ABOUT RAINBOWS
Bringing potential to life by elevating the uniqueness of children and their families.
Mission
Rainbows United enhances the lives of children with special needs and their families by bringing together community resources and providing customized services.
Find the help you need under the rainbow
At Rainbows we provide many vital services for children with special needs, birth through age 21, and their families. We are on the leading edge of implementing the latest, most effective therapies for children with developmental delays. We are the regional leader in early childhood development, including on-site educational child care and pre kindergarten classes. We are the experts who are called to visit the hospital hours after a baby is born who will face developmental challenges. We are home grown and nationally recognized; a grateful recipient and responsible steward of our contributions and resources. We willingly serve everyone — the family with the ability to pay for services, and our neighbors with few options and resources.
When the storms of life threaten to wash away a child’s smiles and peals of laughter, when a parent’s dream of a brighter future is clouded by the confusion of the current crisis, and when the systems that were put in place to help us only offer temporary shelter, look to the rainbow. Look to Rainbows United and discover the ways we bring potential to life.
Board of Directors
Rainbows’ Board of Directors is a diverse group of area individuals who guide and manage the affairs of the agency. The group consists of not less than ten members, but no more than 30. Visit our Board of Directors page.
Request a Tour
Are you interested in finding out more about Rainbows and our dedication to helping children by visiting one of our sites? To request a tour for your business or group, send us an email or call 316.267.KIDS.
Privacy Statement
We at Rainbows United are required by law to maintain the privacy of and provide individuals with the Rainbows United Notice of Privacy Practices (HIPAA) which provides information about our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to protected health information of the children and youth we serve. If you have any objections to the Notice, please ask to speak with our HIPAA Compliance Officer in person or by phone at 316.558.3420. Information about our Privacy Practices can be found here.
Strategic Plan 2023 – 2026
Rainbows’ strategic plan is a living document. Updates will constantly inform, and perhaps change, the course of the plan. Adaptability ensures that the organization may stay attuned to the needs of their stakeholders – those they serve, staff, and volunteers. These recommended steps will help to ensure Rainbows United makes progress toward stated goals and objectives. Rainbows United Board of Directors approved the plan July 25, 2023.
A rich heritage of providing consistent quality care to children
A little history…
Rainbows United, Inc. was founded in 1972 as a developmental training center for children with severe, multiple disabilities who were ineligible for special education services provided through the public schools. In the 1970’s, when legislation required public schools to provide services to all children of school age regardless of their disability, Rainbows began focusing on delivery of early intervention services to children below school age.
In the early 1990’s, legislation extended mandated special education services to children beginning at age three. Rainbows continues to serve this population through a contract with Wichita Public Schools. The following year, when community networks were established statewide to serve infants and toddlers with special needs in Kansas, Rainbows assumed lead and fiscal agency responsibility for services to this population in Sedgwick County, and later in Butler County.
Since 1994, Rainbows has been the sponsoring agency for Connecting Point, a project of the Sedgwick County Early Childhood Coordinating Council which brings together more than 40 agencies committed to young children.
Rainbows provides center based, community based and home based service options for young children with special needs. Service components added in the past decade include hearing and vision specialty services, respite care for individuals across the life span, case management services, autism ABA services, supported family living, foster care for children with special needs, outpatient therapies, and therapeutic child care.
Center based classrooms include typically developing children to promote understanding and learning among children with varied abilities and needs.
