This updated online self-leaning module will help you to promote mental health in young children. Learn about biological and environmental risk factors for challenging behaviors. Use tools to review for behaviors related to childhood development. Find out strategies to help manage children with challenging behaviors and identify policies to help prevent suspension and expulsion of children. Understand the importance of open communication with parents and use resources to help children with challenging behaviors and their families. Reviewed and reaffirmed 8/2022

The Office of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in the U.S. Department of Human Services has brought together a list of resources related to developmental screening and referral for early intervention. The materials listed in the collection are from a group of federal agencies. The content on the website is separated into the materials most helpful to specific users: early care and education providers, primary care providers, early intervention and special education providers, families, communities, child welfare, home visitors, behavioral health providers, and housing & homeless shelter providers.The website offers a compendium of evidence-based developmental screening tools, everyday tips for early care and education providers to support child development, and guides for finding services in the community. As ACF says: "Effective promotion of healthy child development and wellness is best achieved early in a child’s life with well-coordinated, multi-sector coordination of services and communication with families. Public awareness of typical child development and risks for delay, developmental and behavioral screening, early identification of delays as well as linkages to referral and follow up services can be delivered anywhere young children and families spend time--in the home and in communities through a range of programs and services." Access the English version of the resources at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ecd/child-health-development/watch-me-thrive. For the Spanish description of the resources go to Del nacimiento a los 5! Informacion y Destacados at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/ecd/b_to_5_one_pager_spa.pdf. For the Early Care and Education Providers Guide in Spanish, go to Providors Cuidado y Educación Infantil at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/ecd/ece_providers_guide_spanish_508.pdf. Reviewed and reaffirmed 3/2018. 

This form facilitates communication from health care providers to other professionals who work with the child and family as part of formulating a coordinated and consistent plan of care for children with behavioral concerns. Reviewd and reaffirmed 7/2018.

These forms explain the process and documentation needed to enroll a child with special needs. The Process to Support Enrollment of a Child with a Special Need form is an algorithm or map that describes the steps to follow to obtain and use a care plan. The Care Plan is a form to gather key information to provide care for children with special health needs. The majority of early learning practitioners enroll children with special health needs. The form collects the essential information. It includes how to care for a child's daily needs and to handle an emergency. Early learning practitioners early childhood programs should arrange for parents and health professionals to complete the form when the child is first considered for enrollment and anytime a new medical condition develops. Download the forms in the links below. The Care Plan Checklist lists elements that may be required in a care plan for a child with a special health care need (if not using the care plan template included on this posting).

Reviewed reaffirmed 7/2022

These forms explain the process and documentation needed to enroll a child with special needs. The Process to Support Enrollment of a Child with a Special Need form is an algorithm or map that describes the steps to follow to obtain and use a care plan. The Care Plan is a form to gather key information to provide care for children with special health needs. The majority of early learning practitioners enroll children with special health needs. The form collects the essential information. It includes how to care for a child's daily needs and to handle an emergency. Early learning practitioners early childhood programs should arrange for parents and health professionals to complete the form when the child is first considered for enrollment and anytime a new medical condition develops. Download the forms in the links below. The Care Plan Checklist lists elements that may be required in a care plan for a child with a special health care need (if not using the care plan template included on this posting).

Reviewed reaffirmed 7/2022

This workshop teaches early learning practitioners how to recognize and manage occupational health risks, drawing on the content in Caring for Our Children: the National Health and Safety Performance Standards. Addresses management of stress, infectious disease risks and musculo-skeletal (ergonomic) challenges intrinsic to providing child care. Includes assessment of personal and work-site health promotion strategies.

The CDC is a comprehensive source of information on public health issues, including immunization, sanitation, and infectious disease. The CDC provides a large library of information to the public on many topics. Some of the categories include: Diseases and Conditions; Emergency Preparedness & Response; Environmental Health; Life Stages & Populations; Healthy Living, Injury, Violence & Safety; Traveler's Health; Workplace Safety & Health. The CDC website includes a powerful search engine as well as alphabetical listings. Users will find fact sheets, videos, photos, posters, and other useful materials to download.

When children have toileting accidents in child care, staff must follow procedures that are appropriate for the child and limit the spread of germs. See Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards; Guidelines for Early Care and Education Programs Standard 3.2.1.5: Procedure for Changing Children's Soiled Underwear, Disposable Training Pants and Clothing at http://nrckids.org/CFOC or available at https://shop.aap.org. In PA, please send your health and safety request with your name and phone number to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

This extensive list of weblinks, print resources and supports includes both national and Pennsylvania credentialled sources of information. It is intended for early educators, parents and health professionals who are caring for children with chronic physical, behavioral and developmental challenges.  Updated 7/2022

Caring for a child with diabetes can be a challenge. Families and early care and education staff need to know what to do. Diabetes affects 7% of the population. About one in 500 children has diabetes. Children with diabetes do not make enough insulin. The body needs insulin to use sugar in food for energy and growth. Insulin is a hormone that must be produced naturally by cells in the pancreas or be given as a medicine at proper times and in the right amounts.

