Revising national health and safety standards for child care and early education programs: New discoveries

Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards: Guidelines for Out of Home Child Care, 2nd ed. is the authoritative resource for health and safety best practices in child care and early education settings. Developed by the American Public Health Association (APHA), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education (NRC), the 2nd edition full text has been downloaded from the NRC website 30,000 times, and over 35,000 printed copies have been distributed since its release in 2002. The partners APHA, AAP and the NRC are currently in the revision process for a 3rd edition to be published late 2010/early 2011. NRC, through its cooperative agreement with Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), is coordinating the revision process with 10 subject specific Technical Panels populated with 85 national subject experts to review, update and add standards with the latest evidence-based research and through consensus building. This review by technical experts will be followed by requesting stakeholder (users of the document- for example public health nurses and physicians who provide health consultation, child care providers, and state policy makers and regulators) input to the recommendations by the experts. Several areas will be expanded. Examples include the prevention of obesity and promotion of physical activity in child care settings and promoting healthy social-emotional development of children. Examples of new topics to be added: use of environmental friendly materials, accessibility to equipment and new inclusion criteria for MRSA.