Resource Center · Start here
New to disability? Start here.
A diagnosis can answer some questions and create many new ones. You do not have to learn every system, service or acronym at once. Start with where you are right now.
Last reviewed: September 2026
Where is your child right now?
Birth to 3
Services usually begin with New Jersey Early Intervention. A Special Child Health Services case manager can help coordinate medical and community services.
Preschool and school age
School services come through your district’s Child Study Team and an IEP. Know your rights with PRISE. Some supports come from PerformCare and Special Child Health Services, not from the school.
Teen and transition
Transition planning starts in the IEP by age 14. DDD eligibility can begin after 18. Life After AHM walks through it.
Adult or later diagnosis
Start with the NJ Disability Information Hub, then DDD for developmental disability services, DVRS for employment and hip for independent living.
Four systems, not one
A diagnosis and school eligibility are not the same thing.
A medical or developmental diagnosis can be important, but school special-education eligibility is an educational determination made through the district’s evaluation process. Medical services and community services are different systems again, each with its own door. Knowing which system you are talking to saves months.
A diagnosis
Comes from a physician, psychologist or developmental specialist. It describes the person. It does not, by itself, create school services.
School eligibility
Decided by the district’s Child Study Team through an evaluation. It creates an IEP with services, supports and placement. NJDOE guidance explains the process.
Medical services
Come through health insurance, NJ FamilyCare and health programs such as Special Child Health Services.
Community services
For children, through PerformCare. For adults, through DDD, DVRS and Centers for Independent Living.
Know your rights
Plain-language explanations first, then the official documents. AHM does not give legal advice.
PRISE: Parental Rights in Special Education
New Jersey’s official explanation of your rights as the parent of a student with an IEP, in the 2026 version and in multiple languages.
You are a required member of your child’s IEP team. This document explains what that means and what you can ask for.
Best for: Families
Topics: Rights, IEP, evaluations
Disability Rights NJ: Special Education Self-Advocacy Guide
A plain-language guide from New Jersey’s protection and advocacy organization on speaking up for your child in the special education process, updated in 2026.
It turns the law into steps you can actually take at a meeting.
Best for: Families, Students
Topics: Rights, IEP, self-advocacy
SPAN Parent Advocacy Network
New Jersey’s Parent Training and Information Center: information, training, workshops and one-to-one help for families of children with disabilities.
A parent who has been through it can answer the phone and help you prepare.
Best for: Families
Topics: Family support, training, IEP
Children’s health and community services
NJ Special Child Health Services Case Management
County-based case management for children and youth with special health care needs from birth until their 22nd birthday, through the New Jersey Department of Health.
A case manager can help a family coordinate medical, educational and community services that do not talk to each other.
Best for: Families
Topics: Case management, children’s health, coordination
AHM note: especially useful when a child has complex health needs and several systems are involved.
NJ Early Intervention System
New Jersey’s program for infants and toddlers, birth to age 3, with developmental delays or disabilities, and their families.
Early Intervention is where services usually begin, before a child is old enough for preschool.
Best for: Families
Topics: Birth to 3, early childhood
PerformCare: I/DD application (under 21)
PerformCare is the access point for New Jersey’s Children’s System of Care. This page explains how to apply for intellectual and developmental disability services for eligible children and youth.
Some in-home and behavioral supports for children come through this door, not through the school.
Best for: Families
Topics: Children’s services, eligibility, under 21
AHM note: not every AHM student qualifies. Eligibility is decided by the state, not by the school.
Support for the whole family
Families deserve information, connection and support too.
Parents, grandparents, siblings and caregivers carry a lot. These organizations exist for you, not only for your child.
1in6 Support
A New Jersey nonprofit offering support, consulting and advocacy for families of children with disabilities: an online community, support groups, learning sessions, a newsletter and family events.
Families deserve information, connection and support too, and this is built for that.
Best for: Families
Topics: Family support, community, advocacy
Mom2Mom Peer Support Helpline
A 24/7 helpline for New Jersey caregivers of children with special needs, staffed by people who have cared for someone with a disability themselves, operated by Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care with the NJ Department of Human Services.
Someone who understands, any hour of the day.
Best for: Families
Topics: Caregiver support, peer support
Helpline: 877-914-6662
SPAN Parent Advocacy Network
New Jersey’s Parent Training and Information Center: information, training, workshops and one-to-one help for families of children with disabilities.
A parent who has been through it can answer the phone and help you prepare.
Best for: Families
Topics: Family support, training, IEP
The Arc of New Jersey Family Institute
The Arc of New Jersey’s family program: information, guides, workshops and one-to-one help for families of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Fact sheets and guides written for families, on many of the systems on this page.
Best for: Families
Topics: Family support, guides, I/DD
NJ resources for families and caregivers
The caregiver section of the NJ Disability Information Hub: programs that educate caregivers, give them breaks from providing care and connect them with other caregivers.
Respite and caregiver training are real services, and this is where the state lists them.
Best for: Families
Topics: Caregiver support, respite
I’m stuck. Who can help?
When two agencies point at each other, the Resource Center has a who-to-call guide and the state Ombudsman.
What does that word mean?
IEP, CST, DDD, DVRS, Pre-ETS and the rest, explained as though you are hearing them for the first time.
Outside resources are provided for informational purposes and do not constitute an endorsement by A. Harry Moore Laboratory School or Kean University. Programs, services, eligibility requirements, funding and availability may change. Families should contact each organization directly and work with their school team or appropriate service coordinator when applicable.
Last reviewed: September 2026