Success Stories

Working in partnership with families and providers, CCICP has successfully assisted in providing quality child care for children with special needs. Here are some of our success stories.

Danny's Story

The director of a child care program contacted the Child Care Inclusion Challenge Project (CCICP) about Danny, a child in the after school program. Danny had recently been diagnosed with autism, and the director had expressed concerns about his staff's lack of training and experience working with children with special needs. The director felt as though Danny needed more than the program could provide and that he would greatly benefit from the help of a one-on-one aide. Specifically, the director was concerned with Danny's withdrawal and limited social skills, and felt that without a shadow Danny might go unnoticed and slip by, since there were only two teachers and thirty other children in the classroom. The director had expressed these concerns to Danny's mother, who was somewhat resistant and was experiencing anxiety about her son's recent diagnosis.

A Community Resource Parent (CRP) from Support for Families of Children with Disabilities (SFCD) and a Child Development Specialist were assigned to work with the parents and child care providers. The CRP provided the much-needed support to the parents, who were still trying to cope with their child's recently diagnosed disability. Additionally, the CRP discussed the family's options, helped them to access services, and connected them with the Golden Gate Regional Center.

The Child Development Specialist played a role in providing support to the child care providers. The Specialist first observed Danny in his after-school program to assess his needs, as well as the strengths and limitations of the program. The Specialist found that Danny was bonded with his teachers and that they were incredibly responsive and supportive of his needs. While Danny did spend much of his playtime in isolation, the teachers made a concerted effort to engage him and to encourage more social interaction. Overall, the Specialist had found that the program was functioning quite well and felt that Danny could be successful there without the assistance of an aide.

During a follow up meeting, the Specialist shared her observations with the providers and facilitated a discussion about whether or not an aide for Danny would be needed. The teachers spoke about recent improvements they had seen in Danny and observed that Danny had become more responsive to them within the past weeks. Both teachers questioned whether an aide would be necessary. The director was pleased to hear how well the teachers were interacting with Danny and agreed to hold off on requesting an aide. The Specialist provided recommendations on working with children with autism that could further alleviate their stress and reduce the need for an aide for Danny.

A month later, the Inclusion Project contacted the program director to receive an update on Danny. The director revealed Danny's continued success in the program. He mentioned that the teachers had felt as though their efforts with Danny were truly validated by the Specialist, which had instilled further confidence in their ability to work with him. The director also said that the teachers were implementing many of the recommendations and finding them to be very helpful. He additionally reported that Danny's parents were acknowledging the extent of their son's needs and were happy to now have access to the resources and services that were referred by our project. The Inclusion Project therefore helped the teachers realize that they could effectively care for Danny without an aide, and helped the parents to access further services to ensure Danny's success. Consequently, Danny is adjusting well and is showing continued improvements in the program.

Steven's Story

A mother contacted CCICP regarding her four-year-old son, Steven. She spoke at length with one our Community Resource Parents (CRPs) and explained that Steven was previously diagnosed with a speech delay and was presenting challenging behaviors in his child care center. Steven's child care providers felt as though they could no longer manage Steven's behaviors and had given his mother two weeks to find a new placement for him. Steven's mother, however, was happy with the current child care center and thought that the providers were able to adequately work with Steven. Steven had only been at the center for a couple of months, and within that time had switched classrooms. His mother felt as though he needed more time to adjust to the new transitions. She agreed that she would like assistance and support from our project in exploring her options for keeping Steven at his current childcare.

A Child Development Specialist contacted the program to talk about Steven's situation. The director explained to the Specialist that her staff did not have the skills to effectively work with Steven. The Specialist offered to come and observe Steven and to then offer recommendations to his teachers and provide strategies for managing challenging behaviors to the staff. The Specialist suggested that perhaps Steven could use more time to adjust to all of the recent changes. She asked the director if rather than disenrolling Steven so soon, the Project could support the teachers' efforts to work with him. The Specialist suggested that if Steven's behaviors persisted after the Project's assistance, it might then be a good time to explore other child care options. The director, however, felt as though her staff had done all that they could and told the Specialist that Steven's disenrollment date was final.

With the permission of Steven's mother, the Specialist then contacted the Child Care Law Center to discuss her conversation with the child care director. The Project attorney explained that because Steven's challenging behaviors were most likely associated with his speech delay, it was not in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to ask him to leave without making reasonable accommodations to include him. Although the director had stated that her staff had done all they could, the attorney recommended that a final attempt to accommodate him be made, with assistance from our project.

The Specialist then shared this information with Steven's mother and the child care program. The director expressed reservations, but agreed to have the Specialist come to observe the program. The director felt strongly that her program was not an appropriate match for Steven, but was willing to get feedback from the Specialist.

While observing Steven in his child care center, the Specialist found that Steven's behaviors were not atypical of those of a four-year-old boy. Steven was indeed an active and willful child, but the Specialist saw that the providers were able to manage his behaviors with relative ease and comfort. Additionally, one of Steven's teachers relayed to the Specialist that she didn't have much difficulty with Steven's behavior and that she really enjoyed having him in her classroom. Based on the observation and conversation with Steven's teacher, the Specialist concluded that the program was in fact a strong match for Steven and that he could be quite successful there.

The Specialist then wrote up a child observation summary, which included observation notes, recommendations for the teachers, and reasons for believing that the program could continue to work with Steven. About a week later, Steven's mother received a letter from the child care director informing her that Steven could stay in the program indefinitely, so long as his behavior didn't become too unruly to manage.

The Specialist is now continuing to work with the child care center to better ensure Steven's success in the program. The director currently reports that she is seeing continued improvements with Steven's behavior. The Community Resource Parent continues to work with the family on other areas they may be needing support such as pursuing assessments/services through the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) to support Steven in regards to concerns about his speech and language development.

In this case, a child who otherwise may have been asked to leave his child care is now able to stay in program where he has established bonds with friends and teachers. Additionally, the Inclusion Project provided tools to the providers so that they were better able to include a child that presented challenges. With the support of our project, Steven's providers are now feeling more confident in their ability to work with him, and as a result, Steven is showing tremendous progress in the program.