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Presented is the program evaluation report of the Cheshire (Connecticut) Preschool Program for early intervention with a total of 64 mildly and severely handicapped children between 3 and 6 years old. It is explained that the mother-child project has served children with such handicapping conditions as hearing impairment, vision impairment, cerebral palsy, cleft palate, autism, hyperactivity, language delay, mental retardation, and emotional disturbance. Listed are program objectives (such as giving mothers new insights) and evaluation techniques used. Detailed are characteristics of the children and the evaluation process and sequence. Presented in the major portion of the document are evaluation results which include significantly increased IQ scores, improved behavior ratings, and improved parent ratings. It is concluded that the program has had a dramatic positive impact on both children and mothers. Appended are items such as a classroom observation schedule, a child rating scale, the preschool parent questionnaire, and case histories. (DB)

Ninety-four toddlers in child care were rated by parents on the Child Behavior Checklist/2-3. A comparison of scores for the present sample with scores for a normative sample and prevalent data in literature found fewer children with behavior problems in the present sample than the normative sample, suggesting the importance of contextual factors when considering negative day-care effects. (BB)

A random sample of 95 toddlers in day care was rated by parents on the Child Behavior Checklist/2-3 (CBCL/2-3). Toddlers received nonparental care an average of 33 hours per week and the majority began day care by 5 months of age. The sample consisted of middle-class toddlers in medium-size cities in Connecticut. Day care was from relatives, sitters, licensed and unlicensed family day care homes, and day care centers. Although no comparison group was used, scores of the CBCL/2-3 for the present sample were compared to scores for the CBCL/2-3 normative sample and to prevalence rate in the literature for children in day care. Fewer children with behavior problems were found in the present sample than in the normative group. It is concluded that contextual factors of family, child care, and social support should be seriously considered before suggesting deleterious effects from early nonparental care. More research is needed to understand how complex variables are associated with the development of young children. Contains 18 references. (LB)

A study evaluated the effectiveness of the Stephen August Early Intervention Center in Cheshire, Connecticut, an early intervention center serving children with developmental delays or at risk for developing such delays, and their families. Data on 130 center participants' later special or regular education status, and a teacher rating of students' social competence were obtained. At the time of early intervention, 42 percent of the sample had shown mild developmental problems, 44 percent had shown moderate problems, and 14 percent had shown severe problems. The average number of months of early intervention involvement was 22.6. At the time of the study, the graduates were in kindergarten through third grade. It was found that 102 of the graduates were in regular education classes without special education services, while only 28 were receiving special education services. Results offer strong support for the effectiveness of the center. The early intervention center offers parents an informal play assessment of their child's developmental status by a team of early childhood developmental specialists with whom the parents can discuss their developmental concerns. When children show developmental delays or appear to be at risk for the development of delays, a variety of program options are available. (RH)

This report describing family day care in Denmark is based on discussions with early childhood professionals in Denmark. Regulations for conducting family day care are set out in national guidelines which focus on: (1) supervision of children and providers by a trained child care professional who oversees not more than 50 children; (2) selection of homes; (3) responsibilities of providers; (4) providers' pay and sources of funding for pay; and (5) providers' training. Functional aspects of successful family day care are also described. These include the teaming of providers, supervisor visits, the allowed limit of five children per home, and the political and social context of day care. Implications of the Danish system for the United States are drawn. Sustained efforts to improve family day care in the United States should include increasing registration standards, developing funding, encouraging certification, and supporting supervised systems. (BC)

This paper reports characteristics of mothers in a special needs preschool program and describes features of the program. Children in the program range in mental test performance from untestable to superior and in severity of problem from mild to severe. The program provides informal assessment and parent staff discussions along with opportunities to meet in small groups of parents and children on a regular basis several times each week. Other program features are individual planning and outreach activities. Work with the mother/child unit involves consideration of mother's characteristics. Mothers who appear to be over-protective/anxiously involved; intellectualized/low-involved; unprepared and uninformed; or depressed are discussed although few of the mothers fit into one of these categories. Next, mothers' feelings of hopelessness and despair, feelings of fragmentation from input of multiple services, social isolation, inadequacy, failure and guilt, and inaccurate perception of child abilities are described. The report lists and discusses program options for working with parents, such as classroom participation, mother group meetings, individual planning, workshops, program related activities, home visits, videotape reviews of child behavior, and Saturday school for fathers. Program effectiveness and evaluation efforts are briefly indicated. (Author/RH)

The expenses and sources of income for two supervised family day care (SFDC) systems in Denmark, where SFDC is the national family day care model, are compared with two supervised systems in Connecticut, where SFDC is rare, as in the United States generally. SFDC differs from family day care in general by the systematic involvement of trained child care specialists, or supervisors, who are responsible to a particular group of providers, parents, and children. It is argued that SFDC, a model associated with high quality services, should become the model for family day care sponsored by the public schools and social service agencies and/or could be used as a model to train independent family day care providers for certification. After a description of SFDC, discussion explores: (1) financial considerations; (2) expenses of operating the supervisor model, including payment to providers, program support, and administrative costs; (3) sources of income for the supervisor model, including parent fees, government funds, and private funds; (4) provider earnings; (5) a prototypic structure and sample budget for one cluster of SFDC homes involving one supervisor and 11 providers; and (6) three options for funding the prototype system, including options in which parent fees cover all costs, a sponsoring agency absorbs indirect costs, and training funds cover program support and indirect costs. (RH)