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In 1994, the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Services for Families with Infants and Toddlers set forth a vision for Early Head Start programs in declaring that all child care settings used by Early Head Start families, whether or not the program provides the care directly, must meet the high standards of quality embodied in the Head Start Program Performance Standards. As part of the national Early Head Start Research and Evaluation project, extensive data on the child care settings used by Early Head Start and control group families for their children at three ages (14, 24, and 36 months) was collected. This report describes the patterns of child care use by Early Head Start families and the impacts that program participation had on families' child care use and the quality of care used. A high proportion of Early Head Start families placed their children in child care during the evaluation period, with higher levels of child care use among those in center-based sites: overall, nearly two-thirds of 3-year-old Early Head Start children spent at least 30 hours per week in some kind of child care arrangement. Early Head Start children attending classrooms in Early Head Start centers consistently experienced good-quality care across the three ages. Using a measure of caregiver-child interactions developed for this evaluation (the Child- Caregiver Observation System, C-COS), it was found that in about half the observation periods coded, Early Head Start caregivers were observed talking with the focus child; the frequency of caregiver talk was greater in Early Head Start than in community centers when children were 3 years old. Very high percentages of Early Head Start parents reported being satisfied with their recent primary child care arrangement--they liked how much attention the child received, how much he or she was learning, its safety features, and how "good" they thought the provider was with children. These results demonstrate the highly important role Early Head Start programs have played in responding to the vision of the Advisory Committee on Services for Families with Infants and Toddlers. The following are appended: (1) Supplementary Tables; and (2) Procedures for Training and Establishing Reliability on the Classroom Observation Quality Measures. (Contains 8 tables and 30 figures.)

This document provides supplementary information to accompany the Foundation for Child Development--supported book "America's Child Care Problem: The Way Out," published by St. Martin's Press (2002), which provides an in-depth look at the child care industry, identifying crucial problems such as the quality of care. Presented in five parts, this unpublished companion document addresses the following topics: (1) "Care for Children with Special Needs"; (2) "Protecting Children's Health and Safety"; (3) "Comparison of Studies of Quality for Center, Head Start, and Family Child Care Programs"; (4) "Comparison of Child Care Accreditation Systems"; and (5) "Training Designs for Child Care Workers." Each part contains reference notes. (KB)

Against the backdrop of evolving welfare policies in California following the approval of federal welfare reforms in 1996, the Growing Up in Poverty Project is examining how single mothers and their children fare as they move from cash aid to jobs, the types and quality of child care arrangements selected, and if mothers' access to child care subsidies bolsters their employability. This paper reports on wave 1 data, collected in 1998 from the 410 participating mothers residing in San Francisco or Santa Clara county. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and observations of each child's child care or preschool setting. Comparative quality data were obtained from 176 centers and family child care homes in the Bay Area and in Connecticut during 1997. Findings indicate that child care centers and preschools were of moderate to high quality. The array of child activities and educational content of home-based settings was not impressive. Areas of quality weakness include the provision of ample language and reading materials, and time to read and exercise communication skills with young children. Mothers reported that kith and kin were more respectful of their own parenting practices than were child care centers or preschools and were more flexible in terms of when the caregiver was available. They also believed that the child received more individual attention, compared to those using centers. Women who selected child care centers or preschools often received subsidies to cover the cost. Only a small fraction of women selecting home-based arrangements took advantage of available subsidies. Several risk factors were associated with this pattern: (1) having an infant or young toddler rather than a child over age 3; (2) coming from a Latino or Vietnamese-American community; (3) having spent less time on welfare; and (4) living in a neighborhood with fewer center-based enrollment slots. Appended are descriptive statistics for quality data for both counties. (Author/KB)

