New Resources to Prevent Communicable Disease Spread in Child Care Settings
Updated Maryland Department of Health resources offer guidance to reduce the spread of communicable diseases and prevent respiratory illnesses.
The Outbreak Reporting Guide for General Communicable Diseases provides recommendations pertaining to school and child care settings and shares the definition of outbreaks related to specific diseases. The Guidance for the Prevention and Control of Respiratory Illnesses features further information about preventing the outbreak of respiratory diseases like COVID-19, influenza, RSV, or pneumonia.
Help keep your early childhood education staff, the children in your care, and their families healthy by reviewing these new guidelines available on the Maryland Department of Health website.
Health Insurance Marketplace Open Enrollment: Happening Now
Open enrollment for the Healthcare Marketplace is happening now through January 15. Early care and education staff may be eligible for quality, low-cost healthcare plans through the marketplace and qualify for tax credits and other benefits.
Now is the perfect time for early care and education workers to find out what they qualify for, compare health insurance plans, and enroll in health coverage. All plans cover essential benefits, such as primary care, prescriptions, and emergency care, and are affordable with 80% of enrollees eligible for plans at $10 a month or less.
Visit healthcare.gov to discover more about coverage through the marketplace, including benefits and protections. Check out the attached flyer to find details about how early care and education staff can access affordable health insurance.
Available Now: 2024 Basic Health and Safety Annual Update Training
The 2024 Annual Basic Health and Safety Update Training is available now on the MSDE CANVAS webpage. This training meets the regulations for the annual health and safety training, as required by the office, by the end of each 12-month period.
The training must be completed by all child care staff and family child care providers by December 31, 2024. All newly approved family child care providers and staff hired from October to December 2024 must complete the training by March 31, 2025. This training is also recommended for child care substitutes and volunteers.
The training qualifies for Core of Knowledge/Hours: Health, Safety, and Nutrition/1.5, and it is a 90-minute training. Upon successful completion of the training, the system will produce a “Certificate of Participation.” Please download and save the certificate to email to your licensing specialist.
Check out this flyer to learn how to access the Basic Health and Safety Annual Update. You can also find the training using the below link.
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Find information and updates from Maryland EXCELS and the Division of Early Childhood by following us on our newly revamped social media accounts:
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