Child Care Nurse Consulting Services Available at FAMILY, Inc.

Child Care Nurse Consulting Services Available at FAMILY, Inc.

FAMILY, Inc. (www.familyia.org) is pleased to announce that they provide Child Care Nurse Consulting (CCNC) services wherein registered nurses work with child care and early education programs on topics of child health and safety. Providers may call or send questions to a CCNC about health and safety policies, health programs, and specific child health or safety issues. CCNCs also provide onsite assessments to assist child care homes and centers in improving health and safety for the children in their care.

Did you know there are only 172 child care programs in Pottawattamie and Mills counties combined? Of those, only 65 (38%) participate in a Quality Rating System (QRS). CCNC services are one component of the Iowa Quality for Kids (IQ4K) system that is newly implemented as of April 1. IQ4K is a voluntary program that offers a way for child care providers to assess their current level of quality across all areas of their programming and devise a structured plan for improvement. The new system provides guidelines and benchmarks to help providers build off successes, identifying five levels of quality that can be achieved.

It is FAMILY’s goal to have all child care providers and programs participate or receive guidance from CCNC. It’s a win for Iowa families, who will have the assurance that their child will receive the best care possible. In the month of May, FAMILY wishes to highlight CCNC during #DoGoodDays with SHARE Omaha. For more information about CCNC you may contact Jenny Sharrick at (712) 256-9566. To learn more about FAMILY, Inc., visit www.familyia.org.