Health and Safety

Provides essential guidance to help Orange County’s future, current, and expanding child care providers establish and maintain safe, healthy, and developmentally appropriate environments for children. This section includes both Family Child Care (FCC) and Child Care Center subsections, each focused exclusively on health and safety standards to ensure every child care setting promotes well-being and meets regulatory expectations.

The FCC subsection focuses on the core health and safety practices required in licensed home-based programs. Topics include maintaining hazard-free indoor and outdoor spaces, safe sleep practices for infants, regular fire and emergency drills, proper sanitation and cleaning routines, medication storage and administration, poison prevention, and clear emergency contact postings. It also addresses handwashing and diapering procedures, communicable disease notifications, and household health and immunization requirements for adults and children in care. Additional guidance supports active supervision and age-appropriate safety measures for mixed-age groups, including infants and toddlers, who represent a growing area of need in Orange County.

The Child Care Center subsection provides a comprehensive guide to health and safety standards specific to center-based programs. Topics include immunization requirements, maintaining hazard-free indoor and outdoor environments, medical needs postings (such as handwashing, diapering, poison prevention, and emergency contacts), communicable disease notifications, mandated health department reporting during outbreaks, adherence to Caring for Our Children standards, staff health and immunization policies, active supervision, emergency preparedness and response planning, fire drills, pest management, safe sleep practices, sanitation procedures, and the safe use of cleaning materials and chemicals across multiple classrooms.

This section helps providers at all stages whether starting, maintaining, or expanding programs, meet all applicable health and safety standards while creating environments that protect and nurture every child’s well-being.