Choose Safe Places

The Choose Safe Places for Early Care and Education program was created by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to encourage careful consideration about where to locate early care and education (ECE) sites. These include child care programs, Head Start facilities and other child-serving institutions. Choose Safe Places for Early Care and Education gives towns, cities, and states a framework to adopt practices that will make sure ECE programs are located away from chemical hazards.

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During non-disaster times, the principles of CSP are sound and well established. However, ATSDR recognized that natural disasters can have a tremendous and prolonged impact on the environment. Further, as jurisdictions seek to recover and rebuild from a disaster – essential decisions around the siting, building, developing and reopening of ECEs occur. As such, principles of CSP needed to be adopted to the reality that jurisdictions and ECEs face during a post-disaster operating environment. 

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In 2017, The National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) partnered with the Region II Head Start Association to respond to the disasters caused by the hurricanes of 2017. This funding was provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry’s (ATSDR) 2017 Hurricane Supplemental Funding, Grant # NU1ROT000001-01-00.

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The vision for the post-disaster tool for ECEs came from a request from the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families’ Office of Head Start in the aftermath of the 2017 hurricanes. Through ATSDR discussions with the Office of Head Start, it became clear that there is no easy-to-use, quick way to assess the condition of ECEs after a disaster.

Our goal was to address this gap - and develop a tool that ECEs can use to help identify environmental hazards that may impede reopening after a disaster. The purpose of this product was to ensure it was easy to understand and use, met the needs of the ECE community and allowed ECEs to help identify what issues need to be addressed so that the program become operational again.   

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The result is the below Post Disaster Self Assessment Form (PDSAF). The PDSAF can be downloaded below and used as a guide to help identify important issues when making reopening determinations post-disaster. The PDSAF is not a replacement for local or state rules and regulations governing operations, but may be used as a resource to ensure your reopening decision takes into account important environmental health considerations. 

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