Early Care Providers’ Knowledge/Use of Special Needs Funding Supports for Low-Income Children With Disabilities

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 11:40 am Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Diversity and Inclusion (Table 6)

Abstract

Despite research supporting the benefits of early childhood inclusion, barriers to providing inclusive child care still exist. Under the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF), states identify ways to support priority populations of low income children and their families to access child care, including children with identified special needs/disabilities. The purpose of this qualitative study was to learn about the experiences of Ohio child care providers in accessing Ohio’s Enhanced Payment Rate, a program that supports inclusive child care for families experiencing low income who have a child with a disability, and which has been developed as a part of their CCDF state plan to better understand their experiences accessing and utilizing the program, as well as impacts and continuing needs.

Authors

• Katherine Kresin Delaney, University of Toledo

• Laurie A. Dinnebeil, University of Toledo