What is a CCHC?

Child care health consultants (CCHCs) work with child care centers, home-based providers and preschools to promote safe and healthy learning environments for young children and staff.

CCHCs are health professionals who provide expert guidance and technical assistance on a wide range of health and safety topics. They can also provide resources to assist programs in serving children with special health needs.

Programs can think of their CCHC as a team member they can call on to help their staff reach a higher level of care.

The role of CCHCs

Child care health consultants support early care and education programs by:

• Providing on-call support, in-house trainings and helpful resources
• Promoting health and safety best practices
• Offering responsive, customized assistance
• Providing information for families and referrals to additional health resources in your community
• Assisting in creating health and safety policies
• Building supportive relationships
• Working as a team with child care programs, families, local public health agencies, child care resource and referral agencies, and more

Areas of Expertise

• Medication management
• Oral health
• Nutrition (including CACFP and food allergies)
• Playground and outdoor safety
• Active play
• Classroom safety
• Child abuse recognition and reporting
• Immunizations
• Infection control
• Special health needs such as diabetes and asthma
• And so much more!

COVID-19 Resources for Child Care

When planning to provide care for young children during COVID-19, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and unsure of where to find reliable advice. On a daily basis, you face critical decisions such as: how should you screen for an illness; what do you need to change in your child care space; what should you do if a COVID-19 case happens in your program; and is physical distancing even possible with young children?

That’s why the Quality First CCHCs developed Arizona Quality First Recommendations for Safe Child Care Operations During COVID-19. This guide provides early childhood programs with access to relevant information on national best practices, with practical strategies for implementation, all in one place. Recommendations are based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) and the Caring for Our Children, 4th edition- National Health and Safety Performance Standards Guidelines for Early Care and Education Programs.

You can download and view the full guide below:

You can also read a series of blog posts highlighting the relevant topics from the guide:

• Caring for Infants and Toddlers During COVID and Beyond
• How to Provide Physical Distancing in the Early Education Setting
• How Will You Respond? Preparing for a Positive Case at Your Program

More about Health and Safety

• New Routines to Protect Children’s Health
• Building Healthy Handwashing Habits
• Reducing the Risk of Contamination in Diapering Areas and Handwashing Sinks