Choose Safe Places

The Florida Department of Health works to protect children and staff in early care and education (ECE) programs by encouraging more careful consideration about the location of child care programs.

The Florida Choose Safe Places initiative is part of a national program by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). Florida Choose Safe Places provides ECE programs with tools and education on best practices to reduce exposure to environmental hazards.

Florida Choose Safe Places provides:

• Guidelines to select safe ECE program locations
• Education to ECE programs about potential environmental hazards at or around child care sites
• Tools that child care providers can use to work towards creating a safer environment for children in their care

Importance of Initiative

As children are growing and developing, they are especially vulnerable to exposures to harmful environmental substances where they learn  and play. Children also spend much of their time in care outside their homes.

In the United States, more than eight million children, less than five years of age, are cared for in licensed ECE programs for an average of 36 hours per week. Florida Choose Safe Places provides resources and tools for child care providers and parents in order to help protect children from environmental hazards.

For more information, contact ChooseSafePlacesFlorida@FLhealth.gov or 877-798-2772.

REFERENCES
ATDSR (2018). Last update 10-30-2018. National Association of Regulatory Administration (2014). Research Brief #1, Trends in Child Care Center Licensing Regulations and Policies for 2014. 26pp.