Did you know that:
- North Carolina is the 32nd ranked state in terms of childhood health. Poor health can come from stress, poor nutrition, abuse, lack of health care, and inadequate housing.
- In 2019, almost 11% of babies born in Forsyth County were considered below a healthy birth weight (5.5 pounds). Low birth weights are an indicator for health issues in babies and children, including the risk of death within year one.
- In 2019, 50.2% of children in Forsyth County lived in poor or low-income homes.
- In 2019, only 6% of children in North Carolina had health insurance. This is a 2% decrease from 2010.
- In 2019, 53.9 children out of 1,000 were assessed for abuse or neglect in Forsyth County.
- In 2019, there were 62.8 child deaths per 100,000.
Improving these statistics will take a collaborative effort of many in Forsyth County. For this reason, Smart Start of Forsyth County not only provides resource services for families but also for Child Care Centers across the county through our Child Care Health Consultation Services program.
Child Care Health Consultation (CCHC) Services are provided through SSFC’s Manager of Child Care Health Services, a trained Public Health Professional. This professional will come to the site to provide technical assistance in the form of consultation and coaching to early educators. The consultant will also provide training related to health and safety topics to child care providers and early educators, allowing educators opportunities for continuing their own education.
Smart Start of Forsyth County will implement activities that follow the CCHC Service Model, which was founded to ensure consistent statewide child care health services that positively impact the quality of care received in early care and education settings. The CCHC Service Model is in alignment with Caring for Our Children, National Health and Safety Performance Standards, Guidelines for Early Care and Education Programs (CFOC), and the National Center on Early Childhood Health and Wellness’s Child Care Health Consultant Competencies.
At Smart Start our vision is to create an equitable early childhood system that will foster an environment for learning, growing, developing, and succeeding. Together, with our collective work, we can improve the child care climate within Forsyth County and diminish these disparities amongst the children in our community.
CCHCs are skilled to provide training and support in the following areas:
- Quality health, wellness and safety practices
- Policy development and implementation
- Health education
- Resource and referral
- Illness and infectious diseases
- Children with special healthcare needs
- Medical administration
- Safety and injury prevention
- Emergency preparedness, response and recovery
- Infant and child social and emotional well-being
- Child abuse and neglect
- Nutrition and physical activity
- Oral health
- Environmental health
- Staff health and wellness
Statistics show that this service and subject is important to child care centers and their staff, as well as to area families. Together, we can improve the child care climate within Forsyth County. This program is available to child care providers and facilities for free, as a way of helping child care programs maintain a healthy and safe environment. The CCHC services are intended to help build capacity in a much-needed area of child care and staff development.
Allow Smart Start of Forsyth County to be not only a resource, but an ally for you and your child care facility! To learn more about how we can be of service to you or your facility, please visit our website at www.SmartStart-FC.org
