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What health and safety training does CCDF child care require?
Federal CCDF rules make your state set health and safety training for child care that CCDF assistance pays for. It includes pre-service or orientation training, to be completed within three months. Your state may leave out some relatives, such as grandparents, aunts and uncles. Your state's own rules give the details.
By State Cert GuideChecked against the sources listed below.
The steps, in order
Check if CCDF pays
The rules cover CCDF-assisted care
Read your state's rules
The state sets the details
Finish critical training
Before caring for children unsupervised
Keep training
More training follows
Decision steps: find out whether your care is paid for with CCDF assistance, read your state's pre-service rules, finish the critical training before caring for children unsupervised, then keep training.
What the rule says
What do the federal rules ask of the state?
The Lead Agency must describe in its Plan its requirements for pre-service or orientation, to be completed within three months, and for ongoing professional development. They cover caregivers, teachers and directors of providers of services paid for with CCDF assistance.
www.law.cornell.edu · checked Nov 13, 2026 (opens agency website)
What must the pre-service training address?
Among other things, health and safety standards suited to the setting and the children's ages, covering each of the topics in § 98.41(a)(1)(i) through (xi). It must also specify the critical training that has to be finished before caregivers, teachers and directors may care for children unsupervised.
www.law.cornell.edu · checked Nov 13, 2026 (opens agency website)
Is there a minimum?
Yes. The state's requirements must include minimum health and safety training on the topics the rule lists, as described in § 98.44.
www.law.cornell.edu · checked Nov 13, 2026 (opens agency website)
Who has to follow this?
All providers of child care services paid for with CCDF assistance in the area the Lead Agency serves, except the relatives specified at § 98.42(c).
www.law.cornell.edu · checked Nov 13, 2026 (opens agency website)
Which relatives are left out?
Only the ones your state chooses to leave out. The rule lets the Lead Agency exclude grandparents, great grandparents, siblings who live in a separate residence, aunts or uncles from the term child care providers.
www.law.cornell.edu · checked Nov 13, 2026 (opens agency website)
Where people go wrong
- You care for children alone before the critical training is done. The rule says that training must be completed before you may care for children unsupervised.
- You assume relatives are always exempt. The rule only lets your state exclude some relatives, such as grandparents, aunts and uncles.
Questions
Is pediatric first aid and CPR on the list?
Yes. Among the topics the rule sets as a minimum is pediatric first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Does the training cover food allergies?
Among the topics the rule lists is prevention and response to emergencies due to food and allergic reactions.
Is child abuse part of it?
The rule lists recognition and reporting of child abuse and neglect as a topic.
Your next step
Read the federal training rule, then ask your state's child care agency for its pre-service requirements.
Sources we read
- www.law.cornell.edu › 98.44 · read Nov 13, 2026
- www.law.cornell.edu › 98.41 · read Nov 13, 2026
- www.law.cornell.edu › 98.42 · read Nov 13, 2026
Who publishes this guide
State Cert Guide is an independent guide to what each state requires. If a fact on this page is wrong, tell us and we fix it.