Innovative practices: Providing on-site consultation to promote quality in integrated childcare programs

Recent legislation has supported the right of young children with special needs to receive the specialized services they need within the most natural setting possible. For an increasing number of families, this setting is the child care center. As the need for community programs to integrate young children with disabilities increases, so does the staff's need for new ideas and skills to prepare them for inclusion. The Infant-Toddler Care Project was developed to provide child care programs with on-site consultation that reinforced and emphasized aspects of quality care for all children and provided knowledge and skills to support the inclusion of infants and toddlers with disabilities. Legislation supporting community inclusion of young children with disabilities and their families (Individuals with Disabilities Educa-tion Act of 1991; Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990) has transformed the way early intervention services are delivered. Center-based programs that have exclusively served young children with disabilities are begin-ning to enroll typically developing children, while regular day care centers and homes are accepting children with special needs for the first time. As inclusive child care options in-crease, care providers face a critical need for new ideas and skills that integrate sound early childhood and special education practices. This article describes a model of consulta-tion with child care staff that promotes qual-ity in programs serving children with and with-out disabilities under 3 years of age. The model was developed by the Infant-Toddle