National Resource Center For Health and Safety

In Child Care and Early Education

Improving the Quality of Out-of-Home Child Care

and Early Education

Welcome to the NRC, University of Colorado College of Nursing 

Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado.

COVID-19 Guidance: To supplement Caring for Our Children standards, NRC recommends you check current child care updates and resources at the CDC, Head Start Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center, American Academy of Pediatrics, Office of Child Care and Child Care Aware of America. Also check your state child care licensing agency and state and local health department for COVID-19 requirements and advisories.

Caring for Our Children (CFOC) is a collection of  national standards that represent the best evidence, expertise, and experience in the country on quality health and safety practices and policies that should be followed in today's early care and education settings.

Since 2010, the National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education (NRC) began new efforts to support the national effort to prevent childhood obesity in child care and early education programs.

The child care licensing regulations of all states are maintained in a database by the National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance (NCECQA).

Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards; Guidelines for Early Care and Education Programs (CFOC)

As a collaborator with the National Center on Early Childhood Health and Wellness (NCECHW), administered by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the NRC manages the updating of the Caring for Our Children (CFOC) standards to reflect current evidence and policy.

Healthy Weight

NRC supports healthy weight of young children in early care and education settings. Resources include: Achieving a State of Healthy Weight (ASHW) assessments of child care regulations; Preventing Childhood Obesity in Early Care and Education Programs, 2nd Edition (PCO2) (CFOC3) healthy weight standards); and, licensing toolkits, checklists, tip sheets, and videos. These resources can be found here.

National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education (NRC)

University of Colorado College of Nursing

Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado


This web site was developed in part with funds from cooperative agreement #U44MC30806 for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Head Start, Office of Child Care, and Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, by the National Center on Early Childhood Health and Wellness. This content on this web site may be duplicated for noncommercial uses without permission. This publication is in the public domain, and no copyright can be claimed by persons or organizations.