The Office of Child Care (OCC) is located in the Aministration for Children and Families. OCC replaced the former Child Care Bureau in 2010. This federal agency supports low-income working families by providing access to affordable, high-quality early care and afterschool programs. OCC administers the federally funded Child Care and Development Fund, partnering with state, territory and tribal governments to implement effective, quality services. To learn more, go to http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/occ.

The Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) National Learning Network consists of a coalition of states and organizations to foster use of rating and improvement strategies.  The website is a clearinghouse for quality improvement system information. In addition, the Network provides technical assistance to states that have a QRIS or want to develop one.  The website includes links to the network partners' websites, including Research Connections, Alliance for Early Childhood Finance, The BUILD Initiative, Child Trends, NAEYC, NAFCC, ZERO TO THREE, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, and the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (Child Care Aware). 12/2012

RWJ is a national foundation focuses on health policy, prevention, leadership development and research. Recent work has focused on preventing obesity, ensuring health insurance coverage, and quality of health care. 12/2012

Safe Kids USA is a nationwide network of organizations with a mission to prevent unintentional childhood injury, the leading cause of death and disability for children ages 1 to 14. State and local chapters educate families, professionals who work with children, and provide safety devices to families in need and advocate for better laws to help keep children safe, healthy and out of the emergency room. 12/2012

The Safe to Sleep campaign of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development evolved from the Back to Sleep campaign that NICHD started in 1994. The campaign educate parents, caregivers, and health care providers about ways to reduce the risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and other sleep-related causes of infant death. Placing healthy babies on their backs to sleep is the most effective action that parents and caregivers can take to reduce the risk of SIDS. Since that campaign started, the percentage of infants placed on their backs to sleep has increased dramatically. The overall SIDS rates have declined by more than 50%. Other factors involved in sleep-related deaths are important too. The website has a video and brochures that can be downloaded at no cost. 12/2012 

Many helpful tip sheets for parents as well as activities for children are available from the website of Sesame Workshop. This organization was formerly known as Children's Television Workshop. Well-written parent pages on health and safety topics provide excellent handouts to download and print for distribution in early education and child care programs. The print material is free for downloading. In addition, character/story-related toys and materials from the long-running TV series, Sesame Street, can be purchased from the website as well. 12/2012

This federally funded center (TACSEI) offers FREE products and resources for decision-makers, caregivers, and service providers. These tools can help apply best practices to manage children who have behavioral concerns. You can view, download and use most of the tools on the TACSEI website. The tools are based on research about practices that improve the social-emotional outcomes for young children.TACSEI is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. Some of the tools on the TACSEI website are: How to Help Your Child Recognize and Understand Disappointment, How to Help Your Child Recognize and Understand Frustration, How to Help Your Child Transition Smoothly Between Places and Activities. 1/2013 

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is a government organization. It is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from consumer products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard or can injure children. This website has a wide range of reliable safety information. You can search for a topic or browse many interesting articles. On the home page, select “What’s Popular” to find excellent materials for early educators and families with children. For example “Childproofing Your Home” is a printable brochure that lists 12 safety devices to install to protect children. 12/2012

Team Nutrition is an initiative of the USDA Food and Nutrition Service to support the Child Nutrition Programs through training and technical assistance for foodservice, nutrition education for children and their caregivers, and school and community support for healthy eating and physical activity. The  Nutrition and Wellness Tips for Young Children: Provider Handbook for the Child and Adult Care Food Program on this website has excellent tip sheets with clear and well-illustrated ideas to use every day and on special occasions too. The two Appendices were updated in January 2013 and are excellent, brief guides for preventing choking and caring for children with food allergies.  2/18/2013