The childcare worker is the one who notices first

Early care and education (ECE) providers — in childcare centres, family homes
and individual care — are described by the CDC as being **on the front lines
of public health**. The phrase is doing real work, and the reason is a matter
of hours.

A provider sees a child for most of their waking weekday, week after week,
alongside dozens of other children of the same age. That combination —
sustained contact plus a basis for comparison — is unusual, and it is what
makes them useful for something a parent or an annual check-up cannot easily
do.

What they actually do

Care, which supports parents. By looking after children, ECE providers
support parents who are working to provide for their family, and give children
somewhere they feel safe and protected away from home.

Development. They help children learn, explore and get along with others.
By supporting healthy eating and physical activity, ECE programmes support
healthy growth, obesity prevention and lifelong health.

Monitoring milestones. Providers can **monitor children's developmental
milestones** and help build the skills that are missing. This is the item that
turns care into surveillance in the public health sense: a delay spotted at
two is a different prospect from one spotted at five.

Where it matters most

**High-quality ECE programmes can make a difference in children's development
that lasts a lifetime**, and that support matters particularly for:

• Children exposed to adverse childhood experiences and other
  disadvantages
• Children at risk for, or with, developmental delays or disabilities —
  who can receive services and early intervention through their provider,
  whether in a centre, a family home programme, or through home visits

Early intervention works better the earlier it starts, and it cannot start
until somebody notices. Most often, that somebody is the person who has spent
the last six months watching the child alongside fifteen others the same age.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.