From the National Departmant of Health and Human Services Website:

Children with physical, developmental, mental, emotional, behavioral, or medical disabilities may require a different level of care than most children their age. Including children with disabilities in an inclusive child care environment provides them with important personal and social experiences. It also allows their peers to benefit through increased social skills and understanding of others. In addition, Federal legislation such as the American with Disabilities Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires that children and parents with disabilities must have an equal opportunity to participate in the child care programs and services in the least restrictive environment. The following is a sample of Federal agencies, national organizations, and publications that provide information about strategies for including children with disabilities in child care settings.

Federal Agencies and Federally Funded Projects

• The Access Board
The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board
800-872-2253
Email: info@access-board.gov
World Wide Web: http://www.access-board.gov
The Access Board is an independent Federal agency devoted to ensuring accessibility for people with disabilities. Key responsibilities include developing and maintaining accessibility requirements for the built environment, transit vehicles, telecommunications equipment, and for electronic and information technology; providing technical assistance and training on these guidelines and standards; and enforcing accessibility standards for federally funded facilities.

• Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
202-690-6590
World Wide Web: www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/add/index.htm
ADD ensures that individuals with developmental disabilities and their families participate in the design of and have access to culturally competent services, supports, and other assistance and opportunities that promote independence, productivity, and integration and inclusion into the community.

• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Home Page
Civil Rights Division, Disability Rights Section
U.S. Department of Justice
800-514-0301
World Wide Web: www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm
The ADA Home Page contains information about how to comply with ADA. ADA specialists are available to answer questions through a toll-free hotline; Services are also available in Spanish. This Web site contains information about ADA requirements; enforcement procedures and how to file complaints; available technical assistance; settlement information; the ADA Mediation Program; new or proposed regulations; and technical assistance materials.

• The Center for Early Literacy Learning (CELL)
World Wide Web: www.earlyliteracylearning.org
CELL is a research-to-practice technical assistance project funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), U.S. Department of Education. The main goal of CELL is to promote the adoption and sustained use of evidence-based early literacy learning practices. CELL targets its services to early childhood intervention practitioners, parents, and other caregivers of young children, birth to5 years of age, who have identified disabilities, developmental delays, and/or are at-risk for poor outcomes.

• Center for Evidence-Based Practice: Young Children with Challenging Behavior
813-974-4602
World Wide Web: http://challengingbehavior.fmhi.usf.edu/index.html
The Center for Evidence-Based Practice: Young Children with Challenging Behavior raises the awareness and implementation of positive, evidence-based practices, and to build an enhanced database to support those practices. The Center identifies evidence-based practices, develops partnerships with national early childhood organizations, develops materials and implementation strategies for personnel preparation, and implements a national research program to address critical issues for young children and their families affected by challenging behaviors. The Center for Evidence-Based Practice: Young Children with Challenging Behavior is funded by OSEP, U.S. Department of Education.

• Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL)
877-275-3227
World Wide Web: www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel/
CSEFEL is a national center that develops and disseminates evidence-based, user-friendly information to help early childhood educators meet the needs of the growing number of children with challenging behaviors and mental health needs in child care and Head Start programs. It also focuses on promoting the social and emotional development of children as a means of preventing challenging behaviors; collaborates with training/technical assistance (T/TA) providers in the implementation and sustainability of practices at the local level; and engages in a comprehensive, culturally sensitive approach that is inclusive of and responsive to the needs of programs, families, other professionals, and communities. It also provides ongoing identification of training needs and preferred delivery formats of local programs and T/TA providers, and disseminates evidence-based practices. CSEFEL is funded by the Office of Head Start and the Child Care Bureau in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

• Consortium for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education (CADRE)
541-686-5060
World Wide Web: www.directionservice.org/cadre
CADRE provides technical assistance to State departments of education about the implementation of the mediation requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). CADRE also helps parents, educators, and administrators benefit from the full continuum of dispute resolution options. CADRE is funded by OSEP, U.S. Department of Education.

• Consortium for Children and Youth with Disabilities and Special Health Care Needs
Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development
202-687-8617
Email: NRRTC@georgetown.edu
World Wide Web: www3.georgetown.edu/research/gucchd/consortium/
The Consortium, a national rehabilitation research and training center, works to improve rehabilitation outcomes for children and youth with disabilities and special health care needs by increasing the effectiveness of service systems. It is a partnership among Georgetown University’s Center for Child and Human Development, The Heller School at Brandeis University, the Institute for Child Health Policy at the University of Florida, and Family Voices. The Consortium is funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, U.S. Department of Education.

• Early Childhood Outcomes (ECO) Center
785-395-0829
Email: staff@the-ECO-center.org
World Wide Web: www.fpg.unc.edu/~eco/index.cfm
The ECO Center promotes the development and implementation of child and family outcome measures for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with disabilities. These measures can be used in local, State, and national accountability systems. The ECO Center is funded by OSEP, U.S. Department of Education.

• IDEAdata.org
World Wide Web: www.ideadata.org
This Web site presents the most recent state-reported data collected by OSEP, U.S. Department of Education, as required under Section 619 of IDEA.

• Learn the Signs. Act Early
National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities
Center for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC)
World Wide Web in English: www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/actearly/default.htm
World Wide Web in Spanish: www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/actearly/spanish/default.htm
Learn the Signs. Act Early has information about childhood milestones, and developmental screening and disabilities, including autism. An interactive tool allows parents to view how a developmental milestone category (social and emotional, cognitive, or language) changes as a child grows.

• The National Professional Development Center on Inclusion (NPDCI)
World Wide Web: www.fpg.unc.edu/~npdci/
NPDCI is working with States to create a system of high-quality, cross-agency, accessible professional development for early childhood personnel. While NPDCI will serve as a resource to all States, the center will select 8 states for more intense collaboration. NPDCI is funded by the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, U.S. Department of Education.

• The Regional Resource and Federal Centers (RRFC) Network
World Wide Web: www.rrfcnetwork.org/
The RRFC Network is made up of the six Regional Resource Centers for Special Education (RRC) and the Federal Resource Center (FRC). The six RRCs and the FRC assist State education agencies in the systemic improvement of education programs, practices, and policies that affect children and youth with disabilities. These centers offer consultation, information services, technical assistance, training, and product development. The six RRCs and the FRC are funded by OSEP, U.S. Department of Education.

• The Research and Training Center on Early Childhood Development (RTC)
828-255-0470
Email: tmasiello@puckett.org
World Wide Web: http://researchtopractice.info
RTC implements a coordinated and advanced program of applied research about knowledge and practice that improves interventions associated with the healthy mental, behavioral, communication, preliteracy, social-emotional, and interpersonal development of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with or at risk for developmental disabilities. The RTC is an initiative of the Center for Evidence-Based Practices at the Orelena Hawks Puckett Institute. It is funded by the Research-to-Practice Division, OSEP, U.S. Department of Education.

Visit the HHS website page for more information.