Outline of Idaho Idaho State Profile

 
  • Licensing: The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (DHW) does not mandate child care health consultants (CCHCs) by licensing or regulation.
  • Funding: Healthy Child Care Idaho (HCCI) is funded primarily through the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF).
  • Auspices: HCCI is now rolled into IdahoSTARS (Idaho Professional Development Registry System) and is funded through a contract with University of Idaho and the Idaho Association for the Education of Young Children (Idaho AEYC) by DHW.
  • Role: CCHCs are typically early childhood education (ECE) professionals (with an occasional nurse in that role), who serve as mentors/coaches for ECE providers who need consultation and technical assistance on child health and safety issues. Some CCHCs provide environment assessments for child care providers participating in the pilot Reaching the Stars Quality Rating System.
  • Training: Thirteen individuals have participated in the National Training Institute for Child Care Health Consultants (NTI) since 2001, and four remain in the field. DHW and the Idaho AEYC modified the NTI training curriculum to make it specific to Idaho. To date, 68 individuals have received the 60–hour training, and others have received portions of the training. Recently, Idaho AEYC worked with the University of Idaho to offer the curriculum online, with hands–on sessions to teach the environment rating scale and playground safety components. In January 2007, 27 individuals enrolled in the online training. Beyond the 60–hour training, CCHCs periodically receive additional training through the IdahoSTARS Mentors/Coaches for Early Care and Education. Also, the CCHCs periodically receive training by the authors of the Environment Rating Scales, to ensure reliability.
  • Website: Idaho AEYC maintains a web page for HCCI.

History and Development

Since 2001, DHW and the Idaho AEYC have devoted resources to develop and sustain HCCI which has, as outlined above, been incorporated in IdahoSTARS. Before Healthy Child Care America (HCCA) funding ended, DHW incorporated HCCI goals and objectives into IdahoSTARS, a four–part professional development system for Idaho’s ECE professionals. With the inception of the state’s Early Childhood Comprehensive System (ECCS), Idaho also merged the HCCI goals and objectives into ECCS.

IdahoSTARS has other programs including seven child care resource & referral (CCR&R) offices operated in each region, T.E.A.C.H. academic scholarships, mentors, parent referrals, and a trainer/training approval process that supports ECE professionals. Idaho received a U.S. Department of Labor Apprenticeship Grant to support academic scholarships and on–the–job training with mentors in ECE. All mentors/coaches and Regional Quality Child Care Consultants are required to complete the 60–hour CCHC curriculum, as well as additional mentoring/coaching training.

Challenges and Lessons Learned

  • Funding: Due to limited funding, Idaho did not have the resources to pay for nurses to serve as CCHCs. Therefore, Idaho CCHCs are typically ECE professionals, and DHW and Idaho AEYC expanded the CCHC training to ensure that CCHCs have the necessary background in health and safety.
  • Engaging Local Health Jurisdictions: The Idaho Child Care Program (ICCP) requires annual health inspections for legally operating child care providers. DHW contracts with the seven regional health districts (RHDs) to provide health and safety inspections, in addition to biannual inspections required by state licensure. DHW and Idaho AEYC leaders believe that it is critical to actively engage the RHDs to ensure that health and safety in ECE programs is a high priority and implemented consistently. Several RHD personnel have completed the CCHC training.
  • Engaging the Medical Community: DHW and Idaho AEYC leaders believe that it is critical to engage the medical community—including the Idaho Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Idaho Family Practice Residency Program—in providing resources and/or engaging in CCHC provision to ensure that health and safety is a higher priority in ECE programs. Other challenges involve developing access to oral health resources. In 2007, every physician received a packet of information to assist in guiding families toward quality child care. Idaho AEYC developed a brochure Choosing Quality Child Care, and the brochure is distributed to every family of a newborn through Idaho hospitals.
  • Challenging Political Environment: Idaho ECE programs do not have to be licensed unless they care for 13 or more children. In addition, Idaho does not have strong health and safety standards for ECE programs. As outlined above, ICCP requires annual health inspections for legally operating child care providers, and licensed child care providers must be visited every two years by RHDs. However, ICCP does not require fingerprinting and criminal background checks unless the provider must comply with local licensing ordinances. Therefore, DHW and Idaho AEYC leaders noted that it is challenging to make health and safety in ECE programs a priority, but that voluntary participation is encouraged.

Ingredients for Success

  • Leadership from the Governor’s Office: Since the Early Childhood Coordinating Council is appointed by the Governor, DHW and Idaho AEYC leaders have been able to gain the attention and support of partners (e.g., health care providers, insurers) who might not have otherwise participated.
  • Strong Partnerships: DHW, Idaho AEYC, and the University of Idaho have developed a strong partnership that has contributed to the success of HCCI. In addition, the Head Start State Collaboration Office, and Dr. Noreen Womack, a pediatrician who practices in Boise, have been important partners. All of the partners have been critical in maintaining the vision for HCCI, in spite of the lack of funding and challenging political environment.
  • Inception of ECCS: ECCS was critical to the continuation of HCCA goals and objectives in Idaho because it provided the motivation and resources to continue working on quality issues in ECE programs.

Moving Forward

  • Creating Health and Safety Standards for ECE Programs: Since Idaho does not have strong health and safety standards for ECE programs, DHW and Idaho AEYC leaders continue to work on alternative strategies to create a common licensing standard for cities and counties. DHW continues to propose rules changes for continuous quality improvement to increase safety for children.
  • Strengthening CCHC Infrastructure: DHW and Idaho AEYC/STARS leaders envision a system in which there is a CCHC for every ECE program in the state. With that in mind, state leaders built HCCI into the ECCS plan, with the intent that partners would implement relevant ECCS strategies in their communities. The Idaho AEYC is working on a leadership plan that promotes advocacy through business leaders related to implementing ECCS strategies in their communities. IdahoSTARS is developing a quality rating system with a team leader in each of the seven regional areas and ongoing environment scale reliability among and between team leaders.
  • Build and Expand Statewide Communication Networks: The ECCS plan communicates across and among stakeholders. DHW and Idaho AEYC leaders believe that it is critical to build and expand statewide networks to better communicate HCCI’s successes and encourage new community partnerships. The many partnerships developed and sustained through the ECCS Plan and the Early Childhood Coordinating Council have expanded statewide communication and cooperation.

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Information as of August 2007