INTRODUCTION

Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards for Out-of-Home Child Care Programs, 2nd Edition, was released by the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Public Health Association and the National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care (NRC) in January 2002. The full edition of Caring for Our Children, 2nd Ed. contains 707 standards and recommendations on all aspects on the health and safety of children in child care settings. These standards were developed by leading health and safety experts over a period of four years. Each standard includes the rationale behind the need for such practices. The full edition is available on the NRC web site at http://nrckids.org/CFOC/index.html. Print copies can be purchased from the American Academy of Pediatrics (www.aap.org) and the American Public Health Association (www.apha.org).

In an effort to make select subject areas more accessible to intended users, the NRC is developing smaller documents on specific subject areas. This document is a compilation of the standards related to the utilization of child care health consultants in child care settings.

Intended audiences

The intended audiences for this document are:

child care providers who want to know what skills and knowledge child care health consultants should have and what ways a child care health consultant can help them provide a healthy and safe child care setting;

health professionals who want to know more about becoming a child care health consultant;

state policy makers who are looking for guidance in setting state rules on this issue; and

local health departments and resource and referral agencies who employ child care health consultants

Throughout this document there will be references to other standards contained in the full edition of Caring for Our Children, 2nd Ed. For example, in Standard 3.065 regarding the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the comments refer to general requirements for special facilities for ill children, STANDARD 3.070 through STANDARD 3.080(which are in the full edition). In the web version, the user can click on the link to this standard to get to the full edition.

We would like to give special thanks to Phyllis Stubbs-Wynn, MD, MPH, for her leadership in the development of child care health consultant networks as part of the Healthy Child Care America Campaign. Thanks also goes to Jonathan Kotch, MD, MPH, Director of the National Training Institute for Child Care Health Consultants and Susan Aronson, MD, FAAP, Co-Chair of the Caring for Our Children, 2nd Ed. Steering Committee for reviewing this compilation of child care health consultant standards. We would also like to thank all those individuals who contributed to Caring for Our Children, 2nd Ed. A listing can be viewed at: http://nrckids.org/CFOC/PDFVersion/Acknowledgments.pdf

Individuals interested in becoming a child care health consultant should contact the National Training Institute for Child Care Health Consultants (http://www.sph.unc.edu/courses/childcare/) to find out more on training opportunities. Many states have developed child care health consultant networks as part of their Healthy Child Care America Campaigns. For a contact in your state and resources available in your state, please

INTRODUCTION

contact the Healthy Child Care America Campaign (http://www.aap.org/advocacy/hcca/state.htm)

For questions or assistance on these standards or Caring for Our Children, 2nd Edition, please contact:

National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care

1-800-598-5437

info@nrckids.org