Official Site of The State of New Jersey

Parents and caregivers of children with disabilities face the challenge of not only caring for their child, but also making sure that they have the disability supports they need to thrive and develop. Luckily, New Jersey offers a number of programs that can help parents and caregivers connect with the resources they need to support their loved ones. These services include: 

• Early Intervention and Special Child Health Services 
• Child Care Assistance 
• Emergency and Crisis Services 

 

Get Help Now 

• If your child is making threats towards themselves or others, you can have your child evaluated and psychiatrically screened at a designated screening center. A list of screening centers is available here. If you have an emergency situation that is threatening the life of your child, please call 911. 
• Services for children with disabilities are spread across several agencies: 

• • For information about child care, you can contact the Child Care Helpline at 1-800-332-9227 
  • For more information about Special Child Health Services, call your Special Child Health Services Unit at 609-777-7778
  • For more information about early intervention and preschool, contact New Jersey Early Intervention Services at 1-888-653-4463 or visit their website. 
  • For more information about developmental disability services for children, call PerformCare at 1-877-652-7624 or visit the PerformCare website. PerformCare can also dispatch mobile response teams 24 hours a day, seven days a week for urgent situations involving a child with a developmental disability.  

 

PerformCare

Through the New Jersey Children’s System of Care (CSOC), PerformCare administers the developmental disability service delivery system for children and youth up to age 21. PerformCare is also the single point of access to behavioral health and substance use treatment services for New Jersey youth.

Services provided by PerformCare include: 

• Family Support Services, such as caregiver relief and assistive technology 
• Care Management Organizations, which provide treatment and support services for children with complex needs, and 
• Out of home treatment for youth not able to be safely cared for at home. 

To access developmental disability services for children, an application for developmental disability determination of eligibility must be submitted.

For children under the age of 18, applications can be completed online through a secure portal or are available to download and complete by hand at PerformCare’s website, or you can call PerformCare at 1-877-652-7624.

For individuals ages 18 to 21, applications for access to developmental disability services can be submitted to the Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD), but services will continue to be provided through PerformCare until the age of 21, at which time the eligible individual will transition to DDD. An application for an individual age 18 and older can be obtained on the DDD website.

PerformCare has a link at the top of the page which converts the entire website into Spanish. Materials with information about intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (I/DD) translated into several languages are available on the website, and if a family wants to apply for eligibility in a language other than English, PerformCare can translate the application.

 

Help is available for finding and paying for child care services in New Jersey, including through New Jersey’s Child Care Assistance Program.

 

Child Care Assistance Program

The state’s Child Care Assistance Program helps lower-income families who are working, in school, job training or a combination of these activities by paying a portion of their child care. To apply, you will need to provide proof of income, work/school/training hours and household size to help determine eligibility. To see if you are eligible, visit www.ChildCareNJ.gov. 

 

Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) Agencies

Located in every county, CCR&Rs have trained staff to provide information about the availability of child care services provided through the Child Care Assistance Program, different types of child care providers and other social service programs for which you may be eligible. To get more information or connect to your local CCR&R, call 1-800-332-9227 or visit www.ChildCareNJ.gov/CCRR.

 

Grow NJ Kids

Grow NJ Kids, New Jersey’s Quality Rating Improvement System, is an initiative to raise the quality of child care and early learning across the state. Programs that choose to participate are provided with training along with on-site quality improvement technical assistance and access to information on the most current evidence-based practices. For parents, Grow NJ Kids helps you select a quality provider so you can make the most of your child’s early learning opportunities.  

 

NJ Parent Link

NJ Parent Link is a website designed to meet the information and resource needs of expectant parents, families with young children (from newborns through children entering kindergarten), and professional stakeholders invested in the health and well-being of New Jersey’s children and families. Parenting and support resources for families with older children, school-aged to young adulthood, are also available.

 

An emergency is considered to be any serious and sudden medical, emotional, or behavioral health situation that, if not given immediate professional attention, could lead to your child being severely harmed or possibly harming someone else. If you have any emergency situation involving your child that is life-threatening, seek help immediately by dialing 911.

If you child is making threats towards themselves or others, and you want to have your child evaluated for safety, please refer to your nearest Designated Screening Services Center. You can find the Designated Screening Service in your county at this link.

  

Mobile Response and Stabilization Management Services

An emergency is considered to be any serious and sudden medical, emotional, or behavioral health situation that, if not given immediate professional attention, could lead to your child being severely harmed or possibly harming someone else. If you have an emergency situation involving your child that is life-threatening, seek help immediately by dialing 911.

If your child is making threats towards himself/herself or others and you want to have your child evaluated for safety and/or psychiatrically screened, please refer to your nearest designated screening center. A list of screening centers is available here.

