Support healthy relationships with food, encourage physical activity, prevent exposure to tobacco and second-hand smoke, support sun safety and promote healthy oral health practices so that children in child care facilities can develop a healthy foundation for optimal growth and development.
Empower currently offers 10 courses, all offered for free, online at any time, and offering registry credit, if enrolled. Five of the 10 courses are also offered in Spanish.
The Empower Program – an Arizona brand – was created by the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) in 2010 to promote healthy practices for children and their families, using child care facilities as the delivery agent. When licensed early care and education (ECE) programs opt in to Empower, licensing fees are reduced by 50%, creating a win-win for children, families, and providers. Empower is implemented in over 99% of ADHS licensed ECE facilities as well as the Department of Economic Security (DES) contracted ECE facilities. Statewide, almost 3,000 facilities, both family child care homes and centers are enrolled in Empower in 2022. Empower is operated out of two bureaus at ADHS – the Bureau of Child Care Licensing (BCCL) for fee offset, enrollment and data reporting; and the Bureau of Nutrition and Physical Activity (BNPA) for support to providers.
Participating ECE programs pledge to adopt 10 standards that support healthy eating, encourage active play, prevent exposure to second- and third-hand smoke, practice sun safety and promote good oral health habits, as well as have written policies for each standard. Empower is a collaborative effort with many partners and supporters throughout the state.