Choosing Child Care For A Child With Special Needs

Looking for good child care is hard work. There are many families looking for services and a limited number of child care programs. The search can be even more difficult if your child needs some special attention or services due to a disability. You may have already put in a lot of time searching for other support services for your child and you may wonder if you have the stamina for this new task. Take heart. The passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1992 makes your search a little easier, because many more child care programs now have experience serving children with disabilities. The civil rights law prohibits family child care homes and child care centers from discriminating against children or parents with special needs. All child care providers must make “reasonable accommodations” for your child, and they may not charge you more for your child’s care than they would charge any other parent. Call BANANAS for more information about the ADA. The staff at BANANAS wrote this Handout to give you some encouragement and ideas to make your search less overwhelming – and, hopefully, more successful.

What Are Your Options?

This section provides a brief overview of the types of child care available. BANANAS has other Handouts with more information on these particular types of care: “Choosing Family Child Care,” “A Closer Look at Family Child Care Homes Licensed for 12 or 14,” “Choosing A Child Care Center,” “What Is Alternative Child Care,” “Choosing Infant or Toddler Child Care” and “Choosing School-Age Child Care.” You may want to review some of these Handouts – available by mail, at our office or from our website – before beginning your search. Once you know what kind of care best suits your needs, visit our office or call our referral line, 658-0381, for free referrals to all types of care.

Family Child Care

These are programs operated in a provider’s home. A small family child care provider is licensed to care for either six or eight children; a large family child care provider is licensed to care for 12 or 14 children. Some family child care providers have experience caring for children with disabilities – either other children in care or members of their own families. Others are willing to learn. Family child care programs tend to offer flexible hours – they often open earlier and stay open later than centers. Because of the small group size and the relative flexibility of some providers, family child care is always an option to consider.

Child Care Centers

These are licensed facilities which operate in non-home settings. A few centers serve only children with special needs. Other centers include children with special needs in their programs. BANANAS staff can give you referrals to either type of center. Centers generally serve larger groups of children (15 or more) and most separate children by age groups.

Both center-based care and family child care are licensed by the State of California, Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing (CCL). The license is a health and safety check of the facility and does not insure the quality of care. Only parents can insure quality by careful evaluation. You have the right to check the license history of any provider by calling CCL, (510) 622-2614. Parents also have the right to obtain any licensing report that documents a facility visit or substantiated complaint investigation directly from the provider. BANANAS welcomes information – positive and negative – from parents, and we hope you will call us with your concerns. However, we have no authority to monitor, investigate or revoke licenses.

In-Home Caregivers/Babysitters

These are people who care for your child in your home. This type of care is more expensive than either family child care or a center. Teenagers typically charge $6 or more per hour; adult rates normally begin at $10/hour. Use in-depth interviews, reference checks and a trial period to choose an appropriate in-home caregiver. See our “Where and How to Look for a Caregiver to Work in Your Own Home” Handout for more information.

Shared In-Home Caregiver Arrangements

This is a parent-created child care situation in which one caregiver is hired to care for the children from two or more families. This care is more expensive than family child care or center-based care but less expensive than each family hiring its own caregiver. Talk with parents in your neighborhood or whose children go to the same special services, physical therapist, doctor, etc. (For more information, request our “Shares” booklet which is available at our office for $3.)

In-home caregivers and share arrangements are completely controlled by the parent-employers. There is no license for either type of care. All the responsibility for screening, calling references and selecting a caregiver rests with the parent-employer. One screening technique is to ask the provider if s/he is in TRUSTLINE. In this program, which has been in operation since 1994, providers submit their fingerprints to the Department of Justice. If there is no criminal conviction or substantiated child abuse history, then the provider is listed in the TRUSTLINE Registry. Some parents are willing to help pay the $130 fee to screen a potential provider. Call (800) 822-8490 to find out if a caregiver is listed in the TRUSTLINE registry.