Many parents use August to prepare for the school year and cross many tasks off their list—school supplies, nailing down schedules, new clothes, and converting the family mindset from summer vacation to the school routine.

But, there is one more task. And you should add it to the top of your list, because it affects school readiness:

Health care for your children!

Have you ever had a child in your child care program not arrive by her usual arrival time and simply rationalized that the child must be sick or on vacation today? My mission is to show you how this assumption can have lethal consequences for dozens of young children annually.

How? Each year since 1998, an average of 37 children have perished due to what is known as vehicular heatstroke, also referred to as vehicular hyperthermia or child hot car deaths. At the time of this blog, 23 cases have been documented in 2017, and more than 723 since 1998.

The Problem

States need a way to measure whether their current child care licensing standards do or do not meet the Caring for Our Children Basics (CFOC Basics) guidelines. Those are the minimum health and safety standards that child care programs should meet.

Every community is vulnerable to disasters: extreme weather, fires, chemical spills, the list goes on. Luckily, most have a local resource to help them prepare and respond to those disasters: their public library!

Spotlight

Kira Boothe, Vista Colina Emergency Family Shelter & Child Development Program, Phoenix, Arizona

Most women have never heard of Cytomegalovirus (CMV) (less than 9%) but they need to know about this virus if they are pregnant or intend to become pregnant. CMV is a common and sometimes serious virus for a pregnant woman and her unborn child.