GOALS & OBJECTIVES
The goals of this grant cycle are to sustain the accomplishments and successes achieved by the HCCNJ grant, to institutionalize Healthy Child Care America principles as a component of a comprehensive early childhood system, and to identify funding resources to support those efforts. The attainment of the goals will be accomplished through the following objectives: 1. To strengthen health and safety requirements in State child care licensing regulations. 2. To enhance support services to individuals who have committed to providing community-based health consultation services to child care providers. 3. To identify key stakeholder partners in implementing HCCNJ priorities and to define responsibilities that each is committed to continuing to develop and support. 4. To integrate HCCA grant components with other systems development initiatives including New Jersey Build Initiative and the State Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems (ECCS) Planning Grants.

METHODOLOGY
The following are some of the activities that will be employed to meet the stated goals and objectives: (1) Consultant Coordinators will collaborate with the Project Director to provide input for licensing revision recommendations for child care centers and family child care homes. (2) Fifty additional individuals will be recruited to complete the four-day Child Care Health Consultant Training. (3) Regional and county support groups facilitated by the Consultant Coordinators, quarterly educational offerings, development of a website, and a statewide conference will be provided in an effort to increase the level of health consultation service delivery. (4) Memoranda of Agreement will be developed among key stakeholder partners to define roles and responsibility to sustaining HCCA grant components. (5) Consultant Coordinator outreach to schools of nursing, local pediatricians as well as collaboration with residency programs at New Jersey Medical Schools will be employed as means to expanding linkages with community nurses and pediatricians. (6) The Project Director will participate as a Core Team Member of the Build Initiative to assure an integrated effort in the development of comprehensive early childhood systems and coordinated with the ECCS Planning Grants.

COORDINATION
This project continues to work with the primary partners of the HCCNJ collaboration—Department of Health and Seniors Services, Department of Human Services and the American Academy of Pediatrics—New Jersey Chapter who participated in authoring this grant application. The Project Director and Child Care Administrator facilitate monthly meetings with the Consultant Coordinators. Most decision making is done with input and support from members of the HCCNJ Executive Board that includes Consultant Coordinators representation.

EVALUATION
A Research Scientist from the Department of Health and Senior Services will be working with this project to assist with data systems development including survey development, data collection and analysis of evaluation elements established as part of the Medication Administration trainings and the Universal Child Health Record Pilot. Some of the data elements include pre-training surveys, pre and post-tests, directory information, health status indicators collected from children’s health records, and parent surveys/questionnaires.

ANNOTATION

KEYWORDS
Access to Health Care, American Academy of Pediatrics, Child Care, Child Care Centers, Child Care Workers, Children With Special Needs, Communicable Disease, Community Participation, Data Analysis, Data Systems, Early Childhood Development, Families, Head Start, Health Insurance, Children, Infants, Interagency Cooperation, Interdisciplinary Teams, Medicaid, Parent Education, Parents, Pediatricians, Peer Support Programs, Preschool Children, Professional Education in Cultural Sensitivity, Safety in Child Care, Safety Seats, Seat Belts, State Systems Development, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, Toddlers.