• Mobile Response is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and can offer up to eight weeks of stabilization services after the initial dispatch. Parents or guardians can request services by contacting PerformCare at 1-877-652-7624 and following the menu prompts provided for an urgent situation. PerformCare is the single point of access and contracted systems administrator for the Children’s System of Care. PerformCare may authorize Mobile Response to come your home within one hour of notification to provide face-to-face crisis services. Telehealth services may be provided at the family’s request if clinically appropriate.

• Stabilization Management Services are available as a transition option after the initial 72-hour Mobile Response dispatch when a youth continues to exhibit behavioral and emotional needs that require continued intervention and coordination. Depending on your child’s needs Mobile Response may also refer you and your child for other Mobile Response and Stabilization Management Services are designed to support youth to remain in or return to their present living arrangement, to function within peer relationships, in school and community settings, and to maintain the least restrictive treatment setting.

 

All children with disabilities are guaranteed the right to a free, appropriate public education delivered in the least restrictive environment. Services are available to support children and their families through early intervention and education.

 

New Jersey Early Intervention Services

Children develop at different paces, but there are developmental milestones that children should reach by certain times during the first three years of their lives. Early intervention services are designed to address a problem or delay in development as early as possible. The New Jersey Early Intervention Services (NJEIS) can conduct an evaluation if your child is not meeting key developmental milestones. The cost of Early Intervention services is determined by family income and may be available for free.

To learn more, visit the NJEIS website or call 1-888-653-4463.

 

Regional Early Intervention Collaboratives

Regional Early Intervention Collaboratives (REICs) are independent, non-profit corporations established to provide a community-based, culturally competent, and consumer-driven early intervention system for children with developmental delays. The collaboratives are responsible for identifying eligible children, public awareness, initial referral, service coordination, training and technical assistance, and family support.

For more information, contact your local collaborative:

• Family Link Regional Early Intervention Collaborative, Union NJ (Essex, Morris, Sussex, Union, and Warren Counties): (908) 964-5303
• Helpful Hands Northeast Regional Early Intervention Collaborative, Wayne, NJ (Bergen, Hudson, and Passaic Countries): (973) 256-8484
• Central Jersey Family Health Consortium Regional Early Intervention Collaborative, North Brunswick, NJ (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, and Somerset Counties): (732) 937-5437
• Southern New Jersey Regional Early Intervention Collaborative (SNJREIC), Berlin, NJ (Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem Counties): (856) 768-6747

 

Special Child Health Services 

Every New Jersey county has a Special Child Health Services Case Management Unit that works with the parents, physicians, and/or specialists of children with special health care needs.  These units evaluate the strengths and needs of the child and collaborate with the family and community-based partners to develop an individual service plan (ISP) for the child and family. 

Find your county Special Child Health Services unit or call (609) 777-7778. 

 

Head Start

Head Start is a comprehensive preschool program for low-income children ages birth through five years old. It provides children with a developmentally appropriate early childhood education. The program ensures that young children get health checkups and treatment, oral health screenings and treatment, and are provided a nutritious hot meal every day.

To see if you are eligible for Local Head Start Programs or to find a location near you, use this Head Start Locator to find a center near you or call: (609) 376-907.

Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program (EHDI)

This program ensures that all New Jersey children receive timely and appropriate screening, diagnosis, and intervention for hearing loss. The New Jersey EDHI program provides insight and technical assistance to birthing facilities; provides education about newborn hearing screening, diagnosis, and intervention to families and health care providers; and the establishment of a confidential registry and tracking system to ensure children are screened, have appropriate follow-up and are linked to services. For more information, visit: www.nj.gov/health/fhs/nbs/ehdi/.

 

Language Instruction Program

Families with deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind children ages 0-5 can receive language acquisition and development services for the child in American Sign Language. Research shows that the first five years of life are essential for language learning. It is important for deaf and hard of hearing children to receive early language input during this critical time period.

Families can use ASL in conjunction with spoken language development to ensure early language acquisition and development. DDHH will screen Deaf ASL Associate candidates and assign them to a Childcare Resource & Referral (CCR&R) center near you. Associates will work with your child up to 25 hours a week in providing a language model. For more information, please call (609) 588-2648 or email us at: DDHH.communications2@dhs.nj.gov

Family Centered Care Services

The New Jersey Department of Health assists families experiencing complex, long-term medical and developmental disabilities by helping them navigate systems of care. The Family Centered Care Services (FCCS) program promotes access to care through early identification, referral to community-based, culturally competent services, and follow-up for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN) from birth to early adulthood.  Services and supports provided through FCCS include Special Child Health Services Case Management Units for  Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs ages birth through 21 years, and the Fee-For-Service Program that may be able to provide Financial Assistance for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs ages birth through 21 years. 

 

Family Support Organizations

Family Support Organizations (FSOs) are family-run, county-based organizations that provide direct family-to-family peer support, education, advocacy and other services to family members of children with emotional and behavioral problems. A list of FSOs, their contact information, and service areas are available here.