This audit report reviews the employment contracts, related compensation, and other benefits provided for the chancellor and other officers of the Kansas City Metropolitan Community Colleges (KCMCC) in Missouri. The chancellor is allowed to either solicit bids or negotiate for contracted services such as architects, construction managers, consultants, banking service, auditors, and maintenance contractors. This audit of professional services expenditures and their procurement revealed that KCMCC has not solicited proposals for its annual audit since fiscal year 1993 and did not solicit proposals for some consultants hired to write grant proposals and advise on various programs. The college system paid over $90,000 for services during 1999 and 2000 for which it did not solicit proposals. Also, the system did not have a written agreement with its legal counsel, nor did it solicit services for interpreting services for the deaf. Other findings noted that a physical inventory of fixed assets had not been completed for several years, and the KMCC subsidized the operating expenses of its Foundation, totaling over $550,000 in the two years ending June 2000. This paper includes audit findings, the auditor's recommendations concerning specific findings, and the auditee's response to the findings and recommendations. (NB)

An Australian national task force examined a number of areas related to achieving educational equality for Australia's Indigenous peoples. This paper reviews recent and current efforts to raise the quality of initial teacher education and presents a draft set of professional standards for accomplished teachers of Indigenous students in early childhood services and schools. Chapter 1 summarizes the international and Australian policy context relating to changes in education in the last two decades and the pressures on teaching and teacher education to respond to changes in attitudes toward the fundamental purposes and functions of education, particularly social justice issues. The outcomes-based approach to schooling has the potential to improve the education and attainments of disadvantaged students, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. However, realization of this potential depends upon appropriate preparation of preservice teachers. Chapter 2 examines difficulties that some Indigenous children experience in meeting national literacy standards, populations statistics, and national efforts to accelerate progress in Indigenous education. Chapter 3 discusses work undertaken in the United States, England, Canada, and Australia to improve teacher quality; describes the Quality Improvement and Accreditation System for day care centers; and presents five draft professional standards related to teacher commitment, knowledge base for teaching, teacher responsibility, reflective practice, and learning communities. Appendices present policy statements of related goals, principles, and standards. (Contains 22 references.) (SV)

With family demand for child care outpacing supply, California state and local policymakers want to learn how best to target resources on those neighborhoods most in need. Using the findings from two recent studies in Los Angeles County, this policy brief provides an overview of some of the options facing policymakers as they address issues of child care supply and demand. The brief discusses factors contributing to puzzling conclusions for those tracking the child care market, including licensed providers who do not want to care for as many children as they are licensed to have, parents who do not want to use licensed providers, conflicting information from different databases, and changing demographics. The brief notes that over 50 percent of the centers in Los Angeles County have waiting lists, suggesting that the openings that do exist are not meeting parents' needs. Parents who work nontraditional schedules are more likely to find care in child care homes than in centers. Only 28 percent of centers are able to accept children with severe special needs, and many providers are not serving children in their native languages. A lack of transportation is also a barrier to using available child care slots. The brief concludes by asserting that additional study is needed to examine why families needing child care do not use available spaces in licensed facilities, why many do not use subsidies to which they are entitled, and the extent of organized programs that are exempt from licensing regulations but serve a child care function, such as parks and recreation activities. (KB)

This report discusses the activities and outcomes of a project designed to expand inclusive child care options for families of young children with disabilities through replication of the SpecialCare model of training, while developing linkages for collaboration through interagency planning groups with priority given to empowerment zone or enterprise communities. The SpecialCare model of training builds on traditional caregiving roles and skills, expanding caregivers' knowledge and level of comfort so that caregivers are willing and able to extend their traditional roles to care for children with disabilities. Training provides information on inclusive child care, getting to know children with disabilities, building relationships with families, including young children with disabilities in daily activities, community services for young children with disabilities, and preparing for the child's arrival. During the past four years, SpecialCare Outreach provided training to 1,235 caregivers and helped 23 sites replicate the SpecialCare model. Evaluation data indicate that SpecialCare training increased caregivers' knowledge and level of comfort, so that caregivers were willing and able to extend their traditional roles to care for children with disabilities. The report discusses the goals of the project, theoretical framework, problems encountered, impact, and future activities. Appendixes include a curriculum outline and training materials. (CR)

