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Training Child Care Providers
NEW UPDATES!
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What is HECCP?
Although most U.S. children under age six spend up to 40 hours a week in child care settings, little has been done to protect young children from environmental health hazards in child care and preschools. CEHN identified preschools and child care settings as a missed opportunity to address children’s environmental health. In response, a program called Healthy Environments for Child Care Facilities and Preschools (HECCP) was launched.
The goal of HECCP is to train and educate child care providers and administrators on creating healthier and safe environments. The assessment and training program we have developed enables child care providers and administrators to:
1. Understand children's vulnerabilities to environmental health exposures
2. Identify environmental health hazards in and around child care facilities
3. Determine methods to alleviate and remove environmental health hazards
4. Develop communication and identification strategies for parents to reduce environmental health risks at home
5. Obtain up-to-date information answering questions about environmental health safety in their facilities from local, state, and national organizations and additional resources.
The core of the training curriculum includes 15 modules on topics such as safer cleaning, air quality, pesticides, lead, mercury, plastics, and indoor mold.
The first pilot was held in California’s Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The HECCP program soon expanded to the Atlanta area in 2006, and also received support to expand further into Washington, DC in 2007, and Texas in 2008. CEHN has trained over 400 child care professionals in over 75 facilities around the nation, and is poised for further expansion of HECCP in 2009.
California Child Care Education Project
In May 2006, CEHN completed
environmental health training for child care providers in Contra Costa
and Alameda Counties, California. The purpose of the
training was to educate child care providers, or those responsible for
administering the child care program in each county to: (1) identify
environmental hazards, (2) remove/alleviate environmental hazards, (3)
identify resources and contacts, (4) provide a Child Care Inspection
Checklist. As the first prototype for such training this effort
provided an opportunity to identify critical knowledge gaps for this
very important setting in the lives of children.
The Children’s Environmental Health Network prepared the following fact sheets and provided them for use by the attendees:
A verbal presentation addressed morbidity and mortality, environmental influences, mitigation, and resources and contacts. It covered the following topics:
A number of educational materials obtained from EPA’s Office of Children’s Health Protection, were provided to each of the three host organizations. The materials emphasize particular points (e.g., read the labels and use this magnifying book mark from EPA to help you.) LaVonne Switzer of EPA agreed to serve as a point of contact for the child care providers to obtain more copies of the materials. A Child Care Inspection Checklist was provided to each attendee to use in their facility. Each attendee was also asked to complete an evaluation form.
The Children’s Environmental Health Network gratefully acknowledges support from the San Francisco Foundation and California Wellness to design and deliver this training.
District of Columbia Child Care Education Project
CEHN further expanded the HECCP program into Washington, DC in the fall of 2007. Child care facilities serving lower income and minority communities that are disproportionately impacted by environmental pollutants receive priority. The Washington, DC HECCP program provides the opportunity to conduct site assessments and provide tailored recommendations for each enrolled child care center through Action Plans.
Specific project objectives include:
Twenty child care facilities were enrolled in 2008 and child care site visits and trainings began during the summer.
This program is made possible by the collaborative efforts of CEHN, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), George Washington University’s Mid-Atlantic Center for Children’s Health and the Environment (MACCHE), DC Department of Health, DC Head Start, DC Department of Human Services’ Early Care and Education Administration, DC Department of the Environment, Bright Beginnings, River Park Friends, United Planning Organization, Washington Child Development Council, and Zero to Three.
Georgia Child Care Education Project
Due to the success of the California pilot program, collaboration began in October 2006 to expand the program to the Atlanta region with tailored education modules to address local environmental hazards. The education modules include:
Child care resource and referral agencies, Head Start programs, and preschools were organized to receive education through the fourteen Georgia Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies serving as partners. The education modules were peer-reviewed, the training curriculum was approved by the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, and trainings began in winter 2008. By the fall of 2008 over 290 participants received training and an additional module on plastics was drafted, adding to the existing curriculum as a result of growing public concerns.
This program is made possible by the collaborative efforts of CEHN, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Radon Program, EPA’s Region IV Indoor Air Quality Office, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), Association of Environmental Health Clinics (AOEC), Southeast Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit, Georgia Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies, Georgia Department of Community Affairs, Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, and University of Georgia Radon Education Program.RADON TEST KITS: This project strongly encourages radon testing. In addition to the free radon tests made available through the trainings, child care providers, administrators and families can order discounted radon test kits at http://www.radon.com/sub/cehn/
Texas Child Care Education Project
CEHN received a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, Region VI, in the fall of 2008 to expand the program to Texas. The Texas HECCP program will customize trainings to the region and will provide support to translate program materials into Spanish for the first time. Trainings are expected to start spring 2009.
10/30/08
