Click on the subject below or scroll down the page to view links that interest you.

Comprehensive Sites
Coping With Difficult News
Child Care Sites
Childhood Education Sites
Health & Development Sites
Consumer Health Information
Lead Poisoning Sites
Nutrition Sites
Parenting, Fatherhood & Motherhood Sites
Playgrounds and Play Spaces
Professional Development Sites
Research & Advocacy Sites
Research & Resources
Safety Sites

Comprehensive Sites

Forum on Child And Family Statistics site offers easy access to federal and state statistics and reports on children and their families, including: population and family characteristics, economic security, health, behavior and social environment and education.

Parents Action for Children (formerly I Am Your Child) provides information for parents, child care providers, advocates, and others looking for everyday help and also federal information. 

Trends in the Care and Well-Being of America's Children and Youth: 1996

Zero To Three (The National Center for Infants, Toddlers & Families) is a national non-profit charitable organization whose aim is to strengthen and support families, practitioners and communities to promote the healthy development of babies and toddlers.

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Coping With Difficult News

The 7-Dippity project offers a downloadable parent-child workbook, in English and Spanish, to help families deal with their feelings about war and the threats of terrorist attacks.

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry offers extensive material for parents on a wide range of psychiatric issues.

American Academy of Pediatrics offers advice on communicating with children about disasters.

Family Information Services is the nation's largest independent organization dedicated exclusively to the continuing education of parent and family life educators.

How to Talk to Your children About the News, is a helpful article from KidsHealth for Parents, sponsored by the Nemours Foundation.

National Center for Children Exposed to Violence has extensive information dealing specifically with children's exposure to violence.

Sesame Street Parents, a non-profit educational organization that creates innovative, engaging, educational content for all media, offers helpful advice on helping children cope in tragic times.

Talking with Kids about the News offers extensive information on many difficult subjects and is sponsored by Talking With Kids About Tough Issues, a national initiative by Children Now and the Kaiser Family Foundation to encourage parents to talk with their children earlier and more often about tough issues.

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Child Care Sites

Child Care Aware is a non-profit initiative committed to helping parents find the best information on locating quality child care and child care resources in their community. We do this by raising visibility for local child care resource and referral agencies nationwide, and by connecting parents with the local agencies best equipped to serve their needs.

Memorial Child Guidance Clinic  provides child care resource and referral services to parents searching for child care in the Greater Richmond & Petersburg areas.  MCGC will help parents understand quality standards.  MCGC also provides voluntarily registered oversight for home providers and implements the USDA food program for home providers and child care centers.

National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies provides national leadership to building quality child care systems, community by community and neighborhood by neighborhood.

National Child Care Information Center is a project of the Child Care Bureau, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is a national resource that links information and people to complement, enhance, and promote the child care delivery system.

The Virginia Child Care Resource and Referral Network (VACCRRN) is a statewide organization established in 1989 to promote and support quality child care resources throughout Virginia and to coordinate the efforts of more than a dozen local agencies.

Virginia Department of Social Services-Licensing offers an online search for regulated child care programs.  Individuals may also call the licensing department to find out what if any violations a child care program has had.

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Childhood Education Sites

The Dana Foundation is a private philanthropic founded in 1950. The site provides access to information about the brain and current brain research, links to sites related to brain disorders and educational resources, activities for younger children and lesson plans, access to its free publications and much more.

Dr. Jean Feldman sponsors a site where you will find abundant information and resources for teaching young children.

I Am Your Child offers information on a variety of topics including development, parenting and other resources.

Visit Lucinda Cunningham Durbin's paper doll Web site. She offers paper doll projects in the archives section of her Web page which can be downloaded for enjoyment with your children.

The National Institute on Media and the Family is a resource of information on the influence of electronic media on early childhood education, child development, academic performance, culture and violence and offers a number of unique resources including: movie, television and video game content ratings; media awareness programs; and helpful hints for parents and families to evaluate their media use.

Parents as Teachers is a non-profit parent education and family support organization. Through a network of more than 2,600 local programs, more than 10,000 PAT trained and certified parent educators work with parents to provide them with parenting support and information on their developing child.

The PBS Kids site offers links to lots of childhood sites including Arthur, Barney, Between the Lions, Caillou and many more.

Sesame Workshop is brought to you by the sponsors of Sesame Street.

The Wonder Wise Parent is designed for parents, grandparents, foster parents, stepparents, caregivers, teachers, and parent educators. It was created and is maintained by Dr. Charles A. Smith, extension specialist with Kansas State Research and Extension in the School of Family Studies and Human Services at Kansas State University.

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Health & Development Sites

The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry is dedicated to improving and maintaining the oral health of infants, children, adolescents, and persons with special health care needs.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and its member pediatricians dedicate their efforts and resources to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.

