"to ensure that child-care operations provide inclusive care to children with special needs."

[kalidascopeeyes]

YES

Comments

[sboydtaylor]

Yay! That's awesome :)

[schnookiemuffin]

Does that mean that all child care centers or providers must care for disabled children? There are some children that need specialized care that may not be available at every child care providing facility though. This opens up the potential for problems at smaller child care services. Though I don't know what it entails to get a child into a child care service, is there an interview or something that the child care provider has the ability to say "no, I'm sorry, we don't have the ability to care for your special needs child"? I'm just wondering what exactly this means for the parents of the child as well as for the facilities providing child care. What exactly is the practical application of these rules?

[kalidascopeeyes]

As far as I can tell so long as the child doesn't require one on one care then the facility has to offer them care. There are other provisions for kids that need more stuff to be comfortable and safe.

I think this is a step in the right direction but I too worry about repercussions on the child care industry. I don't want everyone's child care to become untenable, cause I can tell you, it sucks.

[schnookiemuffin]

It makes me wonder if there will be more people who are providing child care (like smaller places, or people who set up very small in-home care) that will go out of business because they do not have the ability to deal with special needs kids. It puts a heavy burden on the providers to be told by law they have to provide to special needs kids, if they are not able or not willing to do so. I'm not saying that special needs kids don't have a right to be provided for, it's more that they require specialized care that perhaps not everyone is able to give to them. I guess it's a niche market for providers who are fully able to handle special needs child care, and there likely isn't that many of them. I'm not trying to be argumentative, just trying to play devil's advocate for the child care providers side of things. I'm sure that larger child care providers, corporate one or the like, have more than enough money to find someone who can care for special needs children, I guess I was more thinking of the smaller mom-and-pop shops that may be

[dangercody]

I think you make a really good point. I certainly wouldn't want to leave Cole with people who aren't capable. Maybe you're right that it would burden smaller operations right out of business. Hopefully not.