Participant Inclusion and Reasonable Accommodation Policy
The Headfirst Companies are committed to creating an atmosphere of inclusion within our community. We encourage unity through teamwork while also celebrating the fact that we all have unique skills and abilities. Our goal is to work together to ensure equal access for all programs, services, and activities, and we will provide reasonable accommodations upon request.
Where a participant has special needs or developmental disabilities that may impact their ability to navigate the program without accommodation, the participant’s parent or guardian is asked to proactively contact the Headfirst Customer Experience team as far in advance of the program as possible. The goal of this communication will be to explore potential ways to accommodate the participant in a manner which would allow them to participate in the program without placing unreasonable expectations, demands, or constraints on Headfirst or Headfirst team members. To this end, the participant’s parent or guardian may be asked to provide detailed information on one or more of the following, as applicable: (a) the tools, strategies, and/or supports the participant uses to help them learn and to help caregivers understand behaviors; (b) any warning signs caregivers must watch for, or triggering situations or conversations to avoid; (c) adaptive coping strategies used to support the participant; (d) type and degree of assistance the participant would require for various programmatic activities; (e) other information relevant to safeguarding the participant’s well-being at the program (for instance, if the participant tends to wander off from the rest of their class during transitions in school); (f) the specific behaviors, scenarios, or symptoms of which the participant’s parent or guardian expects to receive immediate notification (parents/guardians will always be contacted in the event of an emergency, injury, or other urgent or serious matter in accordance with Headfirst’s general participant family communication policies); and/or (g) any other special concerns or information relevant to a determination of Headfirst’s ability to reasonably accommodate the participant. Depending upon the nature of the participant’s needs or condition, the parent or guardian may also be asked to provide a written management plan and/or attend an in-person meeting at the program location in order to prepare the on-site team for the arrival of the participant.
Program registration will not be considered complete until the necessary information and/or materials are provided to the Headfirst Customer Experience team; Headfirst on-site leadership are instructed to allow a participant to whom this policy applies to be dropped off at the program only once the parent or guardian has provided Headfirst with all necessary information and/or materials. If a participant is dropped off in violation of this rule, Headfirst will keep the participant in the program office until a parent or guardian completes the registration process.
It is important to note that in general Headfirst’s offerings are designed as small-group programs, and continuous or regular one-on-one assistance is not consistent with the services Headfirst typically provides. If a participant requires regular one-on-one assistance Headfirst may, depending on the program and site, be able to accommodate by permitting a personal aide to stay with the participant throughout the program day. Likewise, if the participant requires a medical treatment during the program day which cannot be provided by the Headfirst team, a personal healthcare specialist may be permitted to come to site to administer the necessary treatment. Any such personal aide or personal healthcare specialist must be hired, retained, and compensated by the participant family, and must be able to successfully complete, or provide proof of completion of, a background investigation consistent with Headfirst policies and procedures before they will be able to be on site during the program day.
While Headfirst will endeavor to make accommodations to the fullest extent possible based on available resources, Headfirst is not able to permit a participant to participate in the program when doing so poses a direct threat to the health or safety of themselves or others.
