Notes that the congregation-based child care community is a dominant, diverse, vibrant, and growing segment of child care provision, and updates current state of these centers. Explores how congregations are expected to play an increasingly important role in the child care field. Includes overall child care statistics for 12 denominations in the…

Used demographic data and surveys as data collection methods for a profile on church-housed child care in the United States. Discusses (1) aspects of the operation of centers; (2) churches involved; (3) kinds of support churches provide; (4) pros and cons of church-housed programs; and (5) controversies concerning state funding of church-housed…

Identifies four trends among centers with religious connections which reflect a tendency for such centers to get more actively involved in the provision of child care services: (1) more proactive involvement at the national level; (2) rapid increase in services; (3) more active involvement as program operators; and (4) more inclination to promote…