Healthy Child Care Virginia

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Significance:

In Virginia, an estimated 70% of working women have their children enrolled in some form of child care. It is also estimated that some 250,000 children ages birth through preschool are being cared for by approximately 12,000 child care providers.

The demand for child care is high. Identifying and securing quality child care is a major concern for families that must spend time away from their children. Conversely, identifying and securing quality caregivers is also difficult for child care providers because of high staff turnaround rates and the difficulty in attracting qualified caregivers.

Goal:

The goal of the Healthy Child Care Virginia program is to promote the healthy development of all children in child care, including those with special health needs, to increase access to preventive health services, and to create safe physical environments for children.

Objectives:

The objectives of the program include:

• Promoting a safe and healthy child care environment for all children, including thosewithspecial health needs
• Reducing the spread of communicable diseases
• Reducing medically attended injuries
• Increasing up-to-date immunizations
• Increasing nutritional status
• Improving knowledge among families and providers about the inclusion of special health needs children in child day care. This includes children with asthma, speech and other developmental disabilities, neurobehavioral needs (ADHD, ADD, etc.), nutrition and physical activity and other diagnosed conditions (i.e., diabetes)
• Optimizing mental health for children
• Increasing oral hygiene practices
• Increasing the number of children with health insurance coverage

The Healthy Child Care Virginia program includes a service that can be a valuable resource for child care providers and families: >>continue

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