Last in four-part series on infant and toddler development, discusses professionalism in the context of required caregiving beliefs and practices in working with infants and toddlers. Presents four "common threads" of professionalism that transcend level of education and experience--specialized knowledge of children's development,…

Work requirements for welfare recipients will pressure state agencies to create employment opportunities for parents and arrangements for child care while parents work. This report examines the topic of recruiting welfare mothers to care for children of other recipients. The report highlights research outlining barriers to work in child care and…

Presents results of survey that gathered feedback from agency administrators who employ child- and youth-care workers on the development of the child- and youth-care profession. Describes ideas and sources of support of this emerging profession, and outlines several areas where individuals and associations interested in its development might…

Discusses federal and state initiatives to enhance child care quality and child care teachers' compensation. These initiatives have resulted from the passage of the Child Care and Development Block Grant in 1990. (BB)

Suggests an alternative to typical practices of new staff orientation: one week of paid orientation without direct responsibility for children so they can experience the program vision in action and practice assuming their role within it. Details strategies involved in this approach and encourages directors to calculate the cost of turnover in…

This report of the Quality 2000 Initiative documents the quality crisis in early care and education in the United States, discussing the reasons for this crisis and suggesting a plan for improvement. Part 1 of the report: describes the mediocre quality of care cited in the Cost, Quality, and Child Outcomes Study, the erosion of quality since 1980,…

Considers issues that challenge parents and professionals faced with the need for infant group care: nurturing in the infant caregiver, staff stability, economics of staff/infant ratios, the role of language in caregiving, altruism in babies, group versus individual time, control and power issues, caregiver training, and "people…

Maintains that the real solution to demands for high-quality, affordable, readily available infant/toddler child care is society's recognition of the value of parenting both for the nation as a whole and for individual development, and the movement of child care roles and responsibilities from the exclusive realm of motherhood to include fathers.…

The Southern Child Care Support Program was established in 1986 to help children with disabilities gain access to child care services. The program consists of a team of four Integration Support Workers who are able to provide support in 27 child care centers in the region of Adelaide, Australia. The program's model of child care focuses on three…

Presents six myths about early childhood education and care. Myths concern day care quality, the impact of day care on families and communities, academically oriented curricula, the importance of caregiver training, and parent involvement. Emphasizes that professionals need to dispel these myths, recognize the complexity of good child care, and be…

This document is a compilation of four quarterly journal issues in both English and French language editions. Each of the journal issues is organized under four sections: Opinions, Practice, Focus and News. The first section explores subjects such as the importance of family resource centers, the importance of a national child care strategy to…

For some years, the European Commission on Childcare and Other Measures to Reconcile Employment and Family Responsibilities has given priority to the role of men as caregivers. Work in child care services remains one of the most gender-segregated occupations in the entire labor force, and this discussion paper adopts a clear position that more men…