The Child Development Services (CDS) system is an Intermediate Educational Unit that provides both Early Intervention (birth - two years) and Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE for ages three - five years) under the supervision of the Maine Department of Education. The CDS system ensures the provisions of Special Education Rules - Federal and State Regulations statewide through a contractual or grant relationship between the Department of Education and each regional site.

• Provides case management and direct instruction for children birth through age five and their families.
• Conducts ChildFind (the process of identifying children with disabilities) screenings and evaluations for children birth through age five.
• Identifies eligible children through Part C or Part B and secure local service access for services.
• Provides Early Intervention and Special Education programming in the following areas:
  • Physical Gross/Fine motor skills
  • Cognitive
  • Communication (Speech and Language)
  • Social/Emotional
• Adaptive

CDS consists of sixteen regional sites, a State Office and a State Level Advisory Committee, comprised of one member from each regional site. Each CDS site is an Intermediate Educational Unit (IEU) with a Board of Directors, separate from the local public school. The State CDS Office maintains a central data management system, system-wide policies and procedures, and provides centralized fiscal services for the local sites.

Early Intervention Profiles