I currently provide ongoing technical support to Early Head
Start, Head Start, and EarlyLearnNYC programs to ensure compliance with Head
Start Performance Standards and NYC DOHMH Article 47 licensing requirements.
Support has included, but is not limited to, the following: I assist in the development and annual update of the Health Services Plan, Health Policies and Procedures, and Parent Health Handbook.
I assist staff in developing and/or working with tracking and monitoring systems to ensure ongoing compliance with best practices for child health care delivery. I offer expertise and technical assistance on any pertinent health issue. I provide requested workshops to parents and/or staff. I keep the program informed about current pediatric health issues, and regulatory changes.
Current
and past clients:
NYC
ACS Division of Early Care and Education (which oversees most subsidized child care and Head Start programs in the City, and serves 34,000 children from 2 to 5) Childrens
Aid Society (12 locations, 1,000+ children birth to 5) Lutheran
Social Services of NY (10 locations, 1,000+ children ages 3 to 5) Educational Alliance Grand
Street Settlement Early Head Start University
Settlement Early Head Start Union Settlement Community
Life Center Goddard
Riverside Head Start Hamilton Madison
House Head Start Bank
Street Head Start
Trainings
CPR/First Aid/AED Have trained and certified more than 6,000 child care providers
Infection Control and Reporting Infectious Diseases Have trained more than 5,000 child care providers, emphasizing the critical importance of infection control in keeping our kids healthy. This training meets Article 47 NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's (DOHMH) licensing requirements.
Other: Emergency medication administration Choking (a leading cause of preventable deaths in child care programs) Asthma Allergies SIDS/Shaken Baby Emergency Preparedness Safety Plans and a variety of health topics of interest to specific programs
Other activities?
I served as Co-Chair of the Early Childhood Committee of the New York City Asthma Partnership, which advocates for appropriate care and treatment for children under age five with asthma, or possible asthma, and assists in developing citywide policies and procedures for asthma management in early child care programs.
I helped develop and pilot the NYC DOHMH?s Managing Asthma in Day Care project, a citywide surveillance and intervention project currently in over 250 child care programs.
I designed and implemented a train-the-trainer program for the NYC DOHMH Asthma Training Institute to train childcare workers in managing asthma in early childcare programs.
And in my past life, before moving to NYC in 1999...
Executive Director, Rushville Health Center, Rushville NY
Built and ran a rural Health Center that provided comprehensive primary medical and dental care to uninsured patients and migrant farmworkers in a 35 mile radius of this isolated upstate New York village.
Conceived and developed, in conjunction with the Family Medicine Department of the University of Rochester, the first Rural Family Practice Residency Program in the nation.
Developed a multi-layered health program that included a transportation outreach program, full dental services, the first rural Prenatal Care Assistance Program in New York State, and a countywide domestic violence program.
And before that, spent about 10 years working the late shift in a rural Emergency Room