Description:
Ensuring children are in safe environments that promote health and development is a top priority of families, state regulators, the federal government, and national organizations that accredit early care and education programs (ECE). This paper examines monitoring across ECE settings and considers lessons learned from the analogous sectors of child welfare and health. Although professional organizations in partnership with federal agencies developed national guidelines for health and safety, there is wide variation in state and local regulations around the minimum health and safety requirements for children in care. Areas of regulatory variation include: 1) thresholds for the number of children in licensed care at ECE facilities located in family child care homes (FCCs); 2) the comprehensiveness of background checks for ECE provider staff and individuals residing at FCCs; and 3) the frequency of monitoring visits. (author abstract)
Resource Type:
Other