Restricting the removal of children with disabilities from child care centers
Improving Child Care for Children with Disabilities: A Focus on Inclusive Practices
In the United States, efforts are being made at various levels to improve child care for children with disabilities. These initiatives aim to provide targeted support, training, and resources for child care providers, promoting inclusive practices and reducing expulsions.
State Initiatives: Ohio’s PROMISE Program
Ohio’s PROMISE program, a response to parental appeals, combines federal grants and state funding to extend child care vouchers for families above poverty level, with higher reimbursement rates for children with disabilities. The program also offers tiered training for child care teachers, including customized coaching to meet the specific needs of children with disabilities [1][3].
Training and Inclusion Support
Several states provide additional training to child care providers on supporting children with disabilities. This includes direct coaching and tools to accommodate diverse needs, with the aim of increasing inclusive child care slots [3].
Federal Technical Assistance
The Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center supports state coordinators under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in implementing, sustaining, and scaling high-quality inclusive early childhood programs. This includes supporting mixed delivery systems across community care, schools, Head Start, and family childcare homes [2].
Legislative Steps
Legislative efforts, such as the bill passed in Illinois requiring hospitals to distribute detailed early intervention therapy information to families of premature infants, aim to prioritize early identification and access to therapies [3].
Federal Funding
The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) and Head Start programs received increased funding in the FY2026 federal budget proposals, supporting child care subsidies and early learning programs for low-income families, indirectly benefiting children with disabilities by improving overall child care capacity and resources [5].
National Support Systems
The National Center for a System of Services for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN) advances a national framework to strengthen services for these children, offering technical assistance and support to states and families to improve care systems [4].
Local Initiatives: Likely's Center
Likely, the director of a child care center in Ohio, has completed the first two tiers of the Ohio PROMISE training and related sessions. Her center, which has several children with diagnosed disabilities or developmental delays, has made efforts to create a more inclusive environment. This includes adding fidget toys for children with sensory issues, rearranging the classroom to create calming areas, providing communication books to nonverbal children, and teaching everyone some sign language [1].
Likely dreams of running a center where about half of the children have a disability or delay, hoping her center can play a small role in reducing the instability for children with disabilities.
Case Study: Meagan Severance's Son
A poignant example of the need for inclusive practices can be seen in the case of Meagan Severance. Her 18-month-old son was expelled from a child care center in Columbus due to his special needs, including ADHD. However, the new director of the center, Selina Likely, chose to work with the child instead of expelling him [1].
Vermont's Initiatives
Vermont has a separate program, the Special Accommodations Grant, that supports young children with disabilities. The program has been maxed out every year, and the state has allocated federal American Rescue Plan and Preschool Development Grant dollars to increase spending on the program by about sevenfold, aiming to reduce the number of young children with disabilities being expelled or pushed out of care [1].
Vermont is also turning to online training to help ensure young children with disabilities aren't denied quality care. Liasun Meadows, whose son has Down syndrome, chose Edwards for her child over another program better known for its work with children with disabilities, demonstrating the growing recognition and demand for inclusive child care.
These multi-level efforts reflect a growing recognition of the challenges families face in securing inclusive, supportive child care for children with disabilities and a commitment to improving access, quality, and training across the United States.
- The Ohio PROMISE program, a state initiative, offers targeted support by extending child care vouchers and providing tiered training for child care teachers, including customized coaching to meet the specific needs of children with disabilities.
- The Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center, a federal technical assistance program, supports state coordinators in implementing, sustaining, and scaling high-quality inclusive early childhood programs across different delivery systems.
- In Vermont, the Special Accommodations Grant, a separate program, has been increased by about seven times using federal funds to reduce the number of young children with disabilities being expelled or pushed out of care.
- To address the challenges families face in securing inclusive, supportive child care for children with disabilities, multi-level efforts are being made across the United States, aiming to improve access, quality, and training in early childhood education, health-and-wellness, and mental health, including initiatives like Ohio’s PROMISE program and federal technical assistance programs like ECTA.