A study examined barriers to employment for rural Michigan residents, especially during an economic boom. Four focus groups conducted in four nonmetropolitan growth counties in Michigan indicated that educated, skilled workers were seeking to enter the labor force or to work more hours, even though community leaders, newspapers, and job developers felt there was a shortage of local workers. The foremost factor contributing to this situation was an inadequate and seasonal demand for most goods and services produced in the counties studied. As a result, both employers and employees faced risks and uncertainties about the future. Due to lack of formal channels of finding jobs, job seekers had to rely on word-of-mouth, which is not an efficient means of finding employment. There was no public transportation system in nonmetro areas. Because workers could not find full-time jobs, they took multiple part-time jobs, and the transportation costs of driving large distances to work and day care made minimum wage jobs even less attractive than in urban areas. The high cost of licensed child and elder care centers created disincentives for taking low-paying jobs. The high collateral requirement to get loans minimized the opportunity for entrepreneurs to start home-based businesses. Discrimination based on sex, age, and disability, and the failure of schools to require computer literacy were also factors. Participants felt that local government officials could exercise more foresight in attracting certain kinds of businesses and support systems for workers. (TD)

This paper is one of several intended to consider early childhood care and education within the context of Canada's National Children's Agenda. The paper takes the position that a blended, coherent system of early childhood development programs incorporating child care, early childhood education, and family support services should be available in every community. The current array of policies and programs in Canada is examined, and options are considered for developing the proposed system of early child development programs. The paper is organized into five sections: (1) an introduction to early child development programs; (2) the roots of early child development programs in Canada; (3) a description of existing early child development programs; (4) a discussion of dominant public policy directions; and (5) a proposed agenda for creating a system of early child development in Canada. (Contains 53 references.) (EV)

This study sought to determine if family child care providers and center caregivers: (1) seek training for different reasons; (2) hold varying opinions regarding the best source of training according to content area; (3) demonstrate differences in training content obtained; and (4) use different training sources for a variety of training topics. Data were gathered from a mailed survey of licensed family child care and day care center providers in a Midwestern state. Findings indicated differences between family providers and center caregivers. Family providers value and depend more upon resource and referral agencies than do center caregivers; conferences, inservice training, and college courses were consistently preferred by center caregivers. Also center caregivers were more likely to have received training in a variety of content areas than were family providers. (Includes 4 data tables. Contains 12 references.) (EV)

Beginning in 1994, various national and First Nations initiatives in Canada have increased the availability of child care for Aboriginal children. However, the speed of these initiatives has not allowed time for First Nations communities to define their wishes for the care of their children. This report documents the opinions of First Nations communities on quality child care and presents recommendations for program development. An extensive literature review examines Canada's Aboriginal population, the historical context of Aboriginal-White relations in Canada, the need for Aboriginal child care services, traditional child-rearing practices, First Nations jurisdiction and authority in child care, research on quality child care, and diversity issues in child care. Interviews with key informants and focus groups in First Nations communities were conducted in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Ontario, which have very different contexts in terms of provincial legislation and licensing and the extent and duration of First Nations child care programs. Participants identified historical, social, and political influences affecting development of Aboriginal child care services; aspects of quality child care related to the physical environment, caregivers, caregiver training, educational and cultural programming, content of teaching, parent and community involvement, and child grouping; and supports and barriers created by child care regulatory schemes. Extensive recommendations are offered in each of these areas and are summarized in tabular form. Appendices include study questionnaires list of Steering Committee members, study permission forms and letters, and individual reports on the three provinces. (Contains 124 references.) (SV)

Canadian experts in diverse fields as well as people concerned about social justice and cohesion have identified quality child care as a crucial component in addressing a variety of broad societal goals. This study explored the relationships between child care center quality and: center characteristics; teaching staff wages and working conditions; and teaching staff characteristics and attitudes. Data were collected in 122 infant/toddler rooms and 227 preschool rooms in 234 centers across 6 Canadian provinces and 1 territory. Analyses focused on the critical factors predicting the level of quality. Findings revealed that physically safe environments with caring, supportive adults were the norm for the majority of Canadian centers. However, only 44 percent of preschool rooms and 29 percent of infant/toddler rooms provided activities and materials that support and encourage children's development. The majority provided care that was of minimal to mediocre quality. The direct predictors of program quality, listed generally in order of strength, were teaching staff wages, use of the center as a student-teacher practicum site, work satisfaction, and the adult-child ratio. Direct and indirect predictors were teaching staff level of early childhood-specific education and number of staff in the observed room. The strongest indirect predictor of quality was the center auspice. Based on findings, recommendations were made related to regulations, staff education, professional development, financial aspect of care, administration, and job satisfaction and the work environment. (Nine appendices include descriptions of provincial/territorial requirements for center-based care, data collection instruments, and discussion of implications for future research. Contains 97 references.) (KB)

