A Systematic Approach to Child Care Regulatory Review, Policy Evaluation and Planning To Promote Health and Safety of Children in Child Care: A Manual for State and Local Child Care and Maternal and Child Health Agency Staff.

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58

Health Resources and Services Administration (DHHS/PHS), Washington, DC. Maternal and Child Health Bureau.

Child Health; Child Safety; Compliance (Legal); Data Collection; Day Care; Early Childhood Education; Evaluation Criteria; Evaluation Methods; Program Evaluation; Program Improvement; Safety; Self Evaluation (Groups); State Agencies; State Programs; State Regulation; State Standards; Systems Development

This manual is written for state and local administrators and statewide child care and child health organizations looking for ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their child care regulatory review, rule-making process, and enforcement system. Data collection procedures and a review team process, state administrators can identify weaknesses in their child care quality assurance system which could, if unaddressed, put children at risk. The manual is designed to present a comprehensive process while making it easy to pull out individual elements. Each section is written as an independent unit with three parts: (1) an overview of the purpose, function, and outcomes of that step; (2) a sample of forms, research instruments, and reporting formats (with data); and (3) a technical description of design and statistical procedures with examples of state data presentations. The manual's sections are: (1) "Introduction," discussing the need for a systematic approach to child care policy evaluation, planning, and quality improvement; (2) "Regulatory Analysis," describing ways state administrators can use the national health and safety guidelines, and outlining strategies for comparing the state's child care regulations to the national guidelines; (3) "State Regulatory Compliance Study," presenting an approach to data collection to assess compliance, identify systemic problems and specific program or geographic areas in need of assistance, and make recommendations for allocating limited resources; (4) "Field-Tested Weighted Indicator Monitoring Tool," presenting the steps required to develop a statistically reliable weighted indicator checklist for monitoring compliance; and (5) "The Data Display Chart and The Recommended Action Planning Chart," presenting two chart formats that record all collected data, decisions made during the review process, and final recommendations. An appendix contains a resource directory of helpful contacts. (EV)

1999

ED422092