Early Care & Education Recognition

Florida’s Healthy Environments for Reducing Obesity (HEROs) ECE Recognition is a voluntary recognition program for all early care and education programs that are licensed by the Florida Department of Children and Families. Florida’s HEROs best practices come from the Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards; Guidelines for Early Care and Education Programs, Second Edition (CFOC, 2nd Ed.), which is the most recent set of national standards describing evidence-based best practices in nutrition, physical activity, and screen time for early care and education programs.

As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide supporting documents outlined in the application. Based on the level of recognition your program aims to achieve, training certificates dated within the last 12 months are required for the director and, if applicable, lead teachers.

We applaud you for taking this significant step towards formal recognition for implementing quality standards that support the healthy growth and development of the children you serve!  Your staff plays an important role in this process, so we encourage you to engage teacher and staff members who are familiar with day-to-day practices to help complete the application. This is also a great opportunity to engage parents and families to achieve sustainable healthy living practices for children.

Required Pre-Requisites:

• Signed Affidavit
• Completed Program Information Form
• Completed Application

Required Supporting Documents:

• Professional Development: Director and staff training certificates
• Family Engagement: Pictures of events, sign-in sheets, or handouts
• Child Care Environment: Photos or policy documents
• Staff Practices: Photos or policy documents
• Child Care Policies: Proof of written policy, such as a Curriculum Guide, Student or Teacher Handbook, Parent Handbook, or Policy Handbook, that has been implemented at least three-months prior to application submission

Dependent on completion of the above required documents and the percentage of benchmarks achieved in each benchmark area, your program will be eligible to receive $750 to $1,500* redeemable with Kaplan Early Learning Company. Your program will also receive a customized window cling and banner to promote your program as a Florida’s HEROs designated site. 

If you need assistance along the way, please contact us at: [email protected]