This study investigates sudden changes in the consultee-centered case consultation method. Three types of sudden changes in consultation were identified: (1) turnings, (2) turning points, and (3) shifts. The first part of this study explores the turning of the consultee's representation of his/her interaction to the client. The second part considers the interaction between the consultee and the consultant, and describes how the process oscillates between three interaction modes: discharge-confirm, display-concern, and discover-challenge. The third part explores how the consultation process starts to move again through sudden shifts after having been stuck. Data were collected from interviews with consultants and consultees, who were teachers in Swedish child care, pre-school, and school settings; and who had turned to psychological consultants about problems with children. The results are a conceptualization of the turning process in consultee-centered case consultation. Consultation is seen as a process oscillating between approaching and moving away from the originally presented problem. The consultant's interaction varies between the interaction modes from being non-directive following the consultee to being directive and in charge of the process. Not only do the consultee's presentation and representation of the interaction to the client change, but also the consultant's presentation and representation. (Contains 20 tables, 28 figures, and 229 references.) (JDM)

Although states must certify that they have requirements to protect the health and safety of children in child care in order to receive Child Care and Development Block Grant funds, neither the scope nor stringency of these requirements has been stipulated. At the request of Congressional members, this report identifies the most critical licensing/enforcement activities that help states ensure child safety and health in child care, describes the extent to which states conduct these activities for regulated providers, and explains how states ensure that nonregulated providers receiving block grant funds meet the law's safety and health requirements. Information sources included a literature search, interviews with child care licensing experts and state/federal officials, and a national survey of state licensing directors. Among the licensing/enforcement activities recommended in the findings are criminal background checks and child abuse registry checks on prospective providers, and frequent, unannounced monitoring visits. Most states' policies for background checks and monitoring visits were consistent with recommendations. Success in following recommended practices was related to increases in staff and budgets for licensing offices. Most states reported having an array of sanctions to bring providers into compliance. The states' enforcement activities also satisfy the safety and health requirements of the block grant. For providers that states choose not to regulate, some states nevertheless conduct activities usually reserved for regulated providers; many states inform nonregulated providers of the safety and health requirements and ask them to certify that they will comply with requirements. Appendices provide tables on frequency of state licensure and monitoring visits, state child care licensing budget and full-time-equivalent staffing levels, and state caseloads. (KB)

Noting the need for current, accurate information on the Colorado child care workforce in order to make policy and programmatic decisions, this report describes the enrollment capacity and provides a staffing profile of child care centers, directors, teachers, and family child care providers statewide. The report draws on data collected by means of surveys completed by 300 directors, and telephone interviews conducted with 100 teachers and assistants and 71 home providers. Key findings relate to characteristics of child care centers, including enrollment, capacity, and staffing. For each separate job classification (director, teacher/assistant teacher, family child care provider), the following information is provided: (1) demographic characteristics such as gender and racial/ethnic background; (2) qualifications (education and experience); (3) salary and benefits; (4) job responsibilities; (5) turnover; (6) philosophy of child care; (7) perceived challenges and rewards of the job; (8) job satisfaction; and (9) suggestions for improving child care. The report concludes by noting that with over 60 percent of Colorado children attending some form of child care, society would benefit from a well-educated and stable child care workforce and Colorado will benefit from investing in the state's child caregivers. Appendices include a glossary of relevant terms and director, staff, and home provider surveys. (KB)

This report discusses the activities and outcomes of Project Coach Outreach, a project to encourage the use of best practices in early intervention for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with disabilities and to increase family-centered service options in Mississippi. Specifically, the project focused on the use of natural environments to include home, family day care, child care, and preschool centers. The project provided a flexible outreach team-training and support model that was developed and evaluated by two previous early intervention projects. The project provided training in community-based, family-centered practices to include transdisciplinary teaming, consulting, and conducting assessment and intervention using play. Through a variety of training strategies, from didactic workshops to skills based workshops to mentoring, training was targeted for community providers. Project Coach also developed links with other outreach projects to enhance training for a mentor team and new teams. The report discusses the project's goals, objectives, and tasks. Appendices include summaries of training and technical assistance data, surveys of infant/toddler training needs in Mississippi, training event evaluations and summaries, impact summary reports, agenda and minutes from videoconferences, the project directors' vision paper, and examples of modules. (CR)

