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CIDE is making great strides to support childcare programs throughout Colorado in making their programs inclusive for all children, especially those with delays and disabilities.

One third of Colorado parents of children with a delay or disability say their childcare provider cannot meet their child’s needs. This statistic was one of the driving factors behind the launch of the Inclusion & Universal Design Project. Initiated in 2020, this program was designed to increase inclusion and diversity of children with delays and disabilities in licensed home- and center-based childcare programs by supporting and educating providers.

The program has supported almost 200 providers throughout Colorado and will be recruiting 48 new participants for the fifth cohort this fall. In a satisfaction survey, 91% of participants stated that participation in the project increased their ability to support children with delays and disabilities. “Learning more about removing barriers and increasing access through implementation of Inclusion & Universal Design should be a requirement for all early childhood educators,” shared one participant. “This grant allowed our program to expand our knowledge base, increase the tools in our toolkit, and add more opportunities for equal access and inclusion within our classroom setting.”

Participants are offered monthly training, technical assistance, and kits containing equipment and resources to support the development of inclusive learning environments. The initial program was met with such success that CIDE was approached by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood to expand it for all providers in the state through a new program called Project Include.

Project Include supports early childhood access to adaptive technology, providing a statewide system of support to the almost 4,000 licensed childcare programs throughout Colorado. Project Include loans equipment and provides online training and customized coaching to support the development of inclusive learning environments. The project is funded through stimulus funds received by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood and has already received requests for support from over 500 programs in the state since its launch in May 2022.

“I would recommend Project Include to any Early Childhood Professional,” shared a participant. “The ability to have access to so many beneficial resources at no cost to the program, coaching specific to your program, and the additional step of providing materials that actually work for you and your children is a tremendous benefit. I have tracked noticeable growth in my preschool students, and myself as a teacher, in a couple of months. I cannot wait to see what the rest of the year brings!”

After completing an online training that covers the foundations of universal design, programs can borrow Universal Design and Inclusion Kits in four topic areas: Communication & Literacy, Behavior & Cognition, Hearing & Vision, and Fine & Gross Motor. Kits contain a variety of adaptive equipment such as switch-adapted toys, sensory tools, adapted seating, and more. In the first six months of the project, over 70 Universal Design and Inclusions Kits were loaned to providers across the state.

Caption: A peek inside the Behavior & Cognition Kit, which features a variety of technology and adapted materials for programs to borrow

Each kit contains materials to make simple adaptations in early childhood environments to increase inclusion and participation by young children with delays and disabilities. The kit materials are also linked via QR code to a series of instructional videos detailing how the materials can be used. One participant shared that the videos helped her “realize new and creative ways to use materials I was already familiar with.”

Once programs receive introductory training and check out a kit, they are eligible to receive customized coaching and materials to keep and use in their program at no cost. One hundred percent of survey respondents found that the items in the kit increased the inclusion or participation of children in their program.