The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #60070

Joanna Farrer, BA¹, Jane A. Bernzweig, PhD¹, and Abbey Alkon, RN, PhD². (1) Family Health Care Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, California Child Care Health Program, 1322 Webster St. Suite 402, Oakland, CA 94612, 510 281-7924, jfarrer@itsa.ucsf.edu, (2) Department of Family Health Care Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, 2 Koret Way, Box 0606 Room N411Y, San Francisco, CA 94143-0606

Recent epidemiological studies find that up to 20% of American children display behavioral problems. For the 1.5 million California children with working parents, child care providers are a qualified group of professionals available to identify children at risk for behavior problems. The Child Care Health Linkages Project trains health professionals to provide consultation services, including behavioral health, for children ages 0-5 in out-of-home care in California. The purpose of this study is to describe the development of these new health consultation services in 20 counties. During the formative evaluation, data was gathered on behavioral concerns from 108 child care center directors, 18 administrators of county health consultation programs, and 20 Child Care Health Consultants (CCHCs) using interviews, surveys or focus groups. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to identify common themes in responses. In the quantitative survey data, administrators ranked health concerns in order of importance. Qualitative results from interviews and focus groups show that all administrators (100%) and more than half of directors (62%) and CCHCs (63%) reported health concerns at child care centers, including aggressive behavior, violence, autism, developmental delays and emotional problems. Directors reported a lack of resources, stating: "We end up with children who are kicked out of different schools." CCHCs reported: "[we] do Denver Developmentals on the kids and then [we] work with the staff to find°¦ appropriate resources." These responses indicate that CCHCs and directors must work together with parents to create linkages to manage and understand challenging behavior in young children.

Learning Objectives:

Attendees will be able to
• describe the need for behavioral health services in out-of-home child care settings
• discuss how children in child care will benefit from teamwork between child care health consultants and child care center directors.

Keywords: Child Care, Child Health

Related Web page: www.ucsfchildcarehealth.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.