About the NC Resource Center
- Health and safety training and technical assistance to early educators to support children in child care and their families.
- Professional development opportunities, resources, and training materials to support best practices for health and safety in child care.
- Guidance and connection to local, regional, and state-wide child health and child care partners focusing on current health and safety priorities.
- Training, ongoing professional support, and coaching to support CCHCs maintain professional competency.
The NC Resource Center was established in 1995 by the NC Division of Public Health as a collaborative effort with the Division of Child Development and Early Education, the North Carolina Partnership for Children/Smart Start, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). The NC Resource Center was created in response to the national Healthy Child Care America campaign’s goal to promote healthy and safe environments in child care. National leaders in the child care community also developed a Blueprint for Action: 10 Steps That Communities Can Take to Help Families Care for Their Children which included, Step 9: Use Child Care Health Consultants to help develop and maintain healthy child care. This directive led to additional support and child care health consultation in North Carolina launched.
Starting in 1995, the NC Resource Center implements the following:
- Early Childhood Research: The UNC Chapel Hill, Gillings School of Global Public Health, under a contract with the Division of Child Development, through its Quality Enhancement Project for Infants and Toddlers tracks and analyzes the activities of Child Care Health Consultants (CCHCs).
- Technical Assistance: A statewide, toll-free number to provide health and safety information and resources for the child care community. The purpose of the technical assistance line is to link child care provider and consumers with quality health and safety consultation.
- Resource Library: An online Resource Library is available to CCHCs working with child care. The library has webinars, training materials, and other resources available to all active CCHCs.
In 2001, the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, Department of Maternal and Child Health assumed direction of the NC Resource Center through contracts with the NC Department of Health and Human Resources. Since that time, three Principal Investigators have supported the NC Resource Center from the Department Of Maternal and Child Health including Dr. Johnathan Kotch, Dr. Tamar Ringel-Kulka, and currently Dr. Julie Daniels.