Neighborhood News

This month-long national health observance, sponsored by the American Dental Association, brings together "thousands of dedicated professionals, healthcare providers, and educators to promote the benefits of good oral health to children, their caregivers, teachers, and many others." This year's campaign slogan is "Brush and clean in between to build a healthy smile." Click on the mini-posters below, provided in English and Spanish, to help spread the word about good oral health.

“The early childhood years build the foundation for a lifetime of health and development” (DEC, 2012).

In a position statement from September 2012, the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) outlined six recommendations “for the promotion of health, safety, and well-being of all young children including those with or at‐risk for disabilities.”

These six recommendations included the following:

Prenatal care services and early universal screening;

• Culturally-responsive, developmentally appropriate, individualized care in affordable, safe, nurturing, and inclusive environments;
• Correctly administered, ethical, valid, reliable, culturally sensitive, formal and informal assessments;
• High quality systems of pre‐service and in‐service professional development;
• Advocacy efforts focusing on public regulations and policies for supporting the provision of services for all young children; and
• Research that focuses substantial attention and resources to id