The ADA and Child Care

           In my last post I discussed Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act in the context of Justice Department Sues Private School Chain for Discriminating Against Children with Disabilities. This provides additional information regarding the ADA and child care.

          Title III of the ADA covers privately-run child care centers, just as it covers other privately-run public accommodations such as private schools, recreation centers, restaurants, hotels, movie theaters, banks, etc. (see the definition of place of public accommodations at 28 CFR 36.104). Moreover, child care services provided by government agencies (including school districts) such as summer programs and before and after school programs must also comply with Title II of the ADA and Section 504. I will discuss Title II and 504 extended day services in a later post.

          Under Title III child care providers must provide children and parents with disabilities with an equal opportunity to participate in the child care center’s programs and services. To that end, centers must make reasonable modifications to their policies and practices to integrate children and parents with disabilities into their programs. Modifications must be made unless the modification would cause a fundamental alteration in the program.

          Additionally, child care providers must provide auxiliary aids and services that are needed for effective communication with children or adults with disabilities unless providing the aid or service is an undue burden on the program. Examples of auxiliary aids and services include:

Qualified interpreters, notetakers, computer-aided transcription services, written materials, telephone handset amplifiers, assistive listening devices, assistive listening systems, telephones compatible with hearing aids, closed captioned decoders, open and closed captioning, TDDs, videotext displays, qualified readers, taped texts, audio recordings, Brailled materials, and large print materials.

          Finally, child care providers must make their facilities accessible to persons with disabilities. That means (1) existing barriers must be removed if it can be done without significant difficulty or expense and (2) newly constructed facilities and altered portions of existing facilities must be fully accessible.

          This is a basic overview of Title III’s application to child care centers. For more information the Department of Justice has an excellent document that discusses Commonly Asked Questions About Child Care and the ADA. Among other things that document addresses:

1.     Not excluding children with HIV or AIDS;

2.     Serving children with severe allergies (also see the Department of Justice (DOJ) Settlement Agreement with La Petite Academy);

3.     Serving children diabetes and the obligation of the provider monitor blood glucose (also see the DOJ Settlement Agreement with Kindercare);

4.     Providing assistance to children with mobility impairments in putting on and off leg or foot braces;

5.     Serving children who need diapering (also see the DOJ Agreement with Sunshine Child Center).