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/. 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..

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..

In August of 2013, ECELS received a 3-year federal quality improvement grant. The purpose of the grant is to show how to improve the care of infants and toddlers in child care centers.  ECELS staff and expert consultants developed an observation tool. The tool measures 13 selected standards in Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards, 3rd edition (CFOC3).

This new quick reference guide provides child care directors, teachers, and caregivers with essential information on managing emotional and behavioral issues in group care settings.

Topics cover social-emotional development, biting, napping difficulties, post-traumatic stress disorder, gender development, self-stimulation behaviors, and more. In addition to behavioral issues commonly seen in small children, epigenetics, medications, toxic stress, adverse childhood experiences, and how to help children who have undergone traumatic experiences are touched on by the editors.

The book contains 25 quick reference sheets on topics such as ADHD, ASD, depression, tantrums, and separation anxiety. In addition, sample daily report forms, medication forms, and other informative documents to support working with young children are also included in this comprehensive guide.

Case studies are also presented on various difficult situations with small children in a classroom setting and discuss how these situations might be handled.

To order this book, go to the AAP bookstore at www.aap.org. Updated 3/2022

Managing Chronic Health Needs in Child Care and Schools: A Quick Reference Guide, 2nd Edition helps teachers and caregivers address the challenges of caring for children with chronic health conditions and special health care needs in child care and school settings. The health issues covered include chronic illnesses, acute situations, and selected developmental and behavioral problems, with a special emphasis on children with special health care needs. More than 50 quick reference sheets on specific conditions provide teachers and caregivers with guidance on how to help at a glance. New quick reference sheets include Childhood Obesity, Eczema, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Food Allergies, GERD, and more.  To order this book, go to the AAP bookstore at www.aap.org. Updated 3/2022

Extra Credit is available for users of the workshop about Medication Administration or the AAP Healthy Futures e-learning on this topic. For an additional hour of credit, participants who successfully complete the Medication Administration Workshop or the AAP e-learning may arrange for a licensed health professional to observe their performance of medication administration skills using a checklist provided by ECELS.

For an additional hour of credit, participants who successfully complete the Medication Administration Workshop or the AAP e-learning self-learning module about Medication Administration may arrange for a licensed health professional to observe their performance of medication administration skills using this checklist provided by ECELS. Download the checklist and follow the instructions for how to request the extra credit below.

For one (1) additional hour of DPW/PA Keys credit, participants who successfully complete the Medication Administration Workshop or American Academy of Pediatrics e-learning online module may arrange for a licensed health professional to observe their performance of medication administration skills using a checklist provided by ECELS. To receive this extra hour of credit, early learning practitioners should: Go to the ECELS website, select the Professional Development/Training section, then select Self-Learning Modules, and click the green area ‘Click Here to Request SLM Reviews’ to provide the necessary information and payment for the review and credit award.  Be sure to send the following items for each ECE provider who completes the workshop or e-learning module. Send them by e-mail as attached scans or send them by fax to ECELS:

1.  a copy of the certificate of successful completion of the Medication Administration Workshop or Medication Administration e-learning
2. a copy of the successfully completed Medication Administration Skills Checklist, signed and dated by the health professional who completed the form attesting to the satisfactory performance of the skills  
3. a completed Registration Form - the same one used for self-learning modules. 3-23-22

This workshop draws on the curriculum published  by the American Academy of Pediatrics to teach how to manage the risks involved in giving medication in group care settings using the 5 Rights: the right child receives the right medication in the right dose, by the right method at the right time.  Participants practice skills and discuss scenarios to identify gaps in practice.  Key elements that should be in documentation of medication, policies and procedures are reviewed. Demonstrations and discussions include tips for giving a variety of different types of medication: liquids and pills, eye, ear, nose, topical medications such as diaper cream and sunscreen, inhalers and emergency medicines.

Many children's medicines come in liquid form. Household spoons may be handy for giving children liquid medicines, but using them is not a good way to give the correct dose. Parents and educators should use a syringe, special medicine cup, special dosing spoon or dropper. These devices are marked in milliliters (mL).

Different household teaspoons hold different amounts of liquids. Tablespoons vary in size too. A spoon that gives too little medicine may keep the medicine from working. If a spoon gives too much medicine, the overdose may cause a serious problem. For example, repeatedly giving a child too much acetaminophen (Tylenol)can lead to liver failure. More than 70,000 children go to emergency rooms each year for accidental medicine overdoses. Use of the wrong measuring device causes some of these. Many liquid medicines come with a special dose measuring device calibrated to accurately measure the particular medication. Be sure to use it. If there is no device with the medication, a pharmacist can provide one. If a syringe is used, squirt the medication slowly and gently between the child's tongue and the side of the mouth. This makes it easier for the child to swallow the medicine.

The American Academy of Pediatrics urges parents, physicians and pharmacists to use only metric measurements for oral liquid medications. Metric measurements for liquids in milliliters (ml) or cubic centimeters (cc) should be on prescriptions, medication labels, and dosing devices. This helps children get the correct dose of medication. Do not measure liquid medication in teaspoons or tablespoons.

