Child-care characteristics of infants with and without special needs: Comparisons and concerns

doi:10.1016/S0885-2006(99)80063-5

Early Childhood Research Quarterly

Volume 13, Issue 4, 1998, Pages 603-621

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0885-2006(99)80063-5 Get rights and content

Abstract

Employment patterns and child-care characteristics and concerns of mothers and infants (12–15 months) with special needs (n = 166) were described and compared with a group of typically-developing children and their mothers (n = 139). Compared with the latter group, fewer mothers of children with special needs had reentered the work force by one year; infants began child care at an older age, and for fewer hours; care by relatives was more common, and formal arrangements were less common. The groups did not differ on any measures of observed quality of care. Special needs were an important concern in making employment decisions and finding child care for $13$ of the sample.

References (43)

F.C. Bennett et al.
Effectiveness of developmental intervention in the first five years of life
Pediatric Clinics of North America
(1991)
L. Dunn
Proximal and distal features of day care quality and children's development
Early Childhood Research Quarterly
(1993)
C. Howes
Caregiver behavior in centers and family day care
Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology
(1983)
S. Scarr et al.
Measurement of quality in child care centers
Early Childhood Research Quarterly
(1994)
M. Abbott-Shim et al.
Assessment Profile for Early Childhood Programs
(1987)
V.D. Allhusen
Differences in day care experiences of infants in three different teacher-child ratio groups: Variations in caregiving quality
(1992)
S.A.M. Axtell et al.
Unmet service needs of families of young children with chronic illnesses and disabilities
Journal of Family and Economic Issues
(1995)
D.B. Bailey et al.
Needs expressed by mothers and fathers of young children with disabilities
American Journal on Mental Retardation
(1992)
N. Bayley
Bayley Scales of Infant Development
(1969)
N. Bayley
Bayley Scales of Infant Development: Second Edition
(1993)

H.J. Berk et al.

A survey of day care centers and their services for handicapped children

Child Care Quarterly

(1982)

N. Breslau et al.

Women's labor force activity and responsibilities for disabled dependents: A study of families with disabled children

Journal of Health and Social Behavior

(1982)

B.M. Caldwell et al.

Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment

(1984)

L.M. Casper

Household economic studies: Who's minding our preschoolers?

L.M. Casper

Household economic studies: My daddy takes care of me! Fathers as care providers

A. Chang et al.

Children with special needs in private day care centers

Child and Youth Care Quarterly

(1987)

K.A. Clarke-Stewart

Infant day-care: Maligned or malignant?

American Psychologist

(1989)

Cost, Quality, and Outcomes Study Team

Cost, quality and child outcomes in child care centers: Executive summary

(1995)

M. Demchak et al.

Using a pyramid model to teach management procedures to childcare providers

Topics in Early Childhood Special Education

(1992)

Department of Labor

Families and employers in a changing economy: Executive summary

(1995)

L.A. Dinnebeil et al.

An analysis of the perceptions and characteristics of child care personnel regarding inclusion of young children with special needs in community-based programs

Topics in Early Childhood Special Education

(1988)

Cited by (36)

