Assessing Health and Safety in Early Care and Education Programs: Development of the CCHP Health and Safety Checklist

IntroductionTo assess health and safety in early care and education (ECE) programs, an objective, standardized instrument was developed based on the recommended national health and safety standards.MethodThe California Childcare Health Program Health and Safety Checklist was developed by conducting a literature review, identifying a gold standard, revising and updating the original Checklist, consulting with an advisory group, and pilot testing the Checklist. The Checklist included 66 items grouped into 10 subscales, and each item was rated on a three-point scale: meeting, partially meeting, or not meeting national standards. Face, content, and construct validity along with measures of reliability, inter-rater reliability, and internal consistency were established.ResultsThe Checklist was completed in 127 ECE centers. The highest subscale score was for emergency preparedness and the lowest was for handwashing routines and equipment maintenance. Cronbach's α subscale scores ranged from moderate to strong (0.27 to 0.70).DiscussionThe Checklist provides valid and reliable information to assess adherence to key national health and safety standards and objective data to develop intervention programs to improve health and safety in ECE programs.