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Health and Safety

To help child care providers create and maintain safe and healthy environments for children, the Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Education offers many tools and resources, including free child care health consultation and training services in addition to the items listed below.

Resources for all child care providers

National health and safety resources

Fourth edition is now available

  • The National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education provides free resources and publications for families and child care providers, including Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards; Guidelines for Early Care and Education Programs, 4th Edition. A joint publication of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Public Health Association and the NRC, CFOC4 is an essential resource for health and safety best practices.
  • OnSafety is the official blog of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Read OnSafety to stay current with the latest safety information and important messages (including product recalls) that will keep you, your family and the children in your care safe.
  • Healthy Child Care is a web-based resource directory from the Environmental Protection Agency. The website provides information and resources on asthma, chemical hazards, environmental tobacco smoke, green cleaning, indoor air quality, lead, mercury, mold, pesticides, plastics and other environmental health information topics for child care.
  • Autism Awareness and Acceptance in Early Childhood Education is a web page from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Early Childhood Development. It includes information and resources related to Autism Spectrum Disorder and the role that early care and education professionals play in diagnosis and intervention.
  • Learn the signs. Act early is a web page of resources from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC's "Learn the signs. Act early." program aims to improve early identification of children with autism and other developmental disabilities so children and families can get services and the support they need. The program has free downloadable materials that support providers and families in identifying and supporting the achievement of developmental milestones.