Healthy Child Care Rhode Island

Healthy Child Care Rhode Island (HCCRI) is the state’s chapter of the Healthy Child Care America Campaign. Initiated in May of 1995, the Healthy Child Care America Campaign strives to improve the health and safety of children in child care through the collaboration of health professionals, child care providers, and parents. Healthy Child Care America’s “Blueprint for Action” identifies five goals for healthy and safe child care:

* Safe, healthy child care environments for all children, including those with special health care needs

* Up-to-date and easily accessible immunizations for children in child care

* Access to quality health, dental, and developmental screenings and comprehensive follow-up for children in child care

* Health and mental health consultation, support, and education for all families, children, and child care providers

* Health, nutrition, and safety education for children in child care, their families, and child care providers.

Healthy Child Care Rhode Island has addressed the goals of the project in a variety of ways. Collaborations with state agencies and programs that promote quality in child care have been the most effective means of implementing this project’s goals. For example, HCCRI works closely with the Child Care Support Network to ensure the delivery of key health and safety messages to the child care community. In addition to collaborations, HCCRI itself has been working on initiatives that address children’s mental health and child care health consultation.

In the past year, Healthy Child Care Rhode Island has provided training in the use of the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA). This is a strength-based observation tool that addresses protective factors for children’s socio-emotional well-being. Educators and leaders from the child care community were recently trained to be Local Program Mentors so that they could bring the training back to the child care community. The next step in this initiative is to provide information sessions around the use of the tool; there are plans to coordinate workshops for different areas of the state. Once planned, the dates and times will be made available to child care providers.

Another initiative being addressed is the use of health consultants in child care centers. A survey was distributed to child care centers to assess the current activity of health consultants. The survey’s results will be used to develop a curriculum that will be used to guide health consultants in their role. The intended goal of this initiative is to improve the health and safety of children in child care through health consultation and collaboration. In addition, as part of the health consultation initiative, HCCRI is beginning to think about ways to bring health consultation to family child care providers.

If you have any questions regarding health and safety in child care or would like to learn more about HCCRI, call Jennifer McKinnon at (401) 222-5372.