Mandatory Services for Disabled Children at Child Care Centers

 
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) states that all child care centers and their employees must accommodate disabled children. A child care center may not refuse a child because of the child's disability or of the parent's disability.

A care center must make any necessary modifications to its rules and facilities that would allow the disabled party to fully participate in all activities in which other children and parents are involved.

Under the ADA, child care center employees may not refuse to provide certain personal services to a disabled child. These services include:
 

  • Medicating a disabled child
  • Diapering a disabled child (even if the child is past the age that an able bodied child would wear a diaper)
  • Assisting a child with prosthetic limbs or braces (such as a foot or leg brace)

 

Also, a child care center may not refuse to care for a child on the basis of a particular disability, unless that disability is a safety hazard to others. A care center may not reject a child because the child is:
 

  • Mentally retarded
  • Diabetic
  • Severely allergic to certain foods or bee stings
  • Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) positive or has Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)

 

If a child care center does not comply with the rules and regulations of the ADA, a complaint may be registered with the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice will investigate the complaint and could bring civil action if the issue is not resolved.