Child care health consultation: A population-based public health service

Healthy Child Care Missouri has created a strong network of child care health consultants (CCHCs)through its public health system. Missouri's CCHCs, who are public health nurses and other public health professionals, reached over 2800 child care programs and impacted the lives of nearly 80,000 children throughout the state in 2008 alone. Through onsite and telephone consultation, as well as provider trainings and health promotion programs for children, these consultants have effected positive changes in health and safety practices in these early care and education environments, translating into better quality of care for Missouri's youngest children.

Missouri has met the challenge of building and sustaining this initiative by braiding together funding from a variety of sources. Principal funding comes from the Child Care and Development Fund, with additional support from Maternal and Child Health, Centers from Disease Control and Prevention, and state funding for education. Yet the success of the system comes not only from creative funding. Partnerships forged over time and nurtured by focus on common goals are an essential element of the quality and sustainability of child care health consultation in the state. Collaborations with state agencies and programs, Head Start, institutions of higher education, and state child care resource and referral agencies have enabled Missouri to maximize scarce resources.