When Can You Terminate a Child With a Disability?

Can a family child care provider terminate a child if she learns about the child's disability after the child is enrolled?

Let's say you interview a parent who doesn't tell you that her daughter has significant difficulty walking as well as major cognitive learning delays. You learn about this when the child shows up for her first day.

When you talk to the parent about the child's condition, the parent is in denial. "My child doesn't have a disability. She just needs to be around other children to improve."

Americans with Disabilities Act

All family child care providers must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. This Act says you cannot discriminate against children with disabilities. It doesn't mean that you have to care for all children who have a disability.

Instead, you must do what is reasonable to accommodate a child with a disability. A disability is a physical or mental impairment that limits one or more major life activities: learning, walking, talking, seeing, or hearing.

Now What?

At this point you cannot terminate the child, even if you believe you are not capable of caring for her. You cannot terminate even during a two-week trial period that you and the parent agreed to, allowing either party to terminate at the end of the day.

The ADA law says you must treat the child as having a disability if you have reason to believe the child is disabled. In this case, it's obvious to you that the child does have a disability. So, the fact that the mother says her child does not have a disability doesn't mean you can terminate her without following the ADA guidelines.

When you believe a child has a disability, you must find out what it would take to provide appropriate care for the child. If what it would take to do this will create a significant difficulty or expense, you don't have to provide care and you can terminate the child.

Therefore, ask the parent to speak with the child's doctor to find out what she needs. Or, ask the parent for permission to speak with a local nurse or school that could evaluate the child and give you advice.

If you receive professional advice that says you can provide care by following certain procedures with the child that don't create a significant difficulty or expense, then you must continue to provide care. But, for example, if you are told you must hire someone that will cost $400 a week to assist you, that's a significant expense. In that case, you can tell the mother that you can't afford it and you should terminate. If the mother offers to pay the $400, you must continue to provide care.

If the mother does not give you permission to talk to anyone about her child, then you can terminate care if you believe that the child could not receive the appropriate care she deserves while in your program.

Before and After Enrollment

Before you enroll a child, you cannot ask questions of a parent about any disabilities a child may have. After you enroll the child you can ask, "Does your child have any condition(s) that I should be aware or any special measures I need to take for your child?" Then you can ask for help and explore what the child needs.

The vast majority of family child care providers who care for children with mild disabilities do so without much trouble. If you need help in dealing with more severe disabilities, contact your local Child Care Resource and Referral Agency for help.

Tom Copeland - www.tomcopelandblog.com

Image credit: https://www.gograph.com/vector-clip-art/children-wheelchair.html

For more information, see my Family Child Care Legal & Insurance Guide.