2015 Annual Child Care Health Consultant Association Conference
The 2015 Child Care Health Consultant Association conference was held on March 24 and 25th at the Friday Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The theme this year was Healthy Child Care: It's Not Magic! Seventy four CCHCs from across North Carolina and even from other states like Maryland and North Dakota attended the conference. The event was sponsored by the NC CCHC Association and the NC Division of Public Health, Children & Youth Branch and supported by the NC Child Care Health and Safety Resource Center.
Some of the session highlights were:
Session I: What's happening at the NC Division of Child Development and Early Education (SESSION SLIDES) with Lorie Pugh, Regulatory Services Assistant Section Chief. This session featured updates to the Emergency Preparedness and Response rules, which were voted on by the North Carolina Child Care Commission on November 17, 2014 and will take effect June 1, 2015. Read minutes from the Child Care Commission's meeting here.
North Carolina's CCHCs will play a crucial role in training early educators based on the revised Emergency Preparedness and Response in Child Care training which is slated to open for registration in May 2015. In the training, trainers will receive a trainer’s toolkit with all the materials needed to deliver the in-person training to child care facilities. The training for child care providers will be an in-person two-session training, two hours per class, with an hour of homework to complete between the two classes.
Session III: Christina DiSalvo, Early Care and Education Program Officer with the NC Partnership for Children spoke next on Strengthening the NC CCHC Infrastructure: The ELC CCHC Project Update. (SESSION SLIDES)
And for Session IV the regional CCHC coaches Sharon Brown, Rhonda Rambeaut and Theresa Stenersen along with Sharon Ware, state child care nurse consultant joined Christina for a panel discussion to answer questions posed by CCHCs across the state and to discuss ways that new tools including the CCHC Model, the NC Health and Safety Assessment can be incorporated into the daily work of the CCHC.
We started off Wednesday morning hearing keynote speaker Mike Lanza talk about Neighborhood Play, Everyday. (SESSION SLIDES)
Mike talked about how children hardly play outside on their own in their neighborhoods and how they are suffering in many ways as a result. He described how we can give children a life of neighborhood play, every day. First we looked at how this problem is social in nature and why individual solutions like limiting screen times or providing structured activities are, by themselves, inadequate. He then described many innovative communities - including his own front yard - that have vibrant play cultures for their children. We were provided with a comprehensive set of step-by-step solutions for parents and caregivers. You can read more about Mike's work by visiting his blog at Playborhood.com and reading his book "Playborhood" available at Amazon.
The keynote address was followed by a number of breakout sessions:
I A: Nurturing the Brain through Responsive Relationships (SESSION SLIDES) was presented by Nicola Finch, Natalie Tackitt and Joy Herrera. This presentation defined types of stress and how each affects the developing child's brain and body.
I B: Glenda Linens of Alamance County Health Department and Tony Geiger with Kids in Parks presented Engaging Child Care Facilities in Community Physical Activity Programs. Glenda presented the Alamance County Physical Activity and Recreation Challenge program (SESSION SLIDES) and Tony Geiger introduced the Kids in Parks program's TRACK Trails (SESSION SLIDES).
I C: Lisa Johnson with the Pediatric Asthma Program and Megan Hoert Hughes with the UNC Center for Environmental Health and Suceptibility presented Understanding the Clinical and Environmental Aspects of Managing Asthma for Children and their Families to provide professionals with the knowledge critical to helping children and their families understand asthma management.
II A: Beth Meadows, Field Services Unit Manager with the NC Immunization Branch gave updates in a session called Saving Lives - One Vaccine at a Time. (SESSION SLIDES CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE) Beth gave an overview of the upcoming 2015 Immunization Law changes, including changes to the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine requirement.
II C: Ashley Mercer and Latonya Brown gave a presentation called Orange County Wellness at Work which included a worksite wellness toolkit developed in Orange County and how their work can be replicated in a child care setting.
III A: Next David Brown, Surveillance Coordinator with the Department of Health and Human Services returned to talk about Lead Exposure, Treatment and Remediation in Child Care.
III B: A Healthy Start for Young Children: How do I Play a Part? was presented by Natasha Bowden of Smart Start of Buncombe County (shown below with Juliana Whitaker of Lincoln County). Natasha is the Shape NC Hub Specialist for the western counties.
III C: Tiffany Graves, Investigations Supervisor with the DCDEE gave a presentation of Interagency Investigations of Child Abuse and Neglect in Child Care Facilities.
Stay tuned to this blog for more highlights from the annual conference! And be sure to follow on Twitter and Facebook.