The American Dental Association is the professional association of dentists dedicated to serving both the public and the profession of dentistry.

BrainConnection.com is dedicated to providing accessible, high-quality information about how the brain works and how people learn. 

Center for Disease Control provides a single point of access to a variety of CDC reports, guidelines, and numeric public health data through its WONDER site.

Children's Environmental Health Network  is a national multi-disciplinary organization whose mission is to protect the fetus and the child from environmental health hazards and promote a healthy environment by identifying issues and providing links to sources of information and resources in the field.

The Spina Bifida Association of America promotes the prevention of Spina Bifida and works to enhance the lives of all affected. Visit this site to learn about the services available including research updates, toll free information and referral, and advocacy efforts. 

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Consumer Health Information
There are hundreds of consumer health web sites and it is very easy to become overwhelmed. Although some Internet sources provide false or unsubstantiated information, many others are excellent and provide useful information. Stick to web sites maintained by known and respected professionals, national associations, medical centers, and research institutes. Read the small print. Look for the credentials of contributors and the dates a web site was last revised. And, always check out policy statements carefully before you send your name, address, and personal information on the net. Here is a small sampling of sites:

New York Academy of Medicine Online Access to Health provides information on a variety of health topics in both English and Spanish.

Also, have your local librarian show you how to use PROQUEST DIRECT, an excellent on-line index for citations, summaries, and full-text newspaper, magazine, and journal articles on consumer health.

The Dana Foundation is a private philanthropic founded in 1950. The site provides access to information about the brain and current brain research, links to sites related to brain disorders and educational resources, activities for younger children and lesson plans, access to its free publications and much more.

Exceptional Parent Magazine's online resource providing information, support, ideas, encouragement and outreach for parents and families of children with disabilities and the professionals who work with them.

Health-Track, supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts, has the mission to help American families and communities identify and track the links between environmental hazards and illnesses and to provide researchers and public health officials with the necessary tools to prevent disease.

The Nemours Foundation, a nonprofit organization devoted to children's health, sponsors this site.

The New York State Smokers’ Quitsite offers excellent resources to help people who want to quit smoking. This site offers research-based information on effective quitting strategies, medications, and support programs, including a toll free Quitline at 1-888-609-6292.

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Lead Poisoning Sites

The Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program site is sponsored by the Center for Disease Control & Prevention's National Center for Environmental Health. It offers fact sheets, links, research, and surveillance data.

Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning is specific to Maryland but offers extensive links and information.

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) created the Office of Lead Hazard Control (formerly named the Office of Lead-Based Paint Abatement and Poisoning Prevention) to provide lead-safe housing to the Nation's children while preserving affordable housing.

Lead Poisoning Prevention Outreach Program is a project of the National Safety Council's Environmental Health Center. The Lead Poisoning Prevention Outreach Program is funded by the Environmental Health Center (EHC).

National Safety Council is a membership organization dedicated to protecting life and promoting health.

This publication on lead safety information is sponsored by the National Safety Council.

This national registry lists testing and abatement contractors.
1-800-424-LEAD

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Nutrition Sites

The Pacific Science Center and Washington State Dairy Council sponsor a site for kids with educational games.

The Wheat Foods Council is a national nonprofit organization formed to help increase awareness of dietary grains as an essential component to a healthy diet.

WIC (Women, Infants & Children) is a supplemental nutrition program for pregnant, breastfeeding and post-partum women, infants and children up to age 5.

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Parenting, Fatherhood & Motherhood Sites

Connect for Kids, an award-winning multimedia project of the Benton foundation, helps adults make their communities better places for families and children.

The Family Studies Center is the research and outreach division of the School of Family Life at Brigham Young University that sponsors this great site for dads.

The National Center for Fathering's mission is to inspire and equip men to be better fathers.

Parents Anonymous is a multi-national mutual-help organization for families who are affected by poor family dynamics and child abuse. The PA goal is to stop child abuse by providing peer-led, professionally-facilitated self-help groups for parents and teens, and a nurturing and education program for children.

Parents Talk offers parents lots of useful information including expert advice, recipes, message boards, on-line games as well as an on-line newsletter.

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Playgrounds and Play Spaces

What to Look for in Playground Equipment. This Young Child Magazine article is helpful in finding the best playground for your child.

What If My Community Needs a Playground? is a helpful article that includes contact information for residents and officials who have built them in our community.

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Professional Development Sites

Council For Professional Recognition works to improve the professional status of early childhood workers and helps to meet the growing need for qualified child care staff.

