Inclusion of Children With Special Needs in Child Care

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act prohibit discrimination by child care and after-school care providers against children with special needs.

Many child care providers, after-school care providers, and families are often unaware of the provisions of the ADA laws or how to effectively include children with special needs in the child care settings.

Local local Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (CCR&Rs) have staff who are able to assist parents in finding appropriate child care and early care services in their community for children with special needs. CCR&Rs also offer workshops for center-based and family child care providers on inclusion of children with special needs in their program.

Local CCR&Rs also work closely with the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network’s (SPAN) Inclusive Child Care Project to broaden the services that they are able to provide. The goals of the NJ Inclusive Child Care project are to:

• increase the quality of early care and education for children with special needs,
• increase the number of child care providers that offer inclusive child care,
• increase awareness among families, childcare providers, and resource and referral counselors of the services available for children with special needs, and
• to improve the delivery of services to children with special needs through collaboration among the providers of child care services and special needs services.

For more information about the Inclusive Child Care Project please contact SPAN at 973-642-8100 or visit their website at www.spannj.org.