Video of June 2010 CCHC meeting: Click Here
Meeting Reminder! The Spring 2010 Virginia CCHC video conference meeting will be held Friday, June 4th at 11am. The meeting agenda may be viewed by clicking here. Bethany Geldmaker will be presenting on Promoting Social, Emotional and Behavioral Health in Early Childhood Settings. You may view/download her powerpoint. We look forward to sharing with you all!
Fall 2010 Child Care Health Consultant Course Dates Announced!
**The AAP announces a new web page entitled "Preparing Child Care Programs for Pandemic Influenza" at http://www.aap.org/disasters/pandemic-flu-cc.cfm
The focus of this page is to offer training information and ideas for the child care community. The AAP is developing a more in-depth handout on the topic of pandemic preparedness and child care programs that will be released in the Fall of 2010.
Also, just a reminder that the AAP Children and Disasters Web site is a comprehensive source of information on AAP and other resources related to pediatric emergency preparedness.
See http://www.aap.org/disasters/index.cfm
**A new creative resource via radio waves in now up and running with the launch of "Child Health and Safety Radio with Dr. Charlotte Hendricks." The ambitious new program aims to expand the availability of health and safety information to under served communities by leveraging new media and social networking. The program will feature interviews with the nation's leading experts, researchers and advocacy groups on issues related to children's health and safety. Each one addresses a health/safety topic and how it directly impacts children in childcare and elementary schools, as well as at home. So these are great resources for CCHCs.
Current Topics include:
* Sun Safety and Vitamin D
* Caring for Children with Peanut Allergies
* Playground Safety: preventing injury and liability
* Helping parents find healthy and safe childcare
* Integrated Pest Management in childcare and school environments
* Poisoning prevention
New interviews are posted at least every 2 weeks.
You can access these interviews at either of these two websites:
http://www.childhealthonline.org/radio.html
or
http://www.bamradionetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=64&Itemid=114
Child Health and Safety Radio is part of BAM Radio Network www.bamradionetwork.com, the largest education radio network in the world. BAM Radio Network offers programming from the nation's top education organizations and thought leaders, and reaches a wide audience of people committed to quality education.
** Check out Special Quest Birth - Five, a new program that supports inclusive early childhood services. Their goal is to create welcoming, supportive, and inclusive communities for young children with disabilities and their families across the country, with a specific focus on improving practices in Early Head Start and Head Start Programs. Please visit www.specialquest.org for free downloadable training kits, newsletters and other resources.
The Spring 2010 Health and Child Care e-newsletter had been posted on our Resources and Newsletters page. This spring we are focusing on the emotional health of young children in child care. Also, please note that in addition to the information for CCHC, we are now adding a "pull out" provider resource section of the newsletter that CCHC may duplicate and share with providers. This issue's provider information is a table to provide caregivers a better understanding of children's behavior. Questions? Contact Claire Wood at vacchcs@aol.com
New Updates!
Please visit our Resources/Newsletter section for newly added resources on Reducing SIDS (an online module for caregivers), and Tips for Early Education and Child Care Professionals who want to partner with a child care health consultant.
New Curriculum Added!
The National Training Institute for Child Care Health Consultants have released an exciting new toolkit for CCHC. Promoting the Health and Safety of Child Care Staff: Caring for the Caregivers is designed to be used directly with child care providers. This Toolkit has a Trainer's Guide, a Slide Presentation, and materials for use directly with child care providers. The materials are designed so that they can easily be adapted for a variety of audiences and settings. CCHC may have access to this curriculum via the Curriculum Materials for CCHC password protected page. Healthy Child Care Virginia thanks NTICCHC for their permission to share this wonderful toolkit with our consultants. Questions may be directed to Claire Wood at vacchcs@aol.com
Employment Opportunity!
The Office of Early Childhood Education and the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation are recruiting new Virginia Star Quality Raters for the regions listed below. You may download an application and rater criteria here. Times and specific locations for the trainings are to be determined. Applications are due by March 1, 2010. This is not a Virginia Department of Health program – we are simply passing along the information. Please direct all questions to the Virginia Star Quality Initiative Program at info.earlychildhood@dss.virginia.gov .
Virginia Star Quality Rater Training Schedule:
Tidewater April 11-16, 2010
Northern Virginia April 25-30, 2010
Southwest May 2-7, 2010
Additionally, Smart Beginnings Greater Richmond is recruiting Virginia Star Quality Mentors. Mentors are grant funded and work part-time as independent consultants for 4-40 hours a month depending upon assigned caseload. See criteria and application here.
Star Mentor training will be held in Richmond on:
March 25, 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM
March 26, 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM
April 2, 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM
April 5, 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Applications are due by March 8, 2010 and should be submitted via email to greenm@yourunitedway.org . Questions may be directed to Morgan Green at 804.225.7917 or greenm@yourunitedway.org .
We have two new resources for your use in child care health consultation:
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.
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.
The objectives of the program include:
The Healthy Child Care Virginia program includes a service that can be a valuable resource for child care providers and families: >>continue
Child care providers who administer prescription medication to children in licensed or regulated child day programs are required by the Code of Virginia to satisfactorily complete a MAT course approved by the Board of Nursing. The course must be facilitated by an approved MAT Trainer. To find an approved MAT Trainer, please visit the Virginia Department of Social Services MAT Program web site.
Click here for more...
Contact Us: Early Childhood Health
109 Governor St., 8th Flr.
Richmond, VA 23219
Phone: (804) 864-7685
FAX: (804) 864-7722