Please share this information with teachers/caregivers and families. Download and display the new poster in English and in Spanish. Copy and distribute the updated article - also available in both English and Spanish. To access the article in in Spanish, click on "en Espanol" on the page. On the same page, you can listen to the article read to you in English or Spanish.

Families and early childhood educators need to understand how much medicine to give. They should know how often and how long to give it. If they are uncertain about the instructions, they should not give the medication until they have asked the child's health care provider about how to do it. Use the forms in the Medication Administration Packet, Appendix X in Model Child Care Health Policies, 5th edition. This publication is available at www.ecels-healthychildcarepa.org.

Health professionals recommend keeping medicine out of children's reach. Use child safety caps, understanding that these are not "child-proof". They make it harder for the child to open the medicine, giving adults more time to stop the child from getting the medicine. Check labels carefully before giving two medicines together because they may have the same ingredient. Do not mix medicine with food unless the instructions on the medicine say to do so. Also, urge families to bring a list of all medicines the child is taking each time the child sees a health professional.

For medicine mistakes, call the Poison Help number at 800-222-1222. If the child is unconscious, not breathing or having seizures, call 911 first. Be careful when getting rid of unused medicines. In some places, you can drop off medicines at a police department. Make sure to remove labels with personal details. Another way to safely dispose of medicines is to mix them with coffee grounds or kitty litter in a plastic bag you can seal. Throw this sealed bag away in a trash container where children and animals can't get to it. Don't dump the medicine in the toilet or drain, unless the medicine label says it is safe to do it. If you aren't sure how to dispose of a medicine, ask a pharmacist about what to do.

Contributed by Nancy Alleman, ECELS Lead Training and Technical Assistance Coordinator, in collaboration with Ian M. Paul, M.D., M.Sc., FAAP, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Drugs.

The Pennsylvania Child Care Association (PACCA) and ECELS presented a webinar in June  2015 using the American Academy of Pediatrics Healthy Futures Medication Administration training. To administer medication, early care and education (ECE) providers must comply with laws, regulations, and best practice. This two-part webinar is designed to educate early care and education providers who give children medication but are not licensed health care professionals. Participants will receive 3 hours of PA Key professional development credit for listening to both sessions and completing the evaluation. To listen to Part One, click here. To listen to Part Two, click here.  PowerPoint handouts and documents are posted for each session and one Evaluation is posted below. (Note: Webinar is currently being updated.)

Presenters:
• Susan S. Aronson, MD, FAAP - ECELS Founder and former Pediatric Advisor
• Rosemarie Halt, RPh, MPH, BS ECELS Child Care Health Consultant

Objectives — At the conclusion of this activity, participants will be able to:
   1. Meet the caregiver training requirements in Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards,3rd ed.
   2. Identify different types of medication, why medication is given, and how it is given.
   3. Improve medication storage, preparation, administration, and documentation procedures.
   4. Recognize and respond to adverse reactions to medication.
   5. Develop and implement policies for medication administration.

Early care and education programs need a note from a licensed health care provider for over – the-counter (OTC) and prescribed medications. Prescription medicines should include clear instructions on the pharmacy label. OTC medications need a note from a health care provider in addition to the label on the medicine container. The note must specify the name of the child and medicine, when, how much and the route to give the medicine.

The PA Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Pediatrics published the 5th edition of Model Child Care Health Policies in October 2013. Significantly revised and updated, the new edition is a practical tool for adoption and implementation of best practices for health and safety in group care settings for young children. This edition replaces the previously published version and updates of individual policies that were posted on the ECELS website. ECELS encourages early education and child care professionals to adapt the model policies as site-specific documents that fit their programs. Two formats are available: one replicates the hard copy publication. The other format, posted 12-12-2014, has form fields that allow users to insert their site-specific details directly into the PDF document.

This workshop addresses national and state initiatives to reduce obesity among children in group care. It includes nutritional needs of infants, toddlers, preschool  and school age children. Participants learn how to adjust portion sizes, and evaluate food and nutrition labeling.  The discussion includes comparing the standards for physical activity and limitation of sedentary activities with current practices. The participants learn how to use research about how children acquire attitudes about food and physical activity. They identify nutrition education opportunities at mealtimes, snacks, holidays and birthdays.

The Office for Dispute Resolution (ODR) provides resources for parents and educational agencies to resolve educational disputes for children served by the early intervention system, students who are gifted (or thought to be gifted), and students with disabilities (or thought to have disabilities), including a parent/family engagement project. Publications are available about our services.  Contact Information:  Office for Dispute Resolution (ODR) Voice: 800-222-3353 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Fax: 717-657-5983 Website: www.odr-pa.org    Reviewed and reaffirmed 4/2018

State regulations require documentation that the child has received vaccines and screening tests according to the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Any document (including an electronic printout from the child's medical record) that provides this information is acceptable. The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) offers a form that allows health care providers to say whether the child is up to date, the CD 51. This Child Health Report form was last revised in 2008. It does not require the dates and results of the recommended screening tests. It has a check box to indicate "yes" or "no" that the child has received all the recommended screenings. The only screening information it requests is the results of any abnormal vision, hearing or lead screening. These are important, but not all the screenings that assess whether a child is healthy and ready to learn.