CERCH helped develop The Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Toolkit with The California Childcare Health Program at University of California San Francisco School of Nursing. The IPM Toolkit presents practical information about using integrated pest management to prevent and manage pest problems in early care and education programs.
What is Integrated Pest Management (IPM)?
- Integrated Pest Management, or IPM, is a strategy to prevent and treat pest problems using a combination of prevention, monitoring, record keeping and control methods such as eliminating food sources and sealing cracks and crevices in buildings where pests can enter.
- In IPM, chemical pest controls that pose the least possible hazard to human health and the environment are used only after careful monitoring and when non-chemical methods have failed.
Who is the IPM Toolkit for?
- early care and education staff and directors,
- family child care providers,
- building maintenance personnel,
- early care and education health and safety educators,
- child care health consultants,
- child care health advocates,
- child care licensing analysts,
- pest management professionals,
- parents, and
- others interested in the health and safety of children in child care.
After using the IPM Toolkit, you will be able to:
- identify the requirements for child care centers as specified in California’s Healthy Schools Act.
- define what is a pest, what is a pesticide and what is integrated pest management.
- explain why children are vulnerable to the health risks of pesticides.
- describe the health effects for children and staff exposed to pesticides and common pests.
- develop and implement IPM policies and practices in your program.
- identify simple and inexpensive IPM methods to prevent or manage common pests.
- inspect your child care facility for the presence of pests or conditions that attract pests using the IPM Checklist.
- share IPM information and resources with staff and parents.
IPM Toolkit Curriculum:
(download and use)
The IPM Full Curriculum Booklet contains general information about IPM and the Healthy schools act, plus what you need to know about pests and pesticides, how to implement IPM. Comes with appendices with sample policies, forms and letters. Complimentary materials are also available.
- Download: Click the links below to download the Complete Toolkit in English or Spanish. (All are .PDF files unless otherwise stated)
- Download individual chapters of the IPM curriculum booklet:
Complimentary Materials for the IPM Toolkit:
- Download Complimentary Materials:
- Health and Safety Notes on Individual Pests
- Fact Sheets for Families on Individual Pests
- IPM Checklist for self-assessment
- IPM Presentation in English (PowerPoint presentation; 11.4MB)
- IPM Presentación en español (PowerPoint presentation; 6.7MB)
- IPM Presentation Handout in English (PDF;604KB)
- IPM Presentación en español para imprimir (PDF;870KB)
- En Español:
- California child care facilities
- Learn more about our community partners here.
- California Childcare Health Program at University of California, San Francisco: www.ucsfchildcarehealth.org/html/pandr/trainingcurrmain.htm
- Asa Bradman, PhD
- Devina Kuo, MPH
- Evie Kalmar, MPH
- Mary Lou Flint, PhD, University of California Davis
- Vickie Leonard, PhD, University of California San Francisco
- Abbey Alkon, PhD, University of California San Francisco
- Nita Davidson, California Department of Pesticide Regulation
- Mark Robertson, California Department of Pesticide Regulation
|2010-2012, ongoing|| Asa Bradman, PhD
Director, Environmental Quality in California Childcare Research and Outreach Program