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 received priority in focus.

Education Modules:

The Washington, DC HECCP program provided the opportunity to conduct environmental health site assessments and tailored recommendations for each enrolled child care center through personalized Action Plans. The education curriculum consisted of the following topical modules:

• Air Quality
• Arsenic
• Asbestos
• Built Environment
• Chemicals in Art Supplies
• Lead
• Mercury
• Mold
• Noise Pollution
• Pesticides and Integrated Pesticide Management
• Physical Education and Nutrition
• Plastics
• Radon
• Safe Cleaning Alternatives

Specific Objectives:

1. Increased the health and safety of at least 20 child care facilities per year;
2. Increased the knowledge base of environmental health hazards among 50 percent of staff in each targeted child care center by the end of each training session; and
3. Distributed and shared tools and best practices with 80 percent of child welfare stakeholders in the District and others key communities by end of program period.

Sixty child care facilities were enrolled between 2008 and 2010, and environmental assessment site visits and trainings began during the summer of 2008.  A total of 691 providers were trained in the DC HECCP.

Collaboration:

This program is made possible by the collaborative efforts of CEHN, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), The 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.

Funding: