Early Childhood Health Consultation (ECHC)

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The Early Childhood Health Consultation (ECHC) is a free program to support the implementation of best health and safety practices within early childhood care settings. The program offers ongoing guidance statewide for early childhood care providers through:

In addition, tailored health consultation services are available to a growing number of early childhood care and education providers across Wisconsin, with the goal of statewide support. 

The PDG partnership with the ECHC program is housed at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Human Ecology. The ECHC program is led by Dr. Dipesh Navsaria, Professor of Pediatrics at the School of Medicine and Public Health, and a Clinical Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at the School of Human Ecology, at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. 

PDG Funds Were Used For

Year One (2020): Needs Assessment 

  • Starting in summer 2020, a needs assessment was conducted to better understand the current landscape of health consultation in Wisconsin early childhood care and education settings.  
  • The needs assessment incorporated a survey of Wisconsin early childcare providers, a policy scan, and an introductory training for Wisconsin Department of Children and Families’ licensing and regulation staff.  

Year Two (2021): Pilot 

  • The program pilot began in December 2021 with targeted support in select locations across Wisconsin (i.e., Adams County, Rock County, La Courte Oreilles Tribe).  

Year Three & Four (2022 & 2023): Program Expansion

  • The ECHC program developed resources that are accessible online to everyone, including live and recorded monthly webinars and on-demand print and video resources.
  • In January 2023, the ECHC program expanded health consultation service locations to include a cumulative total of 187 active early child care programs (i.e., Ashland, Crawford, Lafayette, Menominee, Price, Vernon). Over the course of the year, the program continued expanding health consultation services to more communities across the state.
  • The ECHC launched a podcast, Teachers, Toddlers, & Tissues. This resource offers a fun and informative way to learn about the world of early childhood and health.
  • The program launched a free health policy template that is aligned with national best health and safety practices and Wisconsin licensing standards. It includes a fillable online tool to make the template simple to use.
  • As a Training Sponsored Organization with the Wisconsin Registry, the ECHC program offers opportunities for free continuing education credit for live, monthly webinars attendees.

Year Five (2024): Continued Program Expansion

  • The ECHC program continues offering services available online to anyone, including on-demand video and print resources, live and recorded monthly webinars, and monthly podcast episodes.
  • As a Training Sponsored Organization with the Wisconsin Registry, the ECHC program offers opportunities for free continuing education credit for live, monthly webinars attendees.
  • The ECHC team continues collaboration with Wisconsin Department of Children and Families licensing and regulation and Wisconsin Department of Health Services to build consensus on communicable disease exclusion criteria in early childhood care settings.
  • The program is also rapidly expanding tailored health consultation service locations to include a cumulative total of approximately 3,908 active Wisconsin early child care programs (as of May 2024).

The ECHC program aims to provide a sustainable, statewide model of making health expertise available via a consultation model. The program seeks to improve the quality of Wisconsin early childhood education programs’ health and safety practices and promote the health and well-being of children across Wisconsin.

For more information, visit the ECHC website.

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