Like other working parents, people who have children with developmental disabilities need child care in order to hold down their jobs and support their families. And, like parents of typical children, parents of RCOC consumers are expected to pay the normal cost of child care. However, many parents of children with the most severe behavioral and physical challenges are unable to find child care to meet their children’s needs.
When a developmental disability is the barrier to a child being served in a typical child care setting or after-school program, RCOC may authorize an assessment to determine what may be needed for the child to be included in that program.
The assessment process includes, for example, a review of the child’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and the Individual Program Plan (IPP) with RCOC, as well as interviews with family members and professionals working with the child, and home visits. In some cases, all that is needed to enable a child to participate in the after-school program from which he or she has been excluded is for an RCOC service provider to do some consultation and training to better acquaint program staff with the child’s needs and how they can effectively meet those needs. In other cases, such as when the adult-to-child ratio is simply too great for the child to be successful, an “inclusion facilitator” may be provided to accompany the child while he or she is at the program. The ultimate goal for every child is that they become sufficiently independent that they no longer need an inclusion facilitator.
For detailed information about RCOC’s policies for child care, review RCOC’s Purchase of Service Guidelines. These Purchase of Service (POS) Guidelines have been adopted by the Board of Directors to ensure that RCOC exercises good stewardship of the tax dollars it spends on behalf of people with disabilities. RCOC follows these Guidelines when authorizing service requests for consumers and families.