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

2. 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*

3. 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

5. “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

6. 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

8. “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

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