Feds: KinderCare Must Accommodate Children with Diabetes

Large Child Care Company Settles With U.S. Over Policy Of Excluding Kids With Diabetes

KinderCare was requiring the parents to show up each day to administer insulin, a violation of federal laws that deem diabetes care to be a reasonable accommodation, according to the settlement, announced Wednesday.

The three northern Connecticut families will each receive $8,000 in damages. The settlement, arising from a complaint by the Center for Children’s Advocacy in Hartford, applies to KinderCare’s 1,800 childcare centers nationwide.

At least one of the Connecticut parents faced losing her job because she had to keep showing up at KinderCare, said lawyer Bonnie Roswig, of the children’s advocacy center.

The settlement requires that the company follow what has long been prescribed by the Americans With Disabilities Act — that at least some of staff members at each center receive the training in either monitoring an insulin pump or making the injection.The training takes less than two hours and is done by a nurse, based on the individual care plan of each child.

Roswig made headway two years ago in having summer camps, both public and private, comply with the ADA, and her complaint against KinderCare now assures greater access to childcare for children with diabetes.

“It’s part of the obligation of doing business in the United States,” Roswig said Thursday. “It’s well established law that these facilities have to accommodate children who need injectable insulin.”

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