Grand Junction – A blind Grand Junction couple should be allowed to open a day-care center, a state court has ruled, paving the way for the pair to become the first blind, licensed child-care providers in Colorado.
Administrative Law Judge Matthew Norwood ruled that Christine and Thomas Hutchinson would not pose a threat to public safety if they operate a day care in their home with some restrictions.
The ruling said the state Division of Child Care erred last year when it turned down the Hutchinsons’ application for a day-care license based solely on the fact that they are blind.
The ruling Saturday also said the state should have attempted to accommodate the Hutchinsons’ disabilities as required by the federal Americans With Disabilities Act.
“The important thing was to show the state how wrong they were,” said Christine Hutchinson. “Now someone else won’t have to go through all the turmoil and grief Thomas and I have had to go through for the past two years.”
Liz McDonough, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services, said Tuesday afternoon that attorneys are reviewing the ruling and that no decision had been made on whether to appeal.
The ruling laid out a number of restrictions the Hutchinsons will have to follow in order to be licensed, including not taking children younger than 3 and not caring for more than four children at a time.
The Hutchinsons said they are not certain whether they will open a day care once they have a license in hand.
“We’ll have to sit down and discuss our options,” Thomas Hutchinson said. “But getting the license is the point. It boils down to education. A lot of people will know that … (despite being) blind or in a wheelchair, you can still do many things.”
The Hutchinsons moved to Grand Junction three years ago and volunteered at a day care run by a family member. When it closed in March 2003, the Hutchinsons cared for a 4-year- old boy.
“They are very capable. They took excellent care of him,” the boy’s mother, Elizabeth Weiker, said in a previous interview. “My son learned respect and responsibility being there.”
Thomas Hutchinson has been blind from a young age with congenital cataracts. Christine Hutchinson has a genetic condition called retinitis pigmentosa. She can see shadowy shapes.
They live independently with the aid of special appliances and devices for the blind.
They had outfitted their home with safety devices and set up restrictions on which children would be in their care before they applied for a license in Nov. 2003.
In addition to their day-care experience, they had taken health safety courses and passed background checks.
Both Hutchinsons hold bachelor’s degrees in child and family studies from Weber State University in Ogden, Utah.
The state turned down their license application in March 2004. The denial questioned the Hutchinsons’ ability to administer medicine and raised the possibility that one of their guide dogs might attack a child.
Scott LaBarre, a blind lawyer in Denver who represented the Hutchinsons, said Colorado is believed to be the third state, after Missouri and Michigan, where courts have ruled in favor of allowing blind persons to provide day-care services.
He said other states have allowed for blind providers without court battles.
“The American With Disabilities Act makes it very clear that a state-run program cannot discriminate on the basis of disability,” LaBarre said.
Diane McGeorge, president of the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado, said she expects the ruling to have widespread benefits.
“It will affect blind people for years to come,” McGeorge said. “We should have opportunities for jobs when we’re qualified.”
Staff writer Nancy Lofholm can be reached at 970-256-1957 or nlofholm@denverpost.com.
