Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care

Promote Health and Safety

The American Academy of Pediatrics, American Public Health Association, and National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education have developed in-depth recommendations for regulating child care centers and family child care homes in Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards: Guidelines for Out-of-Home Child Care Programs and a guide that highlights regulations to help ensure health and safety of children with special needs who are in child care.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, commissioned the development of an annotated bibliography of research on 13 indicators of quality child care that states can regulate through licensing.
The National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) has released recommendations to improve the quality of training and background checks for child care providers.

The National Association for Regulatory Administration (NARA) and the National Child Care Information Center (NCCIC) released a study of state licensing requirements in 2007, including center, family child care, and group home care requirements. The data is available in 50-state data tables for cross-state comparisons as well as individual state reports.
The National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) has compiled information on state licensing requirements according to various topics, including:
-- the number of hours and types of pre-service training required for center providers,
-- pre-service and ongoing training requirements for family child care homes,
-- health and safety requirements, and
-- background checks required for center providers.

The Healthy Child Care America website has resources for child care professionals, parents, and the health care community on how to promote good health in child care settings, including a searchable resource library and a free course designed to educate parents, professionals, and other caregivers about preventing SIDS.
ZERO TO THREE has developed Caring for Infants and Toddlers in Groups: Developmentally Appropriate Practice, which is designed as a guide to providers to help them implement appropriate practices with babies and toddlers, including practices that promote health and well being.
The Early Head Start National Resource Center has a technical assistance paper that provides guidance on developing a holistic approach to promoting health and safety.
The Program for Infant/Toddler Care (PITC) is a training curriculum for infant and toddler providers that is based on the importance of early relationships. The California Department of Education has implemented the PITC model across the state.

The National Center for Child Death Review is a resource center for state and local child death review teams, funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, which promotes and supports child death review methodology and activities at the state, community, and national levels. The center can provide technical assistance to help state teams develop, implement, and sustain a prevention-focused process.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention provides information specific to preventing injury to infants and toddlers in the community and at home, as well as national level data on injuries and fatalities.
The Division of Early Learning in Washington State commissioned a review of literature on child risk in child care settings and in-depth reviews and interviews of a set of states with well-regarded licensing systems.

Visit page: http://www.clasp.org/babiesinchildcare/recommendations?id=0008