ADA
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), as Amended by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008
When a parent seeks admission of a child with disabilities to a child day care program or wishes to keep a child with disabilities in a day care program, the child day care provider must make an individualized assessment of the needs of that child and determine whether the child can be accommodated in the program without making fundamental alterations in the program. Child day care programs cannot establish uniform policies that they will not accept children with disabilities or even that they will not accept children with certain specified disabilities; each situation must be individually assessed to review all the various factors before a decision is made regarding whether or not to accept the child with a disability into the program.
It is important to note that requiring a program to obtain approval to administer medication (including MAT training requirements) is not considered a “fundamental alteration” to a program. Programs may opt to administer medication only in situations that will enable them to maintain compliance with the ADA. For any child with special health care needs who will receive medication while in the program, the child day care provider needs to have an Individual Health Care Plan for a Child with Special Health Care Needs.