Candidates debate child care costs; Children with special needs face other obstacles

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Sarah Maydwell has waited three years to find a government-funded daycare center for her daughter with cerebral palsy — and she is far from alone.

Year-long waiting lists are not uncommon for families with children with disabilities, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.

The GAO report estimates that there are 2.2 million children with disabilities ages five and younger. It is estimated that 27% of these parents had great difficulty finding the type of child care they wanted, compared to 18% of parents of children without disabilities.

The GAO cited a lack of appropriate full-time programs, a lack of information, and exclusion rules as barriers.

“It was very difficult,” Maydwell said. “Her father and I had to work across from each other, so there wasn’t much overlap. Most days she didn’t see us together.”

As the issue of child care gains renewed prominence in the presidential race, disability advocates hope the push for sweeping change doesn’t ignore the families facing the greatest hardships.

“It can be very expensive to help children with disabilities,” said Amanda Glass, an attorney with Disability Rights Arizona. “Even state-funded childcare facilities are extremely underfunded.”

The issue of child care came up in Tuesday’s vice presidential debate. Both vice presidential candidates promised to make new investments in the country’s child care system to make it more affordable for families.

Democrats like Gov. Tim Walz tend to focus on funding traditional day care centers. He said the problem needs to be addressed on both the supply and demand sides.

“You can’t expect the most important people in our lives to take care of our children or for our parents to get the least amount of money,” Walz said.

On the other hand, Republican Senator JD Vance emphasized funding for informal care, whether at home with relatives or outside child care facilities.

“We should have a family care model that allows for choice,” he said. “And I think that’s a very important substantive difference between the approach of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.”

Glass says families with disabilities need a wide range of options, and funding alone won’t solve the problems. She said these families need more legal protection when seeking child care, particularly in preschool, where private facilities provide most care.

“Then you see problems like, ‘Oh, your child has to be potty trained at three or he can’t come here.’ Well, my child has an intellectual disability or autism and will not be potty trained. They may never be potty trained,” she said. “Essentially there is a policy that screens out all children with this disability.”

While Maydwell was able to receive an Arizona Child Care Assistance Provider grant after a three-year wait, she wanted to enroll her daughter in an after-school program that met her needs. But after being on the waiting list for four years, she finally gave up.

“It’s very hard to find providers who can do that,” she said.

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