Beginning July 1, 2009, there will be a $5 per person co-pay for review of completed modules.  Per person payment must be received before modules will be reviewed.  Payment is made by check, payable to PA Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics.  Once Self-Learning Modules are posted for credit, you will receive email notification to access and print your certificate(s) from your professional development history at the PA Key website.  ECELS encourages early learning programs to use the Self-Learning Modules that are available to download, look for the those that indicate SLM Online in the title. The first 100 facilities that access and complete an online Self-Learning Module will receive one $5 voucher for a future review.

•  Everyone hopes the measures now underway will contain the threat of H1N1 influenza, previously known as swine-origin influenza. However, whether this infection or another more severe variety will emerge is unknown. This is the time to review or make plans to handle an infectious disease emergency in your setting. ECELS suggests following the national standards for exclusion of ill children and staff found in Caring for Our Children, Standard 3.065 at http://nrckids.org and in Managing Infectious Diseases in Child Care and Schools, A Quick Reference Guide, 2nd edition.  Pay special attention to pages 24-26, 39-43, and 169-171 in the Quick Reference Guide. These pages provide succinct information about hand hygiene, recognizing and managing the ill child, outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics, symptom records, parent notification, tracking and corrective actions to take to reduce the risk of spread of a contagious disease in a group. You can view some of these pages and other helpful information and links related to H1N1 influenza A on the website of the American Academy of Pediatrics at www.aap.org. View updates from the CDC at http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu.  E-Mail Alerts from ECELS will advise about newly posted information. updated 5/7/09)

•   Community College in Bethlehem, PA plans to offer a three credit Online Child Care Health Advocate Course for the Summer and Fall 2009 Semester. (Updated 5/09)

•  Summer 2009 issue of HEALTH LINK ONLINE available! To read or download this issue of Health Link Online, click on the section heading under the photo: "Publications and Media." In the section, put your cursor on the same heading to get the drop-down menu. Select "Health Link - ECELS Newsletter." (Posted 6/09)
• Revised and expanded professional development opportunities are now available from ECELS. For example, the Online Self-Learning Module on Oral Health Promotion has been updated and expanded for two hours of state authorized credit and, like many other ECELS offerings, meets the Level 2 STARS Performance Standard for Health and Safety.  ECELS now offers a new workshop on Pandemic Influenza. Many of the Self-Learning Modules were revised in 2008. Funding limitations may lead to limitations on self-learning module availability in 2009-2010.  Choose and use the ones you prefer early in the year.  Click here for a complete list of professional development opportunities from ECELS. (Revised 4/09)

• WellCareTracker™ - This online tool assesses the completeness and timeliness of routine preventive health services received by children. Users enter the dates for immunizations and other health supervision services, such as vision and hearing screening or lead and anemia screening, and WellCareTracker™ determines which immunizations and/or services are up-to-date, currently due, or overdue based on the American Academy of Pediatrics' recommendations in its Guidelines for Health Supervision schedule of services. In PA, users of WellCareTracker™ are eligible for state-authorized professional development credit. For a demo, go to www.WellCareTracker.org.
• Pennsylvania Immunization Card: The Pennsylvania Immunization Card is an English/Spanish wallet-sized personal immunization record for children and adults. They are available in packs of 50 cards at no cost for distribution to Pennsylvania families so they can keep track of vaccines they have received.  To order PA Immunization Cards, click here or call ECELS at 800-243-2357.
• Health and Safety Consultation in Child Care: This five-part series on DVD or videotape offers both self-instruction or multimedia presentation opportunities. Submission to ECELS of the completed tasks required for self-instruction earns 3 hours of CME or 0.3 CEU credits from the University of Pittsburgh. The DVD discs include PDF files of Caring for Our Children-the National Health and Safety Performance Standards, Model Child Care Health Policies, forms and lists for health consultation activities. ECELS lends the videos and gives the DVD at no charge to Directors and Child Care Health Consultants in Pennsylvania. To order, select the webpage section titled "Publications and Media," scroll to the DVD/video title, click on "Available for Order" and then complete the form that opens. Click on the DVD/video title to view the tasks for CME/CEU credit. Non-Pennsylvania health professionals and early education directors may click here for instructions on how to purchase the DVD or video set for $99 prepaid, including postage and handling.

