Click here to visit our website February 2023

Child Care Health & Safety Classes

Important Update

You may have noticed that our online classes have been down for the month of January. We are currently working on updates to improve your learning experience.

Here is the exciting part . . . All updated classes will provide in-service/STARS credit to learners at no cost.

Visit our Child Care Provider Learning Portal to take our most recently updated class on Toy Safety (see article below for more information).

Stay tuned as we continue to add classes monthly on topics such as Preventing Diseases from Animals in Child Care, Tiny Bites: Oral Health in the Child Care Setting, and Stress Management for Child Care Providers. Some classes will be brand new, some will be updated. Check out our course catalog regularly to find out what's been added.

For questions about our online classes, contact our team at SHD.ChildCareHealth@co.snohomish.wa.us or via phone at 425.252.5415.

Keeping Playtime Safe

Toys provide great enjoyment for children. They also aid in learning, social development, and skill-building. Unfortunately, about 200,000 children under the age of 15 are treated annually in emergency rooms for toy-related injuries. Many more children experience minor injuries every day from toys that are supposed to be fun. Child care providers are responsible for making sure that the toys they provide to children are safe.

For early learning professionals, there is a lot more to toy safety than you may realize. Do you know what materials the toys are made of? Are they age-appropriate? Have they been recalled? Are they being properly cleaned and stored? What level of supervision is appropriate?

For the answers to these questions and more, try out our class "Injury Prevention: Toy Safety." A registration link is provided below. The Child Care Health Outreach Program has also developed a Toy Safety Checklist which can be accessed on our website. If you have questions about toy safety or would like to schedule an onsite consultation about injury prevention for your facility, please call 425.252.5415 or send us an email to SHD.childcarehealth@co.snohomish.wa.us.

COVID-19 Information

COVID-19 has permanently been added to the DOH’s list of notifiable conditions. Per WAC 246-101-415, it is a child care facility’s duty to “notify the local health jurisdiction of cases, outbreaks, and suspected outbreaks of notifiable conditions in Table HC-1 of WAC 246-101-101 that may be associated with the child care facility.” In addition, child care facilities shall “cooperate with public health authorities in their investigation and control of cases, outbreaks, and suspected outbreaks that may be associated with the child care facility.”

Our current community level is low. Continue to monitor community levels on our website here.

To report all COVID-19 cases, or if you have any other questions about COVID-19, please call 425-339-5278 and leave a message, or email SHD.ChildCareHealth@co.snohomish.wa.us. A staff person from the Child Care COVID-19 Response Team will get back to you.

A few other COVID reminders:

We can still order additional COVID-19 test kits for child care facilities to distribute to families. See our health alert below for more information.
Families can continue to order COVID tests by visiting www.sayyescovidhometest.org/.
Families are strongly encouraged to vaccinate their children who are eligible, in consultation with their health care provider. COVID-19 vaccination and boosters are now available to children 6 months and older.
The Washington State Department of Health is now allowing the use of home antigen tests for children under 2 years of age after being exposed, while in isolation, and if a child is experiencing symptoms.
The use of home antigen tests in children under 2 years of age is not allowed for ending isolation prior to the end of day 10.
Home tests are also available from www.covid.gov/tests and, for families who have insurance, please encourage them to use their benefit of free at-home tests (which they can get at the pharmacy they typically use). Each person covered under the insurance plan can receive 8 free tests per month.

No-Cost COVID-19 Test Kits for
Child Care Facilities

Child care facilities that are in need of rapid antigen tests (home tests) can now contact the Snohomish County Health Department to make a request for those tests. Tests are provided at no charge to child care facilities through Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) program funding.

You must call the COVID-19 Call Center (425-339-5278) or email SHD.ChildCareHealth@co.snohomish.wa.us to request your kits and discuss the pick-up process.

Tests are NOT available on a drop-in basis. Test kits will need to be picked up in Everett when ready.

Free COVID-19 test kits (home antigen), delivered directly to households, are still available through The Washington State Department of Health (DOH). Please remind your families/staff to order from https://www.sayyescovidhometest.org/. Each household can submit an order each calendar month.

In July, the FDA granted another extension to the expiration dates for the iHealth tests. Click here for the list of the lot numbers and the updated expiration dates or use this online tool to input the lot number to calculate the updated expiration date.

This Month's Featured Class

Injury Prevention: Toy Safety

In addition to providing children with fun and enjoyment, toys help children develop skills, test their abilities, engage their imagination, and learn so much. Toys can let children create on their own or practice working together with others. Unfortunately, many children are injured every day from toys that are supposed to be fun. This course will focus on preventing injuries from toys in child care settings. It will cover child development and toys, toy safety, storage of toys, cleaning toys, tracking injuries, and recalled toys. Learners can engage with the material in either audio/visual or written formats.

Register Here

Contact Information

Snohomish County Health Department
3020 Rucker Ave., Ste. 202, Everett, WA 98201

Email: SHD.ChildCareHealth@co.snohomish.wa.us

Program Phone: 425.252.5415

Website: http://www.snohd.org/238/Child-Care-Providers

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The Child Care Health Outreach Program staff are available to consult with you on these and other health, safety, and nutrition topics by phone, by email, or at your child care.