National Association for Child Care Professionals is the nation's leader among associations serving child care owners, directors, and administrators. The organization's goal is to improve, enhance and strengthen the credibility of the people who lead the child care industry by providing membership services and benefits. NACCP is the only association exclusively dedicated to child care management without regard to a center's tax status and corporate sponsorship.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)  the nation's largest organization of early childhood professionals and others dedicated to improving the quality of early childhood education programs for children birth through age eight.

The focus of the National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC) is to provide technical assistance to family child care associations. This assistance is provided through developing leadership and professionalism, addressing issues of diversity, and by promoting quality and professionalism through NAFCC's Family Child Care Accreditation.

The Promising Practices Network helps child care professionals by providing information on programs and practices that are effective in helping children, families, and communities.

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Research & Advocacy Sites

The British Columbia Council for Families believes that if families are given the support they need, when they need it, they will be better able to do what families do best, take care of their own.

The Center for Assessment and Policy Development is a non-profit organization founded in 1987 to help institutions, communities and public systems craft and execute thoughtful responses to pressing social issues - particularly, improving outcomes for children, adolescents, and families.

The Child Care Bureau is dedicated to enhancing the quality, affordability, and availability of child care for all families. The Child Care Bureau administers federal funds to states, territories, and tribes to assist low-income families in accessing quality child care for children when the parents work or participate in education or training.

The Child Trends DataBank currently provides about 70 indicators on health, social and emotional development, income and work, education, demographics, and family and community, with new indicators added each month.

The Children's Defense Fund is a private, not-for-profit organization whose mission is to leave no child behind and to ensure every child a healthy start, a head start, a fair start, a safe start, and a moral start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.

Children Now is a nonpartisan, independent voice for children, working to translate the nation's commitment to children and families into action. Children Now uses communications strategies to reach parents, lawmakers, citizens, business, media and community leaders, creating attention and generating positive change on behalf of children.

The Coalition on Human Needs is an alliance of national organizations working together to promote public policies which address the needs of low-income and other vulnerable populations.

Connect for Kids, a project of the Benton foundation, helps adults make their communities better places for families and children.

The Early Childhood Institute sponsors comprehensive and challenging research in order to help ensure that America's young children are successful in school and beyond -- and to enhance their quality of life and that of their families.

Families and Work Institute is a non-profit organization that addresses the changing nature of work and family life. They are committed to finding research-based strategies that foster mutually supportive connections among workplaces, families, and communities.

Families USA is a national nonprofit, non-partisan organization dedicated to the achievement of high quality, affordable health and long term care for all Americans. Families USA has worked at the national, state and community levels for over 15 years.

The Finance Project is a national initiative to create knowledge and share information that will lead to the improved well-being of children, families, and communities.

The Future of Children has a mission to disseminate timely information on major issues related to children's well-being, with special emphasis on providing objective analysis and evaluation, translating existing knowledge into effective programs and policies, and promoting constructive institutional change.

The National Association of Child Advocates was founded in 1984 and is a nationwide network of child advocacy organizations working at the increasingly critical level of America's statehouses, county commissions, and city councils.

National Center for Children in Poverty identifies and promotes strategies that prevent young child poverty in the United States and that improve the life chances of the millions of children under age six who are growing up poor.

The National League of Cities strives to strengthen and promote cities as centers of opportunity, leadership, and governance.

Search Institute is an independent, nonprofit, nonsectarian organization whose mission is to advance the well-being of adolescents and children by generating knowledge and promoting its application.

The Shaken Baby Alliance mission is to provide support for Shaken Baby Syndrome victim families (Including adoptive and foster parents), advocate for justice for SBS victims, and increase SBS awareness.

Smart Start is a public-private early childhood initiative of North Carolina that allows communities to make decisions and plans that are specific to the needs of young children and families.

Voices for Virginia’s Children is a nonprofit and non-partisan, persistent voice of reason in advocating for better lives and futures for children.  The Commonwealth's only statewide multi-issue organization advocating for children and youth, Voices promotes sound, far-reaching program and policy solutions, focusing on early care and education, health care, family economic success, and foster care and adoption.

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Research and Resources

VCU Community Solutions- Early Childhood Resources community partnership will provide human and intellectual resources in a unique collaboration with the community to help solve critical challenges.  The initial foci will be youth violence and early childhood development.  This link provides relevant research available for download from the VCU library.

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Safety Sites

Partners for Child Passenger Safety has created this site to increase awareness about appropriate and correct use of child restraints and seat belts in motor vehicles. The site offers online videos with information on installing and using child safety seats and seat belt use for older children, quick tips to help review information, and links to other online resources.

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, an independent Federal regulatory agency, helps keep American families safe by reducing the risk of injury or death from consumer products.

The information provided at this site is intended only as a complement to the advice and treatment of your health care professionals.