The Children's House agrees to provide services for children with asthma

The Justice Department today announced a settlement agreement with The Children's House Inc. of Broadview Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, to provide services for children with asthma as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The Children's House has agreed to provide required medical assistance to children with asthma whose families seek child care and wish to enroll their children at the center. Previously, the center's policies required the parents to go to the center to provide asthma treatment to their children, miss routine medication treatments, or forego enrolling their children there.

Parents of a child with asthma complained to the department about a refusal to provide a reasonable modification to The Children's House's medication policy that prohibited staff from assisting with asthma medication. The failure to assist with providing the asthma medication at the times instructed by the child's doctor prevented the child's attendance and participation in the program.

"Respiratory disabilities should not keep young children from the opportunity to share in the invaluable early childhood learning opportunities offered at quality child care centers," said Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez. "The ADA makes it illegal to discriminate against children with disabilities and their families. This agreement ensures that parents and children will not be denied quality child care based upon their disability."

Under this agreement, The Children's House Inc. will:

• Ensure that all children with disabilities have an equal opportunity to attend The Children's House Inc., and to participate in all programs, services or activities provided by The Children's House Inc.;
• Evaluate, on a case by case basis, the individual needs of children with disabilities wishing to attend The Children's House Inc. and make reasonable modifications to its policies in order to accommodate children with disabilities;
• Adopt a new medication policy for the administration of asthma medication;
• Provide training about the ADA to the staff at The Children's House Inc. within sixty days of the effective date of this agreement.