The Child and Adult Care Food Program provides over $1.5 billion in benefits annually to children and adults in day care. In order to address the longstanding problems of fraud and abuse present in the program, state agencies have been charged with the responsibility for implementing Food and Nutrition Service's (FNS) regulations to prevent and detect fraud and abuse. At the request of congressional committees, this study examined the extent to which states have implemented required and recommended controls, and FNS's effectiveness in directing the states' efforts. Data were collected by surveying the administrating agencies in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Findings indicated that, although all agencies had implemented at least part of the minimum required controls, there was variation in implementation of recommended controls. Agencies cited several factors making it difficult to strengthen controls over fraud and abuse, including lack of resources, lack of training, and unclear regulations. Further, the FNS has not effectively directed states' anti-fraud efforts, nor strengthened minimum control requirements, despite recommendations dating to 1995. The service has not adequately monitored states' implementation and therefore has little basis for identifying and correcting problems; it has also had difficulty correcting compliance problems, partly because it lacks an appropriate range of sanctions. Oversight weakness results largely from insufficient resources. Based on findings, it was recommended that the FNS develop a comprehensive plan to strengthen the states' controls for detecting and preventing fraud and abuse. (Two appendices describe the study methodology and list key contacts.) (KB)

The Department of Defense's (DOD) child development program has been identified as a model for the rest of the nation. To provide a benchmark cost estimate for Congress as it addresses child care issues, this report identifies the objectives of the military child development program, describes its operation, determines the full costs of DOD centers and the cost per child-hour for center-based care, and compares this cost with the full cost of comparable quality civilian child care. Only Air Force child development centers were included because the Air Force was the only service whose centers had all met the accreditation standards of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Cost estimate data came from the Air Force and other government sources and child development centers. Cost estimates for civilian child care centers came from a study of 150 centers identified as providing high-quality care out of a sample of 401 centers in 4 states. The military program's primary objective is to help families balance competing demands of family and military responsibilities by providing high-quality child care at affordable rates. Caregivers have comprehensive child development training and receive salaries meeting prescribed minimum levels. The Air Force's cost of operating its centers was $81.4 million in fiscal year 1997, with an estimated cost per child-hour of $3.86. When adjusted for age distribution of the children, the costs of high-quality care in Air Force and civilian centers were not substantially different. (Five appendices include a description of the study methodology and cost comparisons.) (KB)

Since a substantial majority of preschoolers participate in some form of child care before coming to school, the Cost, Quality, and Child Outcomes in Child Care Centers Study (CQO) was designed to examine the influence of typical center-based child care on children's development during their preschool years and as they move into formal elementary education. This report details the results through the end of second grade. Chapter 1 of the report describes the conceptual framework and methods. Measures are summarized related to children's receptive vocabulary, mathematics and letter-word recognition skills, behavior problems, sociability, and peer relationships; parent values and attitudes, and parent involvement; classroom/child care quality; and teacher characteristics. Chapter 2 describes the child care, kindergarten, and second grade classrooms observed, including a discussion of the continuity between child care and school environments. Chapter 3 describes the families of the participating children. Chapter 4 describes the children themselves. Chapter 5 presents the main findings of the study relating child care quality to children's outcomes and discusses their broader importance. Chapter 6 delineates the implications that follow from the findings and makes recommendations for policy and practice. The report concludes by asserting that high quality child care experiences, in terms of both classroom practices and teacher-child relationships, enhance children's abilities to take advantage of the educational opportunities as they enter kindergarten and through the early elementary school years. The report's three appendices contain additional data tables, technical information on measures and data analyses, and lists of papers reporting CQO findings. Contains 52 references. (KB)

