Arkansas’ Draft PDSA Initiation St. Louis Core Team: Carol Crockett, Mary Oliver Amy Routt Christine Sasse

History Act 1220 of 2003 : Arkansas as a leader Hiring of Community Health Promotion Specialists (CHPS) Formation of Child Health Advisory Committee ADE/ADH Heightened Nutrition Standards Increase Physical Activity Requirements School Wellness Committee formation Body Mass Index Screening Yet— Weakening of PA requirements in 2007 Physical Requirements weakened Diversion of work duties of CHPS Minimal focus on early child care*

Proposed “P”: Partnership Formation Create synergy through relationships Childcare Aware of North Central Arkansas DHS licensing Division of Childcare and Early Childhood Education Chronic Disease Prevention Branch of Arkansas Health Department AETN, Astate Childhood Services Conway Regional Women’s Council, Better Beginnings Program, Farm to School* Status: Complete; additional P to include thorough understanding of each program & overlaps

“P” to provide interactive In-services For Child Care Staff Expand previous NAP SACC conference previously offered by invitation only; open to all centers statewide Investigate yearly, affortable conference for child care staff utilizing stipend Increase Healthy Habits for Staff and Families Introduce tools to be placed in new lending library* Status: first pilot offered April 2014; funding secured for lending library

P: Create Lending Library for Child Care Staff Serve as the first Childcare Aware to partner with Conway Regional Hospital’s Women’s council for curriculum support and promotion 14 Childcare Aware Counties Statewide availability through AETN Faulkner lending library base –curriculum, material Healthy Habits for Life (AETN,) My Plate, UAMS Yoga for Kids Status: Complete-board approval from Women’s Council, planning for next week curriculum creation, date establishment for open house to showcase material

“P” regarding Center Policies Begin with PDSA cycles in each of 4 centers served by 1305 grant, assessing and building on success: encourage centers to adopt formal and informal policies reflecting best practices Encourage use of the new state guidelines for provision of parent involvement and material provision As policy is weakened regarding sack lunches, inform centers of methods to educate parents on healthy lunches Encourage centers to establish family policy Current minimum licensing requires only 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous/day Assist Better Beginnings working to increase child care center rating levels to 4 and 5

Next Steps Data collection Prioritizing prior to initiating further action steps Further integration with ADH ECE grant