Manitoba Childcare Program
Children with Disabilities (CWD) Program
Having your child attend a child care program or nursery school:
The Manitoba Child Care program has a number of supports in place so that all children can attend child care. These supports are part of a program known as Manitoba Child Care’s Children with Disabilities (CWD) program.
The goal of placing children with disabilities in child care facilities is to help facilitate their development within a community environment, fostering positive attitudes toward inclusion. An inclusive program provides a context for learning by providing opportunities for these children to learn through play and from their peers in group activities and experiences.
For more information, talk with the Child Care program or nursery school, call the regional Child Care Co-ordinator, or talk with your CSS worker.
Betty Kelly
Child Care
Co-ordinator
25 Tupper St. N.
Portage la Prairie, MB R1N 3K1
239-3121
Children with special needs may need extra time, attention and energy to learn and to feel part of a group of children in a child care facility. Children with Disabilities (CWD) Program provides supports and grants to assist eligible child care centres, nursery schools, family and group child care homes to care for and educate children with disabilities.
The primary goal of the CWD Program is to facilitate inclusion in regular child care programs. Depending on the children’s needs, they may be able to participate fully in the program within regulated minimum child to adult ratios or by sharing CWD hours within a group of children with an enhanced ratio.
Child care providers can incorporate a child’s individual goals when planning activities and experiences for all the children in attendance. Some children may require the full time support of an adult to be able to participate in the program and to address individual goals.
As inclusion is the goal of the CWD Program, supports should decrease over time as children are successfully integrated or included into the child care program.
Specific goals are:
· To provide access to community child care facilities and appropriate early intervention strategies for children with disabilities.
· To facilitate a child’s development through collaboration and co-operation among parents, child care providers, representatives from referring agencies and other professionals involved with the child and family in the development of individual program plans.
· To facilitate inclusion of the child into the existing program and daily schedule of the child care facility, including activities provided in small and large groups and activities representative of a full range of experiences in order to encourage ongoing social, emotional, cognitive and physical development.
· To provide respite to families of children with disabilities.
· To foster respect and acceptance of individual differences and to provide other children, child care providers and parents opportunities to learn from those disabilities.
· To prepare children for full participation in the community, including transition into the school system.