Children Today

Focus on Day Care

"What is good day care? Where can I find it? How much will it cost me? How do I know that the program will be good for my child?"

Questions like these are now being asked by thousands of working mothers throughout the country, and will be asked by thousands more after the passage of proposed welfare reform legislation by Congress.

At the Office of Child Development, it is our job to answer these questions, to provide information about day care to parents and groups, and-perhaps most important of all-to act as advocates for the good quality day care that the children of this Nation need and must have.

That is the kind of day care President Nixon asked for when he first presented his welfare reform program to Congress in 1969. The President emphasized that the care he planned for the children of mothers in job training or employed through the program would be the type that contributes to a child's growth and development.

What the President proposed was developmental day care-and a lot of people are just a little hazy about what developmental day care is. Let me try to define it by first telling what it is not, and then describing what I believe it is.

Developmental day care should be distinguished from two other types of child care-comprehensive and custodial. Comprehensive day care offers the widest possible range of educational, health and counseling services to children and their parents. Such programs are very expensive, and most American families can provide for the growth and development of their children without requiring such broad services from the Government.

At the other extreme, custodial day care does little more than insure the supervision and physical safety of children whose mothers are at work. Because there are no planned activities in this kind of day care and no opportunities for children to build a sense of self-worth, the Administration does

not propose to support custodial care.

Developmental day care, which the Administration would like to see for children of working mothers, provides a child with many opportunities for physical, social and intellectual development. Under the supervision of trained workers, each child takes part in planned educational and recreational activities. He receives nutritious meals and medical and dental examinations and followup. And his parents are encouraged to participate actively in the program.

Developmental day care can be made available to preschoolers or to schoolage children after school hours. It can be offered at day care centers, in family day care homes, or in the child's own home through home-based programs.

The Office of Child Development has always sought developmental day care for children. We have said that a child needs more than just a safe sandbox to play in or a TV set to look at. In this special issue of Children Today, you will find a number of articles describing different aspects of the kind of developmental care we seek.

One thing is clear, however. We cannot have quality developmental day care for the children of this Nation without educators who have the knowledge and ability to care for and teach young children.

There is a pressing need for trained personnel for programs for children. Since 1960, the number of licensed day care facilities in this country has tripled. At the present rate of growth, kindergarten and preschool enrollment, which was 3.9 million in 1968, will climb to 6.3 million by 1980.

But this rate of growth does not allow for the day care programs now under consideration by Congress. Proposed legislation anticipates that 800,000 children will be served in the first full year of welfare reform. Teachers in early childhood education are in very short supply now; as child care services expand, thousands of new educators will be needed.

Edward Zigler

Director, Office of Child Development Where will we find them? To meet this urgent need, the Office of Child Development will begin a program in 1972 to develop a new profession for child care workers. Called child development associates, they will be men and women who are qualified through training and experience to care for and teach a group of children independently.

Child development associates will not replace teachers with college degrees, nor will they simply serve as aides. They will be capable staff members who have been recognized for their ability to work with young children.

OCD will develop training programs for this new cadre of child care workers and will establish a national system of accreditation and certification, based on demonstrated competency in the field rather than on the completion of formal courses.

With the valuable help of professional organizations, this new OCD program is now being developed and will be introduced this year. It will be a largescale effort, and we regard it as an important one. You will be hearing much more about child development associates, just as you will be hearing much more about day care during the years ahead.

Millions of children will need day care during the 1970's. Let's see that these children get good, developmental day care, and let's not settle for less.

Edward Zigle