August 23, 2023

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Division of Child Development and Early Education has awarded the NC Child Care Health and Safety Resource Center $500,000 for the ‘23-‘24 fiscal yr, with the choice to resume for 2 extra years, to supply baby care well being session companies to counties that may in any other case not have entry to those sources.

A program of the Department of Maternal and Child Health on the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, the NC Child Care Health and Safety Resource Center trains and helps Child Care Health Consultants (CCHCs), who work with baby care packages and early educators throughout North Carolina to make sure wholesome and protected baby care environments.

Unlike most Okay-12 faculties, baby care packages typically do not need entry to a educated well being skilled who can reply to complicated baby well being wants, help harm prevention methods, assist handle the unfold of infectious illness, and help employees well being and wellness. CCHCs bridge this hole by offering steering and coaching on early childhood well being and security subjects to baby care suppliers and households.

Jacquie Simmons

“The traditional child care health consultation model is a community-based model where CCHCs primarily serve one county, with a few serving more if the counties are rural and have few child care facilities,” defined Jacqueline Simmons, MScPH, MCHES, who’s challenge director for the NC Child Care Health and Safety Resource Center. “This funding will support the development of a new regional model of service, where four CCHCs will be hired to provide health and safety consultation, training and technical assistance to approximately 28 counties representing more than 1,000 child care programs.”

The NC Resource Center presently supplies native CCHC help to roughly 510 packages in 12 counties: Alexander, Bladen, Brunswick, Burke, Cleveland, Columbus, Davidson, Davie, Duplin, Iredell, Onslow and Sampson. The remaining counties help native CCHC packages by way of a number of funding fashions, together with native Partnerships for Children (corresponding to Smart Start), well being departments and a few personal funding sources. While funding for CCHC companies comes from a number of sources that ebb and movement over time, the follow of kid care well being session has been current for greater than 27 years in N.C.

Simmons says that as a result of CCHC companies are a restricted useful resource, the NC Resource Center is growing a plan for prioritization as a way to make the companies out there to those that want them most.

“In the current CCHC Service Model, prioritization is determined by identifying the facilities that require more support,” she defined. “This includes those who serve children with special health care needs, who are at risk of or exposed to maltreatment, or living with toxic stress. It also includes facilities that have a 1-5 star-rated license or that have a history of sanitation or health and safety violations, immunization reporting noncompliance, or history of communicable disease outbreaks.”

According to Simmons, beneficial finest follow requirements, set forth by the National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education: Caring for Our Children, state that baby care amenities serving infants and toddlers must be visited not less than as soon as month-to-month, and people serving youngsters three to 5 years of age must be visited not less than 4 instances a yr.

“While current resources limit our ability to meet these goals, it is a standard we will continue to work towards meeting.”

The first step with the newly awarded funds shall be to rent 4 well being professionals to work as CCHCs. If they haven’t already accomplished the UNC-based NC CCHC Course, they are going to full the course whereas working collectively on growing a plan for implementation of companies. Working carefully with companions on the NC Partnership for Children and the NC Division of Child and Family Well-Being, the 4 regional CCHCs work shall be guided by conducting on-site well being and security observations utilizing the NC Health and Safety Assessment and Encounter Tool – an observational evaluation instrument developed in collaboration with UNC’s Sheps Center.

An evaluation course of features a pre-assessment; growth of a top quality enchancment plan; implementation that features technical help, teaching, coaching and referral; and a follow-up evaluation. Regional CCHCs may also work towards growing a system for referral in order that licensing consultants, environmental well being specialists and different technical help suppliers have a course of for referring amenities to the CCHC companies. In addition, CCHCs will develop a communication plan to share with the communities they serve.

“This will be an opportunity to identify and begin to develop relationships with partners,” Simmons stated, “and to begin the process of establishing their services in the local community.”

More details about CCHCs, the CCHC program and the well being and security sources developed and offered by CCHCs is obtainable on the NC Child Care Health and Safety Resource Center web site.

About CCHCs

CCHC Program Manual

Child care health and safety resources

Contact the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health communications workforce at sphcomm@unc.edu.