Oral

The purpose of the Healthy Child Care America Program is to promote and protect the health and safety of young children in child care settings. Child care programs play a significant role in supporting the healthy development of young children, supporting positive behavior for infants and toddlers and supporting families in their efforts to secure safe and quality child care arrangements. Papers presented in this session will describe a collaboration between health and child care systems that supports the early identification, referral and treatment of children exhibiting early childhood behavioral problems in child care; present a framework for classroom practice to promote development of social competence and address challenging behaviors; describe a multiagency collaboration whose goal is to provide a healthy early childhood environment that contributes to eliminating racial disparities and promote social justice; present research findings on family networks and child care arrangements; and describe a community partnership to promote the health and well being of immigrant families.

Session Objectives: At the conclusion of this session participants will be able to do the following: recognize child care center environments that maximie social and emotional development for 2-5 year old children; recognize at lease two types of collaborfative efforts that can decrease racism; develop insights into longitudinal processes by which child care strategies shift, related to changes in resources and family configurations; identify and practice strategies to provide effective support for staff; and articulate developmental concerns of childen of immigrant families.