Chatham County Public Health Department
Savannah Overman
Child Care Support
Promoting safe, healthy learning environments by equipping child care providers with expert guidance, practical training, and ongoing support.
Strengthening early childhood settings through collaborative consultation and education that fosters the well-being of children and those who care for them.
How did it go?
This year’s program implementation was a valuable learning experience, allowing me to gain a deeper understanding of the Child Care Health Consultation program, available tools and resources, and the importance of building strong relationships with child care programs and community partners. I was able to establish trusting relationships with providers while learning effective communication strategies, follow-up practices, and approaches to best support programs. A significant success was achieving 100% compliance with the FY 25-26 Chatham County Immunization Report, with all 44 facilities submitting required documentation and meeting NC Law requirements through consultation, training, and follow-up support. While learning the role and completing training during the first six months presented challenges, particularly with meeting HSAET assessment goals, I gained valuable strategies to improve implementation, including scheduling follow-up visits earlier and continuing to strengthen relationships with providers. These experiences have provided a strong foundation for continued growth and improved support for child care programs in the coming year.
Successes
Child Care Programs Take Root in Sun Safety Efforts with New Shade Trees
Since starting in this role in August 2025, the Sun Safety and Shade Solutions training was the first training I offered to child care programs, along with Dorothy Rawleigh and Matt Jones, and it was a great success! The programs that came to the training had the opportunity to receive a free shade tree for their outdoor play environment and two ended up receiving a tree along with assistance planting it.
Planting Healthy Futures: Child Care Programs Cultivate Gardens, Nutrition, and Learning
In April 2026, Dorothy Rawleigh and I provided a Gardening with Children in Child Care training for childcare providers. Since then, I have been working with eight programs this spring to assist them in developing gardens and incorporating “Farm to Early Care and Education” activities and educational materials into their programs. Many programs have started their own gardens and are successfully growing food to be incorporated in their children’s meals and snacks, many are including more about nutrition in their lesson plans and using resources and educational materials we were able to provide, and many are sharing local food opportunities that they learned about with families such as where to purchase local foods, where farmers markets are located in Chatham County, which farmers markets accept SNAP/EBT and much more. Additionally, all eight programs showed progress in their Go NAPSACC Farm2ECE self-assessments. Through these gardening and nutrition initiatives we have been able to help providers gain resources and knowledge, effectively engage children in gardening to improve outdoor play and learning and healthy eating habits as well as provide resources for their families.
30 facilities have received consultation on health and safety topics!
92% of health and safety training participants score at least an 80 on their post-tests!