In 1995, Georgia became the first U.S. state to provide universal prekindergarten to 4 year olds. Although the lottery-funded program has received more attention from policymakers than any other program, there has been no systematic effort to chronicle the program's evolution or to draw lessons from its experience. This report illustrates the complex and often unpredictable processes involved in translating ideas into public policy and identifies lessons relevant to other state early education initiatives. Following an executive summary and chronology of program development, the report covers the following topics: (1) Lieutenant Governor Zell Miller's plan to fund a prekindergarten program for low-income 4 year olds with lottery funds; (2) designing and implementing the prekindergarten initiative; (3) resolving tensions with Head Start programs and integrating for-profit child care providers; (4) expanding the program to cover all 4 year olds; (5) political controversies and the creation of an Office of School Readiness; (6) shifts in the program; (7) program evaluation results; and (8) the program's future. Lessons for other states are discussed in the following areas: (1) tradeoffs in offering prekindergarten services to all families; (2) state lotteries as a funding mechanism; (3) the need for powerful, consistent leadership; (4) understanding and protecting the fragile ecology of early childhood programs; (5) challenges in integrating private providers; (6) the complexity of dynamics among federal, state, and local government; (7) the need for constant attention to program quality; and (8) challenges in creating a prekindergarten infrastructure. The report's three appendices include information on approved prekindergarten curriculum models and funding levels. (Contains 68 references.) (KB)

Each year, thousands of children in child care settings are injured seriously enough to need emergency medical treatment. This national study identified potential safety hazards in 220 licensed child care settings in October and November 1998. Eight product areas were examined: cribs, soft bedding, playground surfacing, playground surface maintenance, child safety gates, window blind cords, drawstrings on children's clothing, and recalled children's products. Participating child care centers were located in the eastern, central, or western United States and were selected randomly, when possible, from regional or national lists of licensed child care providers. A prepared checklist was used to observe conditions related to the eight product areas. The findings indicated that two-thirds of the child care settings exhibited at least one of the targeted safety hazards. The most commonly seen hazards were the use of clothing with drawstrings at the neck (38 percent of settings), lack of safe playground surfacing (24 percent) or adequate maintenance (27 percent), and the use of window blind cords with loops (26 percent). Fewer settings had cribs that did not meet current safety standards (8 percent), cribs with soft bedding (19 percent), lack of child safety gates (13 percent), and the use of recalled products (5 percent). A review of state licensing requirements revealed that most of the hazards examined in this study are not adequately addressed. (KB)

Drawing on current research, this paper advocates the optimization and enhancement of quality in group day care. Child development researchers offer many suggestions for improving the quality of child care. Recent research has indicated the importance peers play in children's development. Researchers have also indicated the importance of establishing educational practices which offer exposure to multisensory stimulation, warm relationships that invite and reward language practice, and the establishment of consistent rules and routines. Efforts to accommodate differences in children's temperaments are also important. This paper draws upon all of these research conclusions to provide classroom management strategies for enhancing day care: (1) atmosphere (creating a positive, enjoyable workplace for teachers); (2) articulating goals (creating clear, measurable classroom objectives); and (3) accountability (creating contingencies that reinforce effective teaching). The paper also lists five external environmental context factors, including: (1) community values and attitudes; (2) parent attitudes; (3) employer attitudes; (4) school board attitudes; and (5) government attitudes. Finally, the paper describes two methods for enhancing day care quality, including solution-focused management strategies and enhancement of how children are taught. (Contains 19 references.) (Author/SD)

Recognizing the critical role that quality child care plays in the lives of working families, in children's health and development, and in the state economy, the Alaska Child Care Program promotes quality, affordable, and accessible child care for Alaska's children and families that allows parents to work or train for employment, and that supports child care providers as an integral part of the state and local economy. This annual report details the activities and accomplishments of that program for the period ending May 1999. The report describes the programs and services and relevant accomplishments in four component areas: (1) providing support for children and families to find and keep quality child care; (2) providing support for child care providers to build a stable workforce of competent, well-paid providers; (3) forming child care partnerships to develop a comprehensive system of child care programs and services; and (4) promoting quality child care environments through quality improvement initiatives, adequate program funding, and administration. The report concludes by noting significant changes for Alaska's child care programs, specifically that child care and other early childhood functions will be consolidated and moved to the state Department of Education. (KB)