Community Bridges, headquartered a few blocks from the State House on Pembroke Road, is the private nonprofit New Hampshire designates as the Capitol District's Area Agency — it runs the region's birth-to-3 program and stays the point of contact for developmental-disability services afterward.

Concord School District's SAU 8 office is the separate door for evaluation and IEPs once a child turns 3. This page lists the phone numbers and web pages for both, plus the statewide offices that back them up.

Statewide programs, numbers, and rights are on the New Hampshire page. This page adds the local entry points that are specific to Concord (Merrimack County).

Early intervention under 3: Early Supports and Services (0–3) — Community Bridges

Community Bridges is New Hampshire's designated Area Agency for the Capitol District, and its Early Supports and Services program is where Concord families of children under 3 start. Once you call, a team including at least two certified developmental specialists evaluates your child and works with you to decide eligibility and, if warranted, build an Individualized Family Support Plan. The team also coordinates outside medical referrals, such as hearing, vision, or other specialists, and manages the transition into preschool special education around a child's third birthday.

• Early Supports and Services (0–3) — Community Bridges
• Referral phone: 603-225-4153

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

School districts and special education

Concord School District (SAU 8) must identify and evaluate any resident child with a suspected disability at no cost under federal and New Hampshire Child Find law, and it publishes a Special Ed & Student Services section covering that process. For statewide policy, dispute resolution, or if a Concord family's request stalls, the New Hampshire Department of Education's special-education office is the second contact.

• Concord School District (SAU 8) — SAU 8 offices at 38 Liberty Street; site covers programs from preschool at Beaver Meadow and Mill Brook schools through age 22

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.

• New Hampshire DOE — Bureau of Special Education — statewide office for special-education policy, parent rights, and complaint procedures

IEP or 504 · If you disagree with the school

Evaluation and diagnosis pathways in Concord

We have not yet verified a hospital or university evaluation program with public intake information in Concord. 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: Community Bridges — Area Agency, Region 4 (Capitol District)

Community Bridges holds New Hampshire's Area Agency contract for the Capitol District centered on Concord, serving roughly 1,200 people with developmental disabilities and acquired brain injuries across central New Hampshire. After the state's eligibility process confirms a developmental disability, Community Bridges helps a family access services funded through the Bureau of Developmental Services, including the Medicaid home- and community-based waiver, and its staff can walk a Concord family through that application from the start.

• Community Bridges — Area Agency, Region 4 (Capitol District)
• Phone: 603-225-4153

Local organizations that help Concord families

• Autism Society of New Hampshire — 603-679-2424; the statewide affiliate's mailing address is in Concord
• Community Bridges — Family Support Services — connects families to flexible funding, respite, and other supports beyond the waiver system

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.

• New Hampshire's procedural safeguards guidance gives SAU 8 60 calendar days from a Concord parent's written consent to finish testing and hold the eligibility meeting, with a separate 15-business-day deadline just to schedule the earlier disposition-of-referral meeting. (source)
• Community Bridges' Early Supports and Services team works against the statewide FCESS rule requiring a signed IFSP within 45 days of a referral coming in. (source)
• Community Bridges' own published FAQ says the In-Home Supports Waiver for children with developmental disabilities currently has no waitlist, though it notes a waitlist could form again depending on state budget appropriations. (source)
• New Hampshire's RSA 417-E:2 mandate covers ABA up to age 21, but the statute sets separate annual dollar caps: $36,000 for a covered person under 12, and $27,000 for one between 12 and 21. (source)