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thread, Alaska’s Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) Network, is partnering with government, business and private foundations to place cribs meeting new U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) standards and Federal Child Care Regulation requirements in Child Care programs throughout Alaska.
“What could be more important than creating safe sleep environments for Alaska’s babies,” said Stephanie Berglund, thread’s CEO. “By replacing a crib for a crib in each child care program, we are hoping to support safe sleep for over 4,000 infants and toddlers who are cared for in Licensed Child Care programs throughout the state.
Along with providing new cribs, thread will work with eligible Child Care programs to complete appropriate safety training and support programs in developing safe sleep policies for their businesses.
In 2010, the U.S. CPSC voted unanimously to approve new mandatory crib standards, establishing the most stringent crib safety standards in the world. Child care facilities, including family child care homes and infant Head Start centers, as well as places of public accommodation, such as hotels and motels, and rental companies have until December 28th, 2012 to replace existing cribs and use only cribs that comply with the new standards.
thread received funding as part of the Alaska State budget to replace outdated cribs in licensed child care programs in Anchorage. Throughout Alaska, there are over 200 Licensed Child Care centers and 374 Licensed Family Child Care homes. These early care and education settings each provide child care services to an average of four infants and in centers, up to eight to twelve babies.
“We know this support will help early educators who are often small business owners struggling with high costs of providing quality child care services, while meeting licensing and other requirements,” Berglund said.
Some of the new mandatory rules for cribs include: stopping the manufacture and sale of dangerous, traditional drop-side cribs; strengthening mattress supports and crib slats; requiring crib hardware to be more durable; and, making safety testing more rigorous. The CPSC has recalled more than 11 million dangerous cribs since 2007. Drop-side cribs with detaching side rails were associated with at least 32 infant suffocation and strangulation deaths since 2000. Additional deaths have occurred due to faulty or defective crib hardware. The new standards aim to prevent these tragedies and keep children safer in their cribs.
"These investments are a step toward creating the best quality child care in Alaska," said Berglund.
For more information on crib safety and the most up-to-date information on how to create a safe sleep environment for your baby, visit CPSC's crib information center at: www.cpsc.gov/cribs
