Special-education help for Indiana families.

First Steps is Indiana's IDEA Part C early-intervention program, run by the Family & Social Services Administration (FSSA / DDARS / Bureau of Child Development Services). It gives developmental evaluation and services — speech, occupational, physical, and developmental therapy — to any child birth to 3 with a delay or qualifying condition, anywhere in the state, delivered in your home. The evaluation is free and no diagnosis is required; some services use a sliding family-cost share, but cost never blocks eligibility. This is the single best first call for a baby or toddler.

First Steps is delivered through regional 'clusters' and local System Points of Entry (SPOE) across Indiana. Call the statewide line at (800) 545-7763 or email firststepsweb@fssa.in.gov to be connected to the office serving your county. They come to you.

IN*SOURCE is Indiana's federally funded Parent Training and Information Center. It gives free, one-to-one help understanding your rights, the evaluation, and the case-conference / IEP process under Indiana's Article 7 rules — with Spanish-language support. Trained parent specialists, many of whom have raised children with disabilities themselves, will walk through your child's situation with you. Call IN*SOURCE before you pay any private advocate.

Beyond one-on-one help, IN*SOURCE runs free workshops across Indiana on evaluations, IEPs, behavior, transition, and dispute resolution — and answers questions by phone and email. A great way to learn your rights before your next case conference.

Indiana Disability Rights is the state's federally mandated protection & advocacy agency. It provides free legal information and advocacy when a child's special-education rights are being denied — including help with disputes, restraint and seclusion, and discipline/expulsion. A powerful no-cost resource to call before you hire a lawyer.

Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation Services (FSSA / DDARS / Bureau of Rehabilitation Services) provides free help for students with disabilities to prepare for work, college, and independent living. Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS) are available in every county for students ages 14–22 who have an IEP or 504 plan — career planning, work-based learning, counseling, training, and assistive technology. VR has 25 area offices statewide; ask your VR counselor to join your child's transition IEP/case-conference meeting.

Indiana's two main Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waivers for children are the Community Integration and Habilitation (CIH) Waiver and the Family Supports Waiver (FSW). They can pay for therapies, respite, behavioral supports, and other services for a child with significant disabilities — and eligibility is based on the child's needs, not the parents' income. The FSW especially has a long waitlist, so the single most important move is to get on the list TODAY by applying through your local DDRS / BDDS district office. Don't wait for a 'perfect' time — apply now and refine later.

Important: Indiana does NOT offer a standalone Katie Beckett / TEFRA program. The way Indiana families reach income-blind Medicaid for a child with disabilities is through the CIH and FSW waivers above (which use the child's needs, not parent income). Separately, any child already on Medicaid is entitled to medically necessary therapy — speech, OT, PT, and ABA — through EPSDT (Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment). Apply for the waiver waitlist now AND ask your Medicaid plan about EPSDT therapy in the meantime.

You can ask your school district in writing for a special-education evaluation at any time. Under Indiana's Article 7 (511 IAC 7), the school must give you a written notice of its decision within 10 school days of receiving your request. Once you sign consent, the district must complete the evaluation and hold the case conference within 50 instructional days. Put the request in writing and date it — the clock starts then. You have the right to everything in your language, to bring anyone to the meeting, and to disagree.

Under IDEA you have the right to a free, appropriate public education (FAPE), to a full evaluation at no cost, to be an equal member of the case-conference (IEP) team, to an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) if you disagree, and to dispute resolution (mediation, complaint, or due process). Indiana publishes a Notice of Procedural Safeguards explaining all of it, and IN*SOURCE above will walk you through it for free.

The Indiana Department of Education's Office of Special Education sets the Article 7 (511 IAC 7) rules every district must follow, runs the complaint, mediation, and due-process systems, and provides the state's dyslexia guidance (Indiana law requires early literacy/dyslexia screening and structured-literacy support). Start here to know exactly what the state requires of your school.

Use the ZIP finder to pull the nearest evaluators, therapists, and special-education schools to your address, plus your metro's full directory — and these statewide free programs are always shown, no matter how rural your town.

Several reputable practices provide autism/ADHD evaluation and speech/OT/ABA by telehealth across Indiana — vital for rural families and the southern and northern reaches of the state. Nationally, COPAA (advocates/attorneys), the Academy of Orton-Gillingham (dyslexia), ABPP (board-certified evaluators), BHCOE (ABA), and Bookshare (free accessible books) round out your options.