Fort Worth sits in Tarrant County, where a single unit of local government, MHMR of Tarrant County, has run both mental-health and intellectual/developmental-disability services since 1969 — including the county's Early Childhood Intervention contract and its Medicaid waiver intake desk.

Outside of MHMR, the rest of the system runs through school districts: Fort Worth ISD and several large neighboring districts each carry their own Child Find duty, and which one applies depends on your home address, not on which city you consider yourself to live in.

Statewide programs, numbers, and rights are on the Texas page. This page adds the local entry points that are specific to Fort Worth metro (Tarrant County).

Early intervention under 3: Texas Early Childhood Intervention (ECI)

ECI, Texas's Early Childhood Intervention program, is open to any child from birth to age three with a developmental delay or an eligible diagnosis, and referrals are accepted from parents, relatives, doctors, or childcare staff without requiring a diagnosis first. In Tarrant County the program operates as ECI of North Central Texas, run by MHMR of Tarrant County: call to request an evaluation, and staff call back to schedule the first visit, where eligibility is assessed and, if the child qualifies, an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) is built with the family. MHMR also runs a related line, Help Me Grow North Texas, for expecting families and children ages 0-5 who may need a broader developmental screening or referral. Services continue until a child's third birthday, when the district-transition process begins.

• Texas Early Childhood Intervention (ECI)
• Referral phone: 1-800-754-0524 or 817-446-8000 (ECI of North Central Texas)

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

School districts and special education

Texas school districts and charters carry a standing legal duty — Child Find — to locate, identify, and evaluate students they suspect have a disability, from birth to 21 years old, without charging the family anything. Put your evaluation request in writing to the campus or district special education office. Several independent districts serve different parts of Fort Worth and its suburbs, each with its own Child Find contact, so confirm which one covers your address.

• Fort Worth ISD — part of the district's Specialized Learning department; a separate Section 504 Child Find page also exists
• Crowley ISD — district office 817-297-5800; publishes a community-resources page covering autism spectrum disorder specifically
• Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD — Special Programs Department 817-232-0880 ext. 2622; serves children age three through twenty-one, birth for vision or hearing disabilities

IEP or 504 · If you disagree with the school

Evaluation and diagnosis pathways in Fort Worth

We have not yet verified a hospital or university evaluation program with public intake information in Fort Worth. 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: MHMR of Tarrant County (My Health My Resources) — Tarrant County's LIDDA

MHMR of Tarrant County is a unit of local government, governed by a board the Tarrant County Commissioners Court appoints, and has operated since 1969. It functions as the county's Local Intellectual and Developmental Disability Authority, handling IDD services and Medicaid waiver interest-list enrollment for HCS and Texas Home Living at 817-335-3022. As elsewhere in Texas, the CLASS, DBMD, and MDCP interest lists are joined separately, through the state's own line at 877-438-5658, rather than through MHMR directly.

• MHMR of Tarrant County (My Health My Resources) — Tarrant County's LIDDA
• Phone: 817-335-3022 (general services) · 877-438-5658 (state interest list line)

Local organizations that help Fort Worth families

• United Way of Tarrant County — operates the local 2-1-1 referral line, 817-258-8000
• Autism Society of Texas — statewide information and referral line, 512-479-4199; Spanish support available
• SPEDTex — the state's special education parent helpline: 1-855-773-3839, weekdays, with email and live chat
• Disability Rights Texas — the state's federally designated protection-and-advocacy agency; direct legal help when rights are violated
• Navigate Life Texas — state-supported plain-language resource site for Texas families of children with disabilities

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.

• Fort Worth-area districts get 45 school days after a parent's signed consent to complete the full individual evaluation, and that clock pauses during any run of three or more absent school days. (source)
• Texas then requires the district's Admission, Review, and Dismissal committee — its version of the IEP team most other states use — to meet within 30 calendar days of the finished evaluation report. (source)
• Under the state mandate, Fort Worth families with commercial coverage see ABA reimbursement capped at $36,000 per year starting the year a child turns 10, with no dollar limit before that. (source)