Project CHILD FIND for Students in Nonpublic Schools
Attention Parents of Students in Nonpublic Schools
Is a child in your life developing differently or having problems learning? If so, help is available for eligible children.
Englewood Cliffs Public Schools is sponsoring a Child Find public awareness campaign to locate and provide services for unserved/underserved youth, including migrant and homeless children, with a delay or disability from birth through twenty-one years of age, who have been parentally placed in a nonpublic school within Englewood Cliffs. Children may exhibit physical, cognitive, language, or emotional difficulties.
How to Make a Referral and Request Help:
New Jersey's Early Intervention System Child Development Checklist Birth - 36 months can be found at: https://www.nj.gov/health/fhs/eis/documents/reic_developmental_brochure.pdf
New Jersey Early Intervention System Statewide toll-free number is: 1-888-653-4463 and NJ Early Intervention website can be found at: https://www.nj.gov/health/fhs/eis/for-families/when/
If your child is between the ages of 3-4: The written request must be sent to the special education department in the town where you live.
If your child is between the ages of 5-21: If you would like to request an evaluation for special education classification, send a written request for an evaluation to your school principal. These referrals are made to the school your child attends. Include your child's name, age, address and suspected disability. The principal will contact the Englewood Cliffs Child Study Team with the referral.
A meeting will then be held with you and a team of professionals who will decide if an evaluation is needed. They will review with you, what interventions have already been put in place by your child's school and determine if further interventions are needed. The team, including you, will review data from the interventions and will make a determination if the intervention is helping your child or if evaluations are needed.
If your child is evaluated and if they are found eligible for Special Education Services (including Eligible for Speech), an Individual Service Plan (ISP) will be developed. Please be aware that special education services detailed in an ISP (Individual Service Plan) for students in a nonpublic school may be limited.
You as a parent also have the right to request an evaluation from the special education department in the town where you live for your child to be eligible for FAPE (Free and Appropriate Public Education). You must first enroll your child in the public school in the town where you live. If a child is classified in a public school district, they are entitled to public school services needed as per their Individualized Education Program (IEP).
Information for Project Child Find may also be obtained by calling the toll-free number, 1-800-322-8174, which is in service 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. All calls received are confidential.