I have a young child who is occasionally quite sick because he has AIDS. I've tried to enroll him in a day-care center near my house, but was told that they do not take children who have AIDS because of the danger that it would pose to other children. What can I do?

Answer:

It is unlawful for a public or private facility to discriminate against a person based solely on his/her disability if that person is a qualified person with a disability and meets the eligibility criteria to receive benefits or services. Each complaint, however, is examined on a case-by-case basis. Specifically, in cases involving AIDS, an issue that may come up is whether the person poses a significant threat to the health and safety of others.

Generally speaking, in a child care setting, having AIDS itself should not disqualify a child from participation. You may contact a regional HHS Office for Civil Rights to speak to one of our investigators. To learn more, please visit: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/discrimdisab.html.