Arizona Department of Economic Security
Your Partner for a Stronger Arizona
English Arabic French Persian Spanish Swahili Ukrainian Vietnamese

SpeakUpAZ

Main menu

Navigating Health and Safety Training

a diverse group of children are smiling

Health and Safety Training

The federal Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) law requires states receiving funding through the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) to support training and professional development of the child care workforce. States must also establish specific health and safety requirements for providers that receive CCDF funding. In Arizona, these are child care providers that are contracted or certified by the Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) to care for children eligible for DES child care assistance. States must ensure that child care providers complete both Pre-Service and Ongoing Health and Safety Training, including annual training requirements.

    Pre-Service Health and Safety Training

    To help providers be successful in meeting the annual pre-service and ongoing Health and Safety training requirements, DES has identified a variety of in-person and virtual opportunities offered throughout Arizona. These opportunities include in-person training, courses available through the Child Care Education Institute (CCEI) in the Registry, and select college coursework.

    Approved ongoing health and safety training courses are aligned with the Arizona Early Childhood Workforce Knowledge and Competencies, national Caring for Our Children standards, and federal and state guidelines.  All completed training hours must be documented in the Arizona Early Childhood Workforce Registry.

    To find approved Health and Safety Training Courses in the Registry:

    1. Log into your Registry account
    2. Select "Find Training Event" from the menu bar on the left
    3. In the "Select a Search Category" select "DES Pre-Service Training" or "DES Ongoing Trainings"
    4. Select a training topic, choose a delivery method, and click "Search"

    All child care providers contracted with DES must complete initial (pre-service) training on Health & Safety within the staff member’s first 90 days of hire. Child care directors are required to ensure staff are aware of and compliant with the DES Health and Safety Training Requirements in order for Arizona to maintain compliance with the CCDF (Section 98.41). Child care staff are only required to complete pre-service training once. To confirm which health and safety courses have been completed, child care providers can log into their Arizona Early Childhood Workforce Registry account, select "My Education and Training Report,'' and search under Professional Development for the completed Health and Safety Course titles. Registry users identified as program administrators, or multi-site administrators can view and verify the health and safety compliance status of their staff by clicking on “Compliance Detail Report” under “Program Administration.”

    Ongoing Health and Safety Training Requirements

    Federal requirements of the CCDF establish the need for states to identify opportunities for ongoing professional development related to health and safety. In order to address the diverse needs of Arizona children and providers, the DES Division of Child Care, in partnership with stakeholders and community organizations, has prioritized specific subject areas that build upon the initial pre-service health and safety training requirements. 

    The 2021-2026 DES Provider Registration Agreement requires specific annual training or postsecondary education for DES contracted providers in two or more of the health and safety subject areas listed below. ADHS Licensed Group Homes and DES Certified Family Child Care Providers must complete 12 hours of ongoing health and safety training every 12 months (based on hire date), and ADHS Licensed Child Care Center providers must complete 18 or more hours every 12 months (based on hire date):

    DES Contracted and Certified Provider Annual Training Topics

    • Training strategies related to program administration, planning, development, or management
    • Availability of community services and resources
    • Nutrition (including age-appropriate feeding)
    • Training that maintains and updates health and safety standards as described and identified in the Provider Registration Agreement pre-service health and safety training section
    • Access to physical activity
    • Social-emotional development and behavior models to support healthy practices in children birth through school-age
    • Caring for children with special needs
    • Child growth and development

    Approved College Coursework

    To meet ongoing training requirements, providers can also select postsecondary education courses offered at Arizona community colleges and universities. Providers may select courses that align with the list of DES approved annual training topics, including:

    • Child Growth and Development
    • Effective Interactions
    • Family and Community Partnerships
    • Health, Safety and Nutrition
    • Professionalism
    • Program Management

    For more information please visit AZ Transfer - Early Childhood Education.

    Effective October 1, 2021, a number of Arizona’s community college Health, Safety and Nutrition courses were approved by DES to meet the pre-service Health and Safety training requirements. Contact the early childhood department at your local community college to determine if their course has been approved to meet DES Pre-service Health and Safety training requirements.

    Additional Resources

    If you have questions about the health and safety training requirements, please contact:

    For more information regarding health and safety training, please view the following documents:

    Back to Top