Giving Compass' Take:

• Due to changes at the federal and state level in NYC, faculty in special education classes, after-school programs, and other early childhood care staffers have to complete background checks before starting jobs. 

• The backlog of background checks is causing disruptions in children's education. What are some viable alternatives? 

• Read more about the U.S. teacher shortage. 

A nonprofit that helps New Yorkers with disabilities readied to open five new preschool classrooms this fall in Queens, recruiting teachers, purchasing new furniture, and notifying families that their children had been accepted.

Months later, the classrooms at HeartShare’s Howard Beach outpost sit empty because of a bureaucratic roadblock: a massive backlog of background check requests to New York City’s Department of Health means teachers haven’t been cleared to begin working.

Staffers in certain special education classrooms, after-school care programs, and other organizations that care for young children now must go through more rigorous Health Department-issued background checks because of recent changes at the federal and state level. The result has been a bottleneck — with serious consequences for schools and students.

Without the required clearances for its staffers, an after-school tutoring program in East New York had to cancel on about 300 students. An Upper West Side middle school serving low-income students is paying out-of-pocket to keep its after-school programming afloat for 100 children, as its regular program is on hold. HeartShare pre-K programs have been unable to enroll about two dozen toddlers with disabilities, leaving them without instruction and critical therapies.

Chris Treiber, who supports programs serving children with special needs through the nonprofit Interagency Council advocacy group, said schools like HeartShare are waiting for nearly 130 teachers and staff to be cleared, along with dozens of speech, occupational, and physical therapists.

Read the full article about background check for teachers with disabilities by Christina Veiga at Chalkbeat.