Childcare for disabled children
NCMA Press Office, 10/12/09
The Welsh Assembly Government has recently accepted a research
project commissioned by NCMA, examining the provision of childcare
for disabled children and young people in Wales. The research has
now been published on the Assembly Government website and the NCMA
will be working with officials and partners to address the issues
raised.
In Autumn 2008 NCMA commissioned the research report, funded
through the Welsh Assembly Government’s New Ideas Fund. The
research sought to examine the barriers to offering childcare to
disabled children, the experiences of parents and childcare
providers and how information regarding childcare for disabled
children is shared in local authorities across Wales.
The research involved a survey of childcare providers and
interviews with parents.
Key findings
The report concluded that very few childcare initiatives
implemented in recent years in Wales have addressed explicitly the
needs of disabled children and their families and that many
families with disabled children have found that flexible and
appropriate childcare is simply not available.
The report examines the financial barriers to childcare, stating
that families with disabled children are often experiencing
inequality and poverty - a particular problem as childcare for
disabled children often comes at a higher cost.
For childcare providers, the provision of places for disabled
children is often a struggle due to the additional costs associated
with such specialist care but a large number of providers would
like better information about working with disabled children and
young people.
From a parental point of view, the majority of parents of
disabled children, would like to use childcare, but face patchy
information provision across Wales which relies on parents to take
a proactive approach, at a time when they face many other
responsibilities and caring duties.