center's site, so call to ask about self-referral · 919-445-5800

How assessment works · What to do while you wait

Disability services and waivers: Alliance Health (Wake County's LME/MCO)

North Carolina routes Medicaid-funded behavioral health, substance use, and I/DD services through regional public managed-care organizations called LME/MCOs; Wake County, including Cary, is served by Alliance Health. Alliance manages local enrollment in the NC Innovations Waiver — the state's home- and community-based Medicaid waiver for autism and other I/DD — through a Tailored Plan, the only kind of NC Medicaid plan that currently unlocks waiver services. Innovations has far more eligible applicants than funded slots, so the state keeps a Registry of Unmet Needs rather than a standard enrollment queue; a bill filed in the state Senate in 2025 put the statewide total at close to 19,000 people waiting. A family can register through Alliance Health well before a diagnosis is finalized, and can ask separately about NC Medicaid's 1915(i) option for interim, comparable services that don't cost a family its place on the registry.

• Alliance Health (Wake County's LME/MCO)
• Phone: 1-800-510-9132 (Alliance Health member and recipient services)

Local organizations that help Cary families

• Exceptional Children's Assistance Center (ECAC) — the go-to statewide parent training and information center for North Carolina families of children with disabilities, at no cost from birth through age 26; call 704-892-1321 or the helpline at 1-800-962-6817
• The Arc of North Carolina — Triangle Region — based in Raleigh, serving Wake County; housing, care management, advocacy, and self-directed-services support (919-782-4632); actively places direct-care staff in Cary and Apex
• Miracle League of the Triangle — inclusive baseball for players 5 and up with a diagnosed disability or an IEP/504 plan; Cary's own field is Andy's Foundation Field at Adams Elementary School (919-238-0333)

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.

• A 2025 North Carolina Senate bill (S246) reported roughly 19,000 people statewide on the NC Innovations Waiver waiting registry, noting the list had about doubled over the prior decade while only around 2,000 new slots were added statewide in that time. (source)
• North Carolina gives Wake County Public School System just 90 calendar days from a written referral to finish evaluating a child, hold the eligibility and IEP meetings, and start services — a firm deadline that doesn’t pause for holidays or summer break. (source)
• The Raleigh CDSA, Cary’s Part C agency, has to complete its developmental assessment and hold the initial IFSP meeting within 45 days of the day a referral comes in, the same clock every CDSA in the state runs on. (source)
• Some families waiting for the NC Innovations Waiver report being on the registry for a decade or longer, since North Carolina's Medicaid waiver adds far fewer new slots each year than the number of new names joining the list. (source)