The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Education (ED) have jointly announced the release of an updated policy statement aimed at supporting the inclusion of children with disabilities in early childhood programs. This new policy statement builds upon the original statement released in 2015, reflecting a renewed commitment and urgency to address the ongoing barriers that children with disabilities face in accessing and fully participating in inclusive early childhood programs. The update aligns with President Biden’s Executive Order on Increasing Access to High-Quality Care and Supporting Caregivers, which directed both agencies to take action.<\/p>\n
The responsibility to ensure the inclusion of young children with disabilities in high-quality early childhood programs is a shared one, according to Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra. Government entities, early childhood systems, and schools must collaborate to provide the necessary support to parents and their children. Secretary Becerra emphasizes the federal government’s commitment to this vital work, highlighting the importance of ensuring that every child with disabilities can participate in high-quality early childhood programs. U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona echoes this sentiment, emphasizing the need to break down barriers and raise the bar for inclusivity in early childhood programs.<\/p>\n
With over 61 million adults in the U.S. living with a disability and an estimated one in six children experiencing a developmental delay, the updated policy statement recognizes the importance of building a culture of inclusion for individuals with disabilities. This culture of inclusion should begin from birth, continue in early childhood programs and schools, and extend into communities and workplaces. Acting Assistant Secretary for Children and Families Jeff Hild highlights the benefits of inclusive early childhood settings for all children, stating that leaders at all levels of government must work together to ensure that children with disabilities and their families are welcomed and supported.<\/p>\n
The updated policy statement reiterates expectations for inclusive early childhood settings and provides updated recommendations for state and local agencies responsible for implementing programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Head Start, child care, home visiting, preschool, and public schools. The goal is to increase inclusive early learning opportunities for all children. The statement also includes evidence-based models and exemplars of inclusion, as well as resources for programs and other stakeholders to support high-quality individualized programming and the inclusion of children with disabilities in early childhood programs.<\/p>\n
The release of the updated joint-policy statement by the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Education marks a significant step towards fostering inclusivity for children with disabilities in early childhood programs. By renewing their commitment to breaking down barriers and providing necessary support, the federal government aims to create a culture of inclusion that starts from birth and continues throughout a child’s educational journey. With a shared responsibility among government entities, early childhood systems, and schools, the goal is to ensure that every child, regardless of ability, can access and fully participate in high-quality early childhood programs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Renewed commitment to breaking down barriers and fostering inclusivity for children with disabilities The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Education (ED) have jointly announced the release of an updated policy statement aimed at supporting the inclusion of children with disabilities in early childhood programs. This new policy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[223],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-children-families"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buzz360news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buzz360news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buzz360news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buzz360news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buzz360news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buzz360news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buzz360news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buzz360news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buzz360news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buzz360news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}