Mission: The overall goal for this project is to strengthen Montana's child care system to more effectively support the needs of children with disabilities and their families.

The project includes the following major components:

• provides training and technical assistance to child care providers through on-site visits, telephone consultation, formal training sessions, the Internet, and self-study course activities.
• supports trainers in embedding inclusion in existing training opportunities by providing technical assistance and training to trainers including a fifteen-hour self-study course for trainers (see Inclusion Basics: Course on Inclusion in Early Childhood).
• collaborates with early intervention and related service providers by providing technical assistance to service providers, developing training materials for these professionals, and facilitating links to local CCR&R agencies.
• educates families, child care providers, and family support specialists about how to include child care services in Individualized Family Service Plans and Individualized Education Programs through training and technical assistance activities and the development of a new training product on this topic.
• collaborates with Child Care Resource and Referral agencies to insure that referral services are available to families of children with disabilities throughout the state and that Best Beginnings scholarships are readily available to eligible families.
• collaborates with other service providers and resources who work with children with disabilities and their families within Montana as well as throughout the country.
• provides consultation and training for child care providers to help them implement—and sustain the spirit of—the Americans with Disabilities Act.
• brings innovation to Montana's child care system by monitoring national trends, resources, and products.
• collaborates with state level partners in the development and implementation of policies and practices that promote inclusive child care environments.
• helps promote increased access to inclusive child care resources.
• provides information about the project, inclusive child care, and related issues via statewide newsletters, the project's web site, and dissemination of products.
• tracks progress and document lessons learned to verify the need for future support of inclusive child care efforts.

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Project Description: This five year project is funded by the Montana Department of Health and Human Services.

Project Coordinators: Karen Martin and Sandra Morris

Project Period: October 1, 2006 - September 30, 2007

If you would like additional information about the MT Statewide Inclusion project, please email Child Care plus+.