Commonly Asked Questions About Child Care Centers and the Americans with Disabilities Act

Making the Child Care Facility Accessible

22. Q: How do I make my child care center's building, playground, and parking lot accessible to people with disabilities?

A: Even if you do not have any disabled people in your program now, you have an ongoing obligation to remove barriers to access for people with disabilities. Existing privately-run child care centers must remove those architectural barriers that limit the participation of children with disabilities (or parents, guardians, or prospective customers with disabilities) if removing the barriers is readily achievable, that is, if the barrier removal can be easily accomplished and can be carried out without much difficulty or expense. Installing offset hinges to widen a door opening, installing grab bars in toilet stalls, or rearranging tables, chairs, and other furniture are all examples of barrier removal that might be undertaken to allow a child in a wheelchair to participate in a child care program. Centers run by government agencies must insure that their programs are accessible unless making changes imposes an undue burden; these changes will sometimes include changes to the facilities.

23. Q: We are going to build a new facility. What architectural standards do we have to follow to make sure that our facility is accessible to people with disabilities?

A: Newly constructed privately-run child care centers -- those designed and constructed for first occupancy after January 26, 1993 -- must be readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities. This means that they must be built in strict compliance with the ADA Standards for Accessible Design. New centers run by government agencies must meet either the ADA Standards or the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards.