Child Day Care Facility Siting Review

To ensure the health and safety of children attending day care facilities and the staff who care for them, the Nassau County Department of Health, Division of Environmental Health (NCDH) conducts a comprehensive review of all new or renovated child day care facilities. The process is designed to sustain regulatory compliance with all applicable environmental health programs and to prevent exposures to toxins in or around the facility. NCDH reviews each facility for food sanitation, lead hazards, air quality, general sanitation, and proximity to contaminated sites. This process prevents inappropriate siting of day care centers and identifies remediable hazards before children or staff are harmed.

The goal of this program is to ensure the health and safety of children attending day care facilities and the staff who care for them.

NCDH averaged 18 reviews a year from 1999 to 2002. Since the inception of the program, two day care facilities that were sited prior to NCDH involvement in the review process have been the subject of intense health investigation by NCDH and NYSDOH. Both of these sites were found to contain elevated levels of air contaminants. One of the sites was temporarily closed until a satisfactory solution could be found, and the facility was subsequently reopened. In the second case, the operator chose to suspend activity and abandon the site.