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 last 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 then 40 agencies committed to young children.

Rainbows United is embarking on a campaign to replace our original facility with the construction of an early care and education center in northeast Wichita.  This new center will provide classrooms, therapy space, and an assessment center to accommodate young children of all abilities and their families.  The Growing Hope campaign will secure the future for generations of children to come.

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, supported family living, foster case 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.