Abstract
Sixteen Minnesota families with children with disabilities participated in a 2-year interview study of their care experiences. Findings show that families developed a network of care providers, struggled to pay additional costs for care, were not informed of community services and programs, and believed that their children received adequate child care. This study highlights the need to provide information to families and providers and to link services in both rural and urban communities.
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Notes
This study is part of the Minnesota Child Care Policy Research Partnership. Funding for the Partnership is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Child Care Bureau (Project Number 90YE0010) with additional support from the Minnesota Department of Human Services. This manuscript does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Child Care Bureau or the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
The authors will refer to families’ child care usage versus child care choice because in most cases the parents participating in this study had few child care choices. As Wagner (2007) states, the child care arrangements families use are often utilized because there are limited options available. The different types of child care arrangements may prompt some parents to think that there are many quality options available to them when choosing care for their young children. This is not necessarily the case.
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Ceglowski, D.A., Logue, M.E., Ullrich, A. et al. Parents’ Perceptions of Child Care for Children with Disabilities. Early Childhood Educ J 36, 497–504 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-009-0309-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-009-0309-0