The current approach to dealing with childhood lead poisoning has led to repeated diagnoses of poisoning because such children are treated and then returned to their hazardous environments. This handbook describes in detail the program requirements for effective childhood lead poisoning prevention programs at the local level based on the…

Health promotion includes those strategies that reinforce the maintenance of healthy lifestyle behaviors and discourage the use of unhealthy lifestyle behaviors. Health promotion strategies are gaining momentum in the United States. Three of the six "America 2000" education goals have health-related implications, specifically the goals…

Despite expansions in children's health insurance programs, rates of uninsurance in California continue to be high. Noting that absenteeism due to poor health is associated with school failure and asserting that schools offer an established framework on which to build a coordinated approach to enrolling children in health insurance programs, this…

This paper examines the current status of U.S. children's mental health and its impact on children's ability to learn. It notes the incidence of mental disorders in children, risk factors predisposing children to mental disorders, and symptoms of children with serious emotional disturbances. It explores the school-based and community-based…

As part of a series of reports designed to support the implementation of Proposition 10: The California Children and Families Act and to provide comprehensive and authoritative information on critical issues concerning young children and families in California, this report focuses on the role of public education and outreach and provides…

This report covers the risks to health, safety, and emotional well-being for infants and toddlers in child care settings, and examines opportunities for diminishing those risks and promoting healthy development. Part 1 examines the risks of poor caregiving practices, including the spread of infectious disease, the incidence of injury, and the…

The federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) has launched a five-year initiative that will support state efforts to build comprehensive early childhood service systems. This initiative--the State Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems (SECCS) Initiative--provides planning and implementation grants to the state and territory Maternal and…

If early childhood systems are to be effective at the population level then they must be able to provide family-centered care to all the racial, ethnic and cultural groups that they serve. Despite major policy driven and technological advances in healthcare, health disparities across different races and ethnicities persist. For example, the infant…

In 2003, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) released a "Strategic Plan for Early Childhood Health." In recognition of the critical role states play in the development of early childhood initiatives and of the unique contributions that state Title V programs can make to these initiatives, the Bureau operationalized their…