•  Keystone Color Me Healthy – Keystone Kids Go Active! -- This curriculum reaches children four and five years of age, and their parents and teachers. It provides fun, innovative, interactive learning opportunities on physical activity and healthy eating. Monthly parent newsletters bring the messages home. Home-based early learning practitioners, Head Start classrooms, early learning programs, and family literacy programs may participate at no cost.  After attending training, each participant receives teaching and implementation kits that include many fun, kit-tested activities, support materials and resources.  In 2008 you can request the combined training for Keystone Color Me Healthy-Keystone Kids Go Active! and the associated implementation kits in all Pennsylvania counties from the office of your PA Regional Key.

Welcome to the ECELS-Healthy Childcare PA website. Bookmark this site now for future use.  Use the drop-down menus that appear after you have clicked on the section headings above to navigate within the sections more quickly. When the content of a subsection exceeds what you can view easily on one screen, you need to click "view all" to see the full list of the items. Pennsylvania users can request materials, workshops and Self-Learning Modules on-line by clicking on the item or using the Handy Tools in the left frame of all the section pages. If you are looking for a specific topic, e.g  Active Play, type "Active Play" in the Search Box at the top of the page. A list of all website items on the ECELS website related to Active Play (or any other topic you choose) will appear. Click on the ones you want to view. To read and use weblinks in PDF documents on this website, be sure you have Adobe Reader, Version 7 or better.  It is free to download from www.adobe.com. All comments are welcome. Just click on Contact Us.

To know when ECELS posts significant new information, sign-up for E-Mail Alerts. Click here.

Since December 1989, the PA Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (PA AAP) has operated the Early Childhood Education Linkage System (ECELS). Now operating Healthy Child Care Pennsylvania, ECELS provides health professional consultation, training, and technical assistance to improve early childhood education programs in the Commonwealth. To carry out this work, the PA AAP links the resources of government, early childhood educators, and health professionals. 

The PA AAP has developed many materials and activities to support quality improvement in early education and child care programs. Click to See Brochure

Child Care Health Consultants -- Regular visits by a child care health consultant can help identify hazards and risky practices – and help work on reasonable corrections. Studies show that when child care practitioners establish an ongoing relationship with a child care health consultant, their programs improve. ECELS has a registry of health professionals who are willing to help in their communities. Click here to view the newly updated brochure, How to Choose and Use a Child Care Health Consultant. 

National AAP Offers E-News -- The Child Care and Health Partnership Program of the American Academy of Pediatrics has an electronic newsletter about best practice based on research and the advice of pediatricians. Click here for back issues and a link to sign-up to receive the free newsletter.

Handy Info, Handouts, Posters -- Healthy Kids, Healthy Care is a very user-friendly website for parents, teachers and other caregivers to learn about health and safety topics.The National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care is responsible for this website. Click here to view.

 Oral Health Web Pages for Child Care Practitioners. ECELS has identified internet links to national organizations with good information on oral health. Click here for this list. Also - see the newly revised Online Self-Learning Module on Oral Health Promotion.  Learn about new oral health print resources, curriculum ideas, and steps to implement toothbrushing in early learning programs.  Successful completion of this 2008 updated module earns 2 hours of state-authorized professional development credit and meets the STAR 2 Performance Standard for Health and Safety.

Infant-Toddler, School Age and Obesity Resource Lists -- ECELS has prepared lists of references and links to materials that help early education professionals and consultants meet the needs of children in their care. For the Infant-Toddler Resource List, click here. For the School-Age Resource List, click here. For the list of resources on Obesity, click here. To see other materials on the ECELS website for these topics, insert the topic in the search tool box at the top of this page.

ECELS and Keystone STARS – ECELS is part of the foundation of Keystone STARS. ECELS provides professional development, technical assistance, and linkages for child care health consultation services to improve quality in early learning programs across Pennsylvania. For a brochure in English for families about how Keystone STARS helps their children have better early education and care, click here. For the same brochure in Spanish, click here.