When a early child care education program prepares for emergencies in advance, it can save the lives of children, staff, and families. Being prepared may allow you to reopen your early childcare education program sooner, meaning you and the families in your community can get back to work faster and children can return to a familiar routine, caregiver, and setting.
CCDBG Regulations and HSPPS require early child care education programs to establish, follow, and practice, as appropriate, procedures for emergencies. They also require a disaster-preparedness plan, Caring for Our Children (CFOC) (http://nrckids.org/CFOC/) has best-practice standards for providers to incorporate into their programs, centers, or homes. See the graphic below for CFOC Standards relevant to emergency preparedness that are appropriate for your Head Start program or that align with your CCDF state plan (https://www.acf.hhs.gov/occ/resource/state-plans).
Last Updated: December 23, 2019