Best Practice Guidance
Pennsylvania Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights
The PA AAP Climate and Environmental Health Committee has collaborated with the Awbury Arboretum and Prescribe Outside in Philadelphia and artist Beth Miner to develop the Pennsylvania Children's Outdoor Bill of Rights (COBOR) which was released on October 9th to coincide with Children's Environmental Health Day.
Please share and display the PA COBOR poster in your child care program to help promote a healthy environment where children can grow and thrive! You can post it in classrooms, hallways, or family areas. The black and white version also makes a fun coloring activity for children.
Early Childhood Development and Screen Time Toolkit
Resources to Support Healthy Media Habits and Digital Wellness for Young Children
Healthy relationships with media start in early childhood. The Early Childhood Development and Screen Time Toolkit was developed for use by early childhood educators, childcare providers, early interventionists, home visitors, pediatricians, or other professionals who support families with young children.
We recommend that early childhood professionals start by exploring the Training Resources, and then consider how the Parent-Facing Resources could be integrated into your current work with families. We invite you to use whichever tip sheets, social media messages, infographics or posters would complement the important work you already do!
Model Child Care Health Policies
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 (MCCHP) 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.
Full Text of MCCHP (5th Edition) with Fillable Forms (PDF) - 252pgs
Additional Resources from MCCHP:
MCCHP Fillable Forms - All Appendices
Crosswalk of Stepping Stones, 3rd ed. with Model Child Care Health Policies, 5th ed. (MCCHP)
To purchase, see AAP Bookstore: PA AAP's Model Child Care Health Policies, 5th Edition
Breastfeeding-Friendly Child Care Guide
PA AAP's First Food developed a Breastfeeding-Friendly Child Care Guide to explain how child care programs can best support breast/chest feeding parents and their children in their care, by following national breastfeeding and infant feeding standard. (July 2023)
AAP Healthy Children - Healthy Living Resources
These trusted resources from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) offer evidence-based health guidance for child care providers and families, supporting the healthy growth, development, and safety of young children.
Caring for Our Children, National Health and Safety Performance Standards
Caring for Our Children (CFOC) Online Standards Database is a collection of national standards that represent the best practices, based on evidence, expertise, and experience, for quality health and safety policies and practices for today's early care and education settings. Updates to the standards are added to the online database on an ongoing basis.
A hard copy of the 4th Edition (published in 2019) is available for purchase through the American Academy of Pediatrics bookstore.
Health Trends in Early Childhood
New for 2025! The Pennsylvania Key kicks off the monthly resource, Health Trends in Early Childhood, focused on trending health issues related to children from birth to age five and their families and caregivers. Health Trends focuses on what we can do to keep children healthy.
Each month, find information about a recent health trend in early childhood, learn why it is important, discover the impact it has on children, their families and caregivers, and the community, as well as actions we can take to ensure the health and well-being of children in our communities. You can also find reliable resources to learn more about the issue. Feel free to print and share the one-page Health Trend and explore the resources.