Child Find

The Lamar County Board of Education urges parents, service providers and concerned citizens to contact Child Find, a program to locate, identify and evaluate individuals with disabilities or individuals from birth to age 21 who are believed to have disabilities.  Early intervention in the lives of these individuals may significantly enhance their development and learning potential and can decrease the need for costly special programs.

Early location and identification of individuals with disabilities may also benefit the families as well as the education agencies involved by enabling service providers to plan for the types and degrees of disabling conditions they will be serving.  Once individuals with disabilities are identified the education agencies can provide appropriate services and monitor an individual’s progress, anticipate their educational needs and project the need for qualified personnel.

Anyone may make a referral or request information about available educational resources at their local school or education agency or by contacting Thomas Howell, Special Education Coordinator, Lamar County Board of Education at 695-7615, or by calling Child Find’s toll-free telephone numbers, 1-800-392-8020 for ages 3 to 21 and 1-800-543-3098 (Voice and TDD) for ages birth through 2 years.  People who use telecommunication devices for the deaf may also access Child Find by calling the Alabama Relay Services at 1-800-548-2546.  The Child Find services are available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.  When a call is received, Child Find staff then will put the caller in contact with the appropriate local education agency.  Child Find is a service of the state Department of Education through the collaborative efforts of its Division of Special Education Services, local education agencies and other education agencies.  With this campaign and ongoing Child Find outreach efforts, the Department is working to make physicians, social workers, parents, service providers and the general public aware of the need to identify individuals who have disabilities or who may have disabilities and to refer then to Child Find.