This fact sheet contains general information about diabetes in children for teachers/caregivers of children attending early education and before and after school child care programs.See Managing Chronic Health Needs in Child Care and Schools, 2nd Edition available from the bookstore of the American Academy of Pediatrics at https://shop.aap.org or search www.healthychildren.org for more information. In PA, please send your health and safety request with your name and phone number to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Updated 6/2018.

Infants and toddlers in diapers often get rashes-everything from tiny red bumps to more irritated tender areas.

Why do babies get rashes? One or more conditions can cause a diaper rash. The enzymes that help digest food can be irritating when they come out with feces (poop) into the diaper. Wet diapers can cause irritation where they are in contact with the skin. This is more likely to occur where the diaper rubs the creases of the upper thighs. Yeast growing in the warm, wet diaper areas can be another cause of diaper rash.

Some tips to help prevent diaper rashes are:

Change diapers often. Changing a diaper before it gets very wet and as soon after a child has a bowel movement helps. Prolonged contact of the skin with moisture from pee and/or feces irritates the skin.

Avoid irritating soaps and wipes. Use unscented and alcohol-free diaper wipes or just water rather than other skin cleaning products. Scented soaps and wipes that have alcohol in them can irritate a baby's bottom. The ingredients in many soaps remove the skin's natural oils. Without these normal oils on the skin, skin irritation is more likely.

If the diaper area is red and irritated, clean the skin by patting it with a diaper wipe, with cotton balls soaked in warm water or with freshly laundered, well-rinsed, soft, washcloths wet with water. Avoid rubbing the skin. Always use a fresh wipe, or different wet wash cloth each time you swipe. Once soiled, store reusable cloths in a washable, plastic-lined, tightly covered receptacle until they can be laundered.

Consider use of a barrier product . Ask the family to discuss with the child's health care professional the use of a barrier product if an infant has ongoing difficulty with diaper rash. Barrier diaper creams or ointments can help protect the skin from irritation caused by rubbing on the moist and/or soiled surface of a diaper. They are over-the-counter products that contain petroleum or zinc oxide. If the child has had a problem with diaper rash that requires use of a barrier medication, the program should have instructions from the child's health care provider and permission from the child's parent to use it. The product's container should have the child's name and instructions for use too. Put 2 or 3 tablespoons of the barrier cream on a facial tissue and bring it that way to the diaper changing surface. (Do not bring any of the containers of supplies to the diapering surface. Everything on the diapering surface will need to be disinfected after the diaper change.)

Apply the barrier in a thick layer, spreading it gently and smoothly across the diaper area. Be sure to cover the creases of the upper thighs under the edge of the diaper. When cleaning the child, remove only the soiled barrier product. Rubbing to remove the unsoiled lower layer of barrier product will irritate the skin.

The recommended medication administration and diaper changing procedures are in Caring for Our Children, (CFOC3) Standards 3.6.3.1 and 3.6.3.2 for medication administration and Standard 3.2.1.4 for the diaper changing procedure. Access these standards at www.nrckids.org.

Follow the instructions from the child's health care provider and the CFOC3 recommended procedures when using any diaper cream. Some diaper creams contain active ingredients that are not for prolonged use. Documentation of the product applications can be as simple as having a check mark in a diaper cream column on a diaper change log sheet. Note the date and time of the diaper changes there. This lets families know about the frequency of diaper changes and use of recommended medication.

If a diaper rash is bleeding, seems very sore to the child, or lasts more than a few days, be sure to seek guidance from the child's health care provider and check the procedures being used by anyone who is changing the child's diaper.

Contributed by Sarah Macdonald, MD, FAAP, CHOP Care Network High Point

The widely-used Emergency Information Form on the website of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) records key health information for children with special health care needs. It should be completed and kept up-to-date, ready to give to Emergency Service Personnel who may not be familiar with the child's needs. Early education and before and after school personnel should use the information on the form to prepare for care a child might need in the event of an emergency that involves only the child or the group in the facility. It documents the child's medical history, medications, and treatments. To view and download the form, go to the AAP website at www.aap.org, and then enter "Emergency Information Form" in the search box. 

• Download the EIF  
• Download a sample, completed EIF 
• Blank Interactive Emergency Information Form 
• ACEP Policy Statement - Emergency Information Form for Children With Special Health Care Needs 
• AAP Policy Statement - Emergency Preparedness for Children With Special Health Care Needs 

Updated 7/2022

• Influenza Vaccine for 2015-2016
• Screen Time, Child Development and Nutrition
• Organic Food – Is It Healthier?
• Background Music and Noise Interferes with Language Learning?
• Oral Health Screening Added to Routine Well-Child Visit Schedule
• National Center on Health—Materials All Early Educators Can Use
• Increasing Physical Activity in Afterschool Programs
• Three Newly Revised and a List of All ECELS Self-Learning Modules
• Eating Together - Mealtime Matters

This workshop uses the interactive curriculum from the Food Allergy Network. It includes a video and mock epinephrine (EpiPen) demonstration. Participants practice reading food labels to find hidden ingredients that are the same as common food allergens and learn the basics of food allergy and allergen types in foods. The group discusses how to modify the child care setting for a child with a food allergy, and a plan for handling a food allergy response.