What's the safest position for a napping infant? Which immunizations should a preschooler receive? How can you tell whether a cut requires stitches? For those who work in child-care programs, vital health-related questions like these occur daily. Yet many child-care providers lack knowledge of basic health and safety issues. To fill this need, centers often engage child-care health consultants (CCHCs) who bring up-to-date information to staff. Education Development Center (EDC) is working with state health and early education leaders to help build and sustain state CCHC initiatives that enhance the quality of child-care services.
- Assessing the needs of child-care providers and parents/guardians for health and safety training
- Teaching and advising child-care staff and parents/guardians about health and safety issues
- Meeting on-site with child-care providers about health and safety in their programs
- Providing referrals to community services
- Developing or updating health and safety policies and procedures for child-care facilities
- Helping manage the care of children with special healthcare needs
- Interpreting standards or regulations and providing technical advice, separate and apart from the enforcement role of a licensing inspector
CCHC Resources
EDC is developing resources for state CCHC systems with funding from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and in partnership with the CHT Resource Group, a nonprofit organization that provides training and technical assistance. The project staff has created a website that includes a national CCHC registry, detailed profiles of each state’s and territory’s CCHC initiative, and a range of resources. The project also provides an e-newsletter for state CCHC leaders and conducts webinars on topics relevant to developing CCHC systems.
“This is the first time that so much comprehensive information on CCHCs has been gathered in one place,” says Fahey. “This is useful for child-care programs as well as for state officials who can now easily review their state’s information along with that of other states,” she explains.
The state profiles include information on how states define, fund, train, and use CCHCs. These profiles also include selected state demographic data and contact information for child-care and child-health leaders.
“CCHC systems are pretty diverse--each is a state-designed system, and each state has its own model,” says EDC’s Ann Schlesinger.
The National CCHC Registry allows child-care providers to find appropriate consultation support for the children and families they serve. For example, they can search the CCHC Registry by location, expertise, and languages spoken. National and state leaders can use the information in the database to get a clear picture about the CCHC resources in their states and across the country.
“Many CCHCs were initially hesitant to sign up for a national registry when we first launched it. But as people got to know us better and recognize what we offer, they began to see us as a resource and a place to find support,” explained Schlesinger.
The project’s publication, “The Influence of Child-Care Health Consultants in Promoting Children's Health and Well-Being: A Report on Selected Resources,” synthesizes 79 resource documents that explore the impact consultation has on health and safety practices in early education programs. The literature strongly suggests that CCHCs improve the overall quality of child-care programs and have positive impacts on child health. In the CCHC community, the report has been a useful advocacy tool to highlight the benefits of the profession.
The biggest challenges facing states in sustaining CCHC systems are funding, building awareness, and conducting evaluations. Project staffs work with state health officials to support these worthwhile initiatives by providing technical assistance in the form of webinars, onsite or telephone technical assistance, and email exchanges.
To learn more, visit EDC’s Healthy Child-Care Consultant Network Support Center website or contact Patricia Fahey or Ann Schlesinger .
Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) is an international nonprofit organization that conducts and applies research to advance learning and promote health. EDC manages more than 300 projects in 35 countries. Visit www.edc.org.