Outline of Tennessee Tennessee State Profile

 
  • Licensing: In Tennessee, child care health consultants (CCHCs) are not required or mandated by child care licensing regulations.
  • Auspices: The lead agency for CCHCs in the state is the Department of Human Services (DHS).
  • CCHC Training: Training of the CCHCs is provided by Maternal and Child Health (MCH) through the Transitioning Healthy Child Care America Grant (THCCA).

History and Development

Tennessee was a site for the Healthy Child Care America (HCCA) initiative. After HCCA ended, the state’s Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR&R) agencies assumed responsibility for providing some of the services offered by CCHCs. The Child Care Resource and Referral agency is primarily funded by the Department of Human Services (DHS), augmented by Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) monies. The Department of Health also contributes funds through the MCH Title V Block Grant. CCR&Rs are available across Tennessee to help early care and education (ECE) providers improve the quality of child care. Tennessee currently has a limited number of CCHCs. Some services continue to be provided by CCR&R affiliates.

Challenges and Lessons Learned

  • Meeting Service Needs: One of Tennessee’s challenges is that they currently have too few CCHCs for the largely rural geographic area. Tennessee is looking forward to improving CCHC services across the state. Recently, the ECCS program director and the CCR&R Network Coordinator completed the CCHC training at the National Training Institute.

Ingredients for Success

  • Integration of HCCA objectives into ECCS: The workgroups of the Early Childhood Comprehensive System (ECCS) advisory body are integrating HCCA’s objectives to achieve quality through standards into the state’s ECCS plan.

Moving Forward

  • CCHC Network Expansion: The ECCS program director is a certified child care health consultant. One of the ECCS program director’s major areas of responsibility is to provide leadership, technical assistance, and consultation to CCR&R affiliates. The program director will be responsible for assisting with coordinating the training team for the CCHCs.

    Tennessee now has six core trainers to provide train–the–trainer sessions or workshops as needed, technical assistance to ECE providers, as well as on–site consultation and community–based education.

    As Tennessee has recently begun to rebuild and strengthen the CCHC network, four state trained CCHCs have been identified. The formal collaboration and structure for training additional CCHCs has not been determined. However, the goal is to begin this process in the fall 2007. The initial goal is to have one CCHC/Specialist in each of the 11 CCR&R Regions.

    Existing CCR&Rs will be responsible for training early care and education (ECE) staff in the area of health and safety. Infrastructure building will occur through the development of a larger network of CCHCs. This will be accomplished through the expansion of training workshops in each of Tennessee’s Grand Divisions in an effort to provide adequate CCHC services throughout the state.

    Tennessee has continued to work with the National Training Institute and previously trained CCHC Trainers to identify CCHCs residing in Tennessee who are interested in rebuilding the CCHC network. State leaders are encouraged by the enthusiasm of those they have identified and are communicating with.

    The ECCS program director, CCHCs, and others, continue to raise awareness of the CCHC and the role of the CCHC in an effort to provide support to child care providers, children, and their families. Efforts continue to raise awareness among other state programs and various organizations and agencies about CCHCs.

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Information as of August 2007