Rethinking the role of early care and education in foster care
2012, Children and Youth Services Review
Citation Excerpt :
There is very little research addressing patterns of ECE use by parents of young children with special needs. However, the research that does exist indicates that infants and very young children with special needs enter child care at older ages and are exposed to fewer hours of care than infants and children without special needs (Booth & Kelly, 1998). These children are also more likely to be cared for by relatives rather than in center based ECE programs.
Service integration for foster children has recently improved following scholarly recommendations (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2001) that sparked federal action to integrate child welfare services with intervention services for children with special needs, as well as with local education and Medicaid agencies (P.L. 110-351, 2008). However, integration with early care and education (ECE) has lagged behind despite the potential of such efforts to help child welfare agencies fulfill their mandate to ensure children's safety, permanency, and well-being (P.L. 105-89, 1997). Research aimed at informing the integration of ECE and foster care is also lacking, as these two areas of investigation have developed along largely parallel tracks. The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for understanding the potential roles that ECE can play within the foster care system that can, in turn, guide a systematic, policy-focused research agenda. We introduce the paper with a discussion of federal policy barriers to ECE and child welfare service integration, and close with a specific recommendation that the Children's Bureau and the Office of Child Care take steps to encourage research aimed at filling the knowledge gap at the intersection of these two core services for vulnerable children and families.
Child care for children with and without disabilities: The provider, observer, and parent perspectives
2006, Early Childhood Research Quarterly
This three-phase study, part of a larger study conducted by the Midwest Child Care Research Consortium (MCCRC), investigated the characteristics of child care providers in inclusive and non-inclusive center-based classrooms and family child care homes, the observed quality of care in a subset of these programs, and families’ perceptions of quality and satisfaction with child care services. A telephone survey of 2022 randomly selected Midwestern providers, 36% of whom provided inclusive services, revealed that inclusive providers rated themselves higher on most quality-related indicators. Inclusion status was related to observed quality in family childcare homes (n = 132), with non-inclusive homes higher, while trends in the opposite direction were observed in preschool center-based classrooms (n = 112) but not in infant/toddler center-based classrooms (n = 105). Six percent of the 1325 parents surveyed reported parenting a child with a disability. These parents indicated less income, and more frequent changes in child care settings than other families, and reported the quality of their children's child care as good, particularly if center-based. Improved access to inclusive child care services and enhanced training opportunities related to serving children with disabilities and inclusion, especially for family child care providers, is recommended.
Child care use by low-income single mothers of preschoolers born preterm versus those of preschoolers born full term
2005, Journal of Pediatric Nursing
This study describes prewelfare reform child care use by 64 primarily low-income single mothers (65.6% African American) with preschoolers (half born preterm). Forty percent used child care for more than 75% of their children's lives, 20% did when not employed. Preschool children born preterm were more likely to receive child care from nonrelatives throughout their lives than children born full term. Children with health problems used a greater number of child care arrangements. Findings suggest addressing child care issues with both employed and nonemployed mothers and adequacy of child care for children with special needs.
Work engagement of employees who are parents of children with disabilities: empirical evidence from Singapore and the United Kingdom
2022, International Journal of Human Resource Management
Perceived organizational support and work engagement of employees with children with disabilities
2021, Personnel Review
Relevance of child characteristics for the envisaged and real start of childcare attendance for the under-3s in Germany
2018, European Early Childhood Education Research Journal

View all citing articles on Scopus

View full text

ArticleChild-care characteristics of infants with and without special needs: Comparisons and concerns

Abstract

Pediatric Clinics of North America

Early Childhood Research Quarterly

Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology

Early Childhood Research Quarterly

Assessment Profile for Early Childhood Programs

Differences in day care experiences of infants in three different teacher-child ratio groups: Variations in caregiving quality

Unmet service needs of families of young children with chronic illnesses and disabilities

Journal of Family and Economic Issues

Needs expressed by mothers and fathers of young children with disabilities

American Journal on Mental Retardation

Bayley Scales of Infant Development

Bayley Scales of Infant Development: Second Edition

A survey of day care centers and their services for handicapped children

Child Care Quarterly

Women's labor force activity and responsibilities for disabled dependents: A study of families with disabled children

Journal of Health and Social Behavior

Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment

Household economic studies: Who's minding our preschoolers?

Household economic studies: My daddy takes care of me! Fathers as care providers

Children with special needs in private day care centers

Child and Youth Care Quarterly

Infant day-care: Maligned or malignant?

American Psychologist

Cost, quality and child outcomes in child care centers: Executive summary

Using a pyramid model to teach management procedures to childcare providers

Topics in Early Childhood Special Education

Families and employers in a changing economy: Executive summary

An analysis of the perceptions and characteristics of child care personnel regarding inclusion of young children with special needs in community-based programs

Topics in Early Childhood Special Education

Article
Child-care characteristics of infants with and without special needs: Comparisons and concerns