The assessment itself
Records review and developmental history, interviews, standardized testing, rating scales across home and school, and where the question calls for it, observation of your child in the setting where the difficulty shows.
Fees and insurance
Fees, insurance, and what you receive
Crescent is a private‑pay practice. Crescent does not bill insurance and is not in network with any plan. Fees are discussed openly from the first conversation, and every fee is confirmed in writing before anything is scheduled.
Why private pay
Why Crescent is private pay.
The honest answer is that using insurance can shape an evaluation. Insurance plans determine which questions are considered medically necessary, how much time may be authorized, and what documentation is required. Those parameters make sense within a healthcare benefit, but they are not always well suited to a comprehensive evaluation guided by the individual needs of a child.
Remaining outside that structure allows Crescent to determine the scope of the evaluation based on the referral questions, the records, and what emerges during the assessment process—not on the limits of an insurance plan. Families are paying not only for testing, but also for the professional independence to follow the evidence wherever it leads.
That independence is especially important in an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE), where the evaluation may be closely reviewed by a school district, attorneys, or a hearing officer. The conclusions must be supported by the data and free from pressure from either side. We do not minimize findings to satisfy a district, and we do not overstate them to support a family’s preferred outcome. Our responsibility is to provide the clearest and most accurate understanding of the child that the evidence allows.
This is not a criticism of practices that accept insurance or of families who choose that option. It is simply a different model of care. Crescent’s private-pay structure protects the time, flexibility, and independence needed to conduct a genuinely individualized evaluation. We are transparent about fees from the beginning and welcome open conversations about cost, scope, and whether our services are the right fit for your family.
What the fee covers
What the fee covers.
The fee buys three things, and the third one is the one families underestimate.
The written report
Findings, the data behind them, and recommendations written for the setting where they have to be implemented. For a psychoeducational assessment you arrange privately, the report belongs to you, and it enters the school record only if you decide to share it. An Independent Educational Evaluation, however it is funded, is written for the IEP team to consider, and its findings are presented there.
The feedback meeting
A session where we go through the findings together in plain language. For a psychoeducational assessment you arrange privately, that happens before the report is discussed anywhere else, so you walk into the school meeting already knowing what it says. For an Independent Educational Evaluation, however it is funded, the findings are shared with you and the school team together at the IEP meeting, not with one side first. Meeting privately beforehand could be read as undermining the independence the evaluation depends on.
How payment works
How payment works.
Fees are confirmed in writing before anything is scheduled. You will not be invoiced for work that was not agreed to first, and if the scope of an assessment changes once it is underway, you hear about it before the work is done rather than on the bill.
The consultation
The free 15‑minute consultation.
The free 15‑minute consultation is free. The evaluation is not. That line is worth drawing plainly, because the two are often read as one offer and they are not.
What the fifteen minutes is for: working out what you are actually trying to find out, whether an assessment answers it, and which assessment fits. If the answer is that you do not need an evaluation from Crescent, or that the question belongs with a different kind of provider, I will tell you, and the call still costs nothing.
A comprehensive assessment is arranged by request and coordination. It is not booked online.
- Keep the details off the public form. Records, reports, health information, and your child’s full story should not go through the contact form. Tell us what is happening in a sentence or two and we will set up a secure way to send the rest.
- Call or text: (559) 287‑8351
Good Faith Estimate
Your Good Faith Estimate.
Federal law gives families who are not using insurance the right to a written estimate of expected charges before scheduling. Because Crescent does not bill insurance, that right applies to every family here. Crescent provides the estimate in writing, and you can also ask for one at any point.
Scope is worked out on the consultation call. After that call you receive a Good Faith Estimate in writing that names the areas to be assessed and what the work involves, before anything is scheduled.
Common questions
Do you take insurance?
No. Crescent is a private‑pay practice, is not in network with any plan, and does not bill insurance or submit claims on a family’s behalf. Payment is arranged directly with Crescent.
Why doesn’t Crescent bill insurance?
Because insurance participation shapes what gets assessed, how many hours are authorized, and what can be written in the record. On an independent evaluation, the fact that no outside party set those boundaries is a substantial part of what makes the report hold up. That independence is difficult to keep and bill for at the same time.
Will the school district pay for an IEE?
Sometimes, and it depends on a decision that is not yours or mine to make. If you disagree with an evaluation your district conducted, you have the right to request an IEE at public expense. The district then has two options: fund the independent evaluation, or file for due process and defend its own evaluation at hearing. Districts do both. An IEE is not free; the question is who pays for it, and that is settled by the district or by a hearing officer. Families also commission an IEE privately, without making that request first, usually when they want the answer without waiting on the decision. I can explain how each route works and what each one involves. The choice stays with you.
Where we work
By appointment, serving California’s Central Valley and Central Coast.
In person in Fresno, Madera, Merced, Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Benito Counties. Virtual throughout California.
Start with a conversation
Restore your peace.
You do not have to carry this by yourself. Tell us what’s happening, and let’s figure it out together.
Prefer to talk? Call or text (559) 287‑8351.
Marcia Lynn Miller, LEP #3015 · Independent practice
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