Child Find Program Florence Unified School District

What is Child Find?

Child Find is a component of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that requires Public Education Agencies to locate, identify, and evaluate all children with disabilities who are in need or believed to be in need of special education services. This includes children who are highly mobile, such as migrant or homeless children, children who are advancing from grade to grade, private school students, and students who are homeschooled.

Screening for possible disabilities is conducted within 45 calendar days of:

Entry of each preschool or kindergarten student and any student enrolling without appropriate records of screening, evaluation, and progress in school; or
Parent notification of concern regarding developmental or educational progress by their child aged 3 through 21 years.

If you suspect that your child has a disability that requires special education or related services, please contact your local school psychologist or call the Special Education Department at 480-474-6215.

Requesting a Special Education Evaluation for K-12 Students

If you believe your child may have a disability that is impacting their learning, you have the right to request an evaluation to determine if your child qualifies for special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). A request for an evaluation does not automatically result in an evaluation, but the District is obligated to consider the request under Child Find. Under their Child Find obligation, the District is required to locate, identify and evaluate all children with suspected disabilities that require special education services. Notification of concern initiates the process of identifying whether an evaluation is needed which is done through screening processes. If, following the screening processes, a disability requiring special education services is suspected, an evaluation will be initiated.

My Child is Currently Enrolled in FUSD

If your child is currently enrolled in Florence Unified School District (FUSD), and you would like a Special Education evaluation: Please contact the School Psychologist and/or Principal at your campus and request an evaluation. FUSD will respond to all evaluation requests according to the timelines outlined below.

Homeschooled/Parentally Placed Private School?

If you reside in FUSD boundaries and have concerns for your child who is homeschooled or is a parentally placed private school student, and you are requesting a special education evaluation. Complete the two steps below.

Step 1

Complete this notification form to alert the district of your concerns.

Step 2

Register your child as a non-attending student using this link. Once you login to register, you’ll have two options to choose from. Click the option: Parentally Placed Private/Homeschool.

Once both steps are completed, you’ll be contacted by the District within 15 school days. *See below for additional timeline information.

*For students not currently enrolled in FUSD, you will be asked to register as the first step to initiate the evaluation process. FUSD will code your child as non-attending/non-state-reporting so that they are not reported to the state as attending. This will help preserve Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) funds (if you use them) while still allowing FUSD to generate the required legal paperwork to initiate the special education process. We cannot initiate the evaluation process until this is completed. Upon registering (as a non-attending student) and completing the notification form, the standard timelines apply (please see below).

Upon completion of both the registration and notification forms linked above, the District will begin “child find” activities to determine whether an evaluation is needed.

Special Education Evaluation Timelines

From the time that the school team receives a written request for evaluation, they have 15 school days to respond to the parent request by either:

a) conducting a Review of Existing Data (RED), or

b) issuing a Prior Written Notice (PWN) of Refusal.

If the District conducts a RED and the outcome is to collect additional data, from the time that the team receives signed, informed consent (signed, informed consent is the result of a discussion about and agreement to what areas will be evaluated, after which parent/guardian signs a consent to evaluate form) they have 60 calendar days to complete the evaluation. By the 60th day, a Multidisciplinary Evaluation Team (MET) meeting will be held to determine eligibility. If a student qualifies for Special Education, the school team has an additional 30 days to schedule and develop an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or Individual Service Plan (ISP).

If you have any questions about the evaluation or child find process, please contact the Lead Psychologist, Teresa Everett, at teverett@fusdaz.org for additional support.

For Children Ages 2 Years 10 Months Through 5 Years Old

Child Find is a process to "find" children who may have a delay in development or a disability in any of the following areas:

Vision and Hearing
Motor Control or Coordination
Behavior or Social Skills
Speech or Language Skills
Thinking or Performing Tasks, and
Adaptive Behavior.

Do you suspect your child or a child you know may have a disability?
Does your child:

Have trouble seeing people and objects?
Have trouble hearing voices and other sounds, or remain unusually quiet for long periods of time?
Have difficulty talking and pronouncing words properly?
Move about with difficulty when crawling, walking, or running?
Learn slowly and have difficulty understanding?
Have trouble playing with other children or getting along with adults?
Have other special health problems?

Preschool Aged Screening

Florence Unified School District conducts a Child Find Preschool Screening once a month. Parents, if you are concerned with your child’s development, have specific questions and/or would like to make an appointment, please contact our Partners Preschool at 480-987-5380. All students must be at least 2 years, 10 months – 5 years old and live within the FUSD boundaries.

2026-2027 Screening Dates

July 8	January 13
July 22	January 27
August 5	February 10
August 19	February 24
September 2	March 10
September 18	April 7
October 14	April 21
October 28	May 5
November 18	May 26
December 2
December 16