Agenda - 02-01-2005-9c - Laserfiche WebLink

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Orange County Partnership for Young Children PROJECT NARRATIVE Project Title: Child Care Health Consultant Applicant: Orange County Health Department Target Population and Need: The target populations for this project are the child care providers of the -120 Orange County licensed child care facilities (centers and homes) and the children aged birth to 5 who are served in those programs. Approximately 34.4% of the 7,135 children (or 2400 children) ages' birth to 4 living in Orange County are enrolled in licensed child care centers or homes'. Children with special needs such as being medically fragile, having developmental delays, or being disadvantaged are priority populations for this program as are the programs that serve them. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that every child care center or family child care home should have access to a child care health consultant who has expertise in child health and development, and knowledge about the special needs of children in out-of-home child care settings who can provide consultation and technical assistance on child health issues." Child care providers surveyed through an Orange County Partnership for Young Children review this year indicated that an important need they have is for more training. Workshop topics providers suggested included diapering and hand washing, immunizations, CPR, identifying child abuse, food and nutrition, infant related topics, asthma and allergies, safety, bloodborne pathogens and infectious diseases. The reasons cited for the need for more training was "because we're dealing with children and we need to be well-educated about their needs.""' hi fact, the data reported by the NC Rated License Assessment Project shows that across the state of NC child care providers' completed environmental rating scales indicate that the lowest scored items are in the areas of health and safety. Areas identified especially low were related to cross- contamination, diapering techniques, and hand washing practices." All of these areas impact the wellness of children in child care. From 1994-2004, the Orange County Partnership for Young Children funded a similar model of child care health consultation services that was known as the "Child Care SHAPE Up Project" through the Piedmont Health Services. With this project no longer being funded, child care providers have limited access to medical technical assistance in Orange County. Project Description: A Public Health Nurse Child Care Health Consultant will provide consultation to child care providers and parents to ensure safe and healthy child care environments. To this end, the nurse will make available to all child care providers in licensed centers and homes the range of services that they can access through this project from policy assistance related to health and safety issues to linking staff, families and children to community health resources. The Child Care Health Consultant will deliver these services by ongoing communication through telephone calls, mailings, training sessions, and regular visits to child care centers and homes. More specifically, the nurse will be available to: ? Assist child care administrators and community technical assistance groups in the development and/or implementation of general policies and procedures regarding the management of infectious diseases, fevers, use of medications, and policies related to being excluded due to illness. ? Perform on-site assessments of the child care environment related to health safety issues and/or assist with the implementation of improvement plans related to areas of need identified through environmental rating scales. ? Educate families and providers about child development, mental and physical health, safety, nutrition and oral health issues. ? Link providers and families with community health resources (such as Health Check/Health Choice, early intervention, dental, and specialty health services).