Outline of Illinois Illinois State Profile

 

The Healthy Child Care Illinois (HCCI) Nurse Consultant Network consists of 24 Child Care Nurse Consultants (CCNCs), hired by local health departments and located in child care resource and referral agencies (CCR&Rs) throughout the state, with support from the state’s Department of Human Services (DHS)/Divisions of Community Health and Prevention, and Child Care and Development. As an integral part of the CCR&Rs’ consultation, training and technical assistance (T/TA), and referral network, CCNCs serve to help integrate HCCI goals into local CCR&R programs.

  • Licensing: Illinois child care licensing regulations require weekly nurse visits to center-based infant and toddler programs during their permit period and monthly thereafter.
  • Funding: State Department of Human Services
  • Auspices: Local health departments and CCR&Rs
  • CCNC Role: CCNCs work with CCR&R staff to bring health and safety consultation and training to child care programs throughout the state. In addition, CCNCs distribute information on enrollment in All Kids, a program that includes Illinois’s Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
  • CCNC Training: CCNCs are licensed professional registered nurses with public health and pediatric nursing experience who have successfully completed the National Training Institute for Child Care Health Consultants courses.

History and Development

In 1996, the DHS, local health departments, and the Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (INCCRRA) formed the HCCI partnership to improve health and safety in Illinois’s child care settings. Leadership for the CCNC project comes from the HCCI Steering Committee, an advisory body composed of health care and child care leaders, local health department administrators, CCR&R directors, and CCNCs.

Since 1998, Illinois’s Birth to Five (originally Birth to Three) Project, led by the Ounce of Prevention Fund, has been part of a collaborative effort to build a comprehensive system of services for young children and their families. In 2002, Illinois was selected as a Build Initiative state. As part of the Build Initiative, the state received support for systems change in service delivery for children and families, complementing and enhancing its ongoing collaboration and systems-building efforts.

Challenges and Lessons Learned

  • Providing Tailored Training and Technical Assistance (T/TA) Services: Illinois faced the challenge of developing a state-level program that responds to diverse urban and rural community needs. INCCRRA and the CCNCs conducted needs assessments to determine the T/TA needs of providers in each unique service delivery area.
  • Developing a Data Collection System: Recognizing that data can play a critical role in explaining the impact that CCNCs have on providers, children, and families, INCCRRA has improved its data collection system. The system tracks T/TA topics, frequency of requests, and locations of service delivery. This information provides a picture of CCNCs’ work, and the state can now demonstrate to legislators and other state leaders the value of sustaining the work of CCNCs across the state.

Ingredients for Success

  • CCNCs’ Links with the Child Care Tiered Reimbursement System: The Illinois child care program has implemented a tiered reimbursement system to support providers in the inclusion of children with special health care needs. The Title V program contributes to this effort, through which CCNCs provide TA to early care and education (ECE) programs.
  • Integrated Nurse Consultant and CCR&R Networks: This collaboration serves to facilitate referrals to other health and mental health programs. It enhances connections among child health and child care professionals, and it also supports the health and safety of child care environments and promotes healthy outcomes for children attending child care programs.
  • Data Collection through INCCRRA’s Website: Through its website, INCCRRA tracks T/TA and collects an unduplicated count of child care centers and homes served by CCNCs.
  • CCNC Training: Orientation includes online self-study modules modified from the National Training Institute for Child Care Health Consultants in North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Completion of each module is verified with pre– and post–tests. Each nurse is mentored by a CCNC in a nearby service delivery area.

Moving Forward

  • Coordinating CCNCs and Mental Health Consultants: While mental health consultants are not part of the CCNC network, DHS will explore ways that the two consultation models can work together to serve child care providers.
  • Participating in Strengthening Families through Early Care and Education: The goal of this collaborative initiative is to prevent child abuse and neglect. As the initiative grows, CCNCs will provide training to providers on building protective factors for adults and children that support families before abuse and neglect occur.
  • Enhancing Emergency Preparedness: To heighten provider awareness of the importance of developing policies and procedures for emergencies, DHS will host a satellite conference. The conference agenda will highlight CCNCs as a source of support and guidance.

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Information as of August 2007