The Los Angeles Unified School District seeks to identify, locate, and evaluate children suspected of having a disability who may be eligible for special education services designed to meet their educational needs at no cost to families. This includes highly mobile children, migrant children, children experiencing homelessness, children who are wards of the state and children attending private schools located within LAUSD boundaries regardless of where they reside. All other children must live in the LAUSD attendance area.

Every Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) and school district is required to have procedures in place to help locate students who may need special education services, and each public school site within the SELPA has information on how to initiate a referral for special education services.

If your child is not in a special education program and you suspect they may have a disability, please contact your child's teacher or principal to discuss your concerns. A student may be referred by parents, teachers, and other school staff members, doctors, agency staff, or others.

Children Ages Birth to 2 years, 10 months
If you have a concern about your child's development, and your child is younger than 2 years 10 months of age, please contact one of the Regional Centers:

Eastern Los Angeles Regional Center
Telephone: (626) 299-4700
Website: http://www.elarc.org

Frank D. Lanterman Regional Center
Telephone: (213) 383-1300
Website: http://www.lanterman.org

Harbor Regional Center
Telephone: (310) 540-1711
Website: https://www.harborrc.org

North Los Angeles County Regional Center
Telephone: (818) 788-1900
Website: http://www.nlacrc.org

South Central Los Angeles Regional Center
Telephone: (213) 744-7000
Website: https://sclarc.org

Westside Regional Center
Telephone: (310) 258-4000
Website: https://westsiderc.org

Children Ages 2 years, 10 months
If your child is preschool age (beginning at 2 years 10 months) and you have a concern about your child's development, please contact the Early Childhood Special Education office at (213) 241-4713 and/or visit the Early Childhood Special Education website for more information at https://www.lausd.org/spedECSE.

  Low Incidence Referral Form (English)  

Children Who Are School Age (TK and Up)
If your child is school age (TK and up) and you have a concern about your child’s progress in school, please contact the principal at your child's public school of residence to discuss your concerns. As appropriate, your child may be referred to the Student Support and Progress Team (SSPT) to discuss concern(s), identify potential areas of need, and propose interventions, based on student needs. The SSPT includes representatives from general education, and may include special education representatives, who review student progress and suggest interventions and strategies to assist students within the general education program. The SSPT will develop an action plan to support your child’s educational progress. It is highly recommended an SSPT meet to review a student's progress prior to developing an assessment plan for suspected disabilities. If you have additional questions, please contact the School Family Support Services (SFSS) office at (213) 241-6701 or visit https://www.lausd.org/Page/17087 to obtain additional contact information.

Children Attending Private Schools
Through the Child Find process, the Los Angeles Unified School District is committed to locating, identifying and evaluating students with disabilities ages 5-22 parentally placed in a private school. If you suspect your child or a student in your program has a disability, you may discuss the evaluation process with a District representative. Please contact your child's school of residence for assistance.

For students that are currently attending a private school, the responsibility to conduct Child Find belongs to the District of Residence (district where student lives), per an agreement between the Special Education Local Plan Areas (SELPAs) in Los Angeles County.

A special education evaluation may be requested by choosing one of the following options. All requests for a special education evaluation must be in writing.  If you are unable to provide a written request, staff are available to assist you.

• Resident Students
  For students residing within LAUSD boundaries, written requests for initial or three-year special education evaluations are made to the public school of residence.
• Non-Resident Students
  For students who reside outside LAUSD boundaries but attend a private school within LAUSD boundaries, written requests for initial or three-year special education evaluations are made to their District of Residence. Parents maintain the right to submit requests to LAUSD's Parentally Placed Private School Office (pppso@lausd.net) for purposes of eligibility only, regardless of student's residence.

Children Attending Charter Schools
For school age children and youth enrolled in a charter school, contact the child’s charter school of attendance.