Child Care Regulations Research Articles

National styles of regulation: Child care in three countries

An analysis of child care regulations in Germany, Sweden, and the United States reveals distinctive national policy styles. A ‘social constructionist’ perspective, with its emphasis on variable problem definitions, helps to explain such differences. However, a full understanding of regulatory differences requires attention to regulatory solutions as well. By disaggregating the concept of regulation, we are able to demonstrate rather different rank-orderings of our three countries in their regulatory solutions. We attribute these differences to cultural, institutional, and political characteristics of the three countries.

The social policy context of child care: effects on quality.

Examined effects on the quality of children's child care environments of (a) the stringency of state child care regulations, (b) voluntary compliance with proposed federal child care standards, and (c) the legal auspice of the center. Quality of care was assessed in 227 child care centers in five metropolitan areas. Centers in states with more stringent child care regulations tended to have better staff-child ratios, staff with more child-related training, and lower staff turnover rates. Similarly, centers that more fully complied with the ratio, group size, and training provisions of a set of proposed federal child care standards had significantly lower staff turnover rates, more age-appropriate classroom activities, less harsh and more sensitive teachers, and more teachers with specialized training. For-profit centers offered children less optimal care than did nonprofit centers. These findings are placed in the context of ecological models of research and of contemporary policy debates about child care.

The Effect of the Price of Child Care on AFDC Mothers' Paid Work Behavior

This research examines how the price of child care impacts welfare recipients' paid work behavior according to past studies. The study analyzes the relationship between child care prices and hours of paid work for recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). The complex nature of AFDC child care regulations is taken into account in the context of a microeconomic framework. Regression analysis and maximum likelihood estimation are used to derive the empirical results. The estimates are based on a data set consisting of a 1983/84 sample of 100 working AFDC recipients in Denver, Colorado.

The state of child care regulation: A comparative analysis

A central topic of controversy surrounding contemporary debates about the adequacy of our national child care policy concerns the role of the federal government in assuring a basic level of health, safety, and quality in public child care centers and family day care homes. Consideration of a more active federal role derives, in part, from concerns about the adequacy with which state governments fulfill this protective function through their child care regulatory system. To inform this issue, the present article compares the child care standards in effect in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia as of January, 1987, and, where available, as of January, 1989. Three specific issues are addressed: (a) the variability across states in the provisions of their child care regulations; (b) the adequacy of state standards at the lower end of this range; and (c) the disparity that exists between the states' standards and various national criteria for quality child care. Provisions for staff:child ratios, group size, family day care enrollment limitations, staff training, age of entry, and inspection schedules are examined. To set the stage for the examination of state standards, an historical, legal, and ideological context for child care regulation is presented. Discussion of the results emphasizes options for a revised federal role, implications for state enforcement and training, and approaches to family day care regulation.

Primary care needs of children with hydrocephalus

Nurse practitioners are frequently called on to provide primary care to children with chronic medical conditions. Some conditions are seen less often than others, and primary care providers may be hesitant or reluctant to administer care without consultation or referral to the attending specialist. However, the attending specialist often is not trained in primary care and is unfamiliar with current immunization schedules, treatments for common infectious conditions, or child care and school regulations. Consequently, these children often receive less than optimal primary health care. Children with hydrocephalus have life-long special health care needs. These needs may alter their primary care; however, a review of the condition, its current treatment, and associated problems can provide the nurse practitioner with the necessary information to provide optimal primary health care to these children and their families.

Child care and the family: Complex contributors to child development

In a state with minimal child care standards, we found pervasive differences in third graders associated with earlier child care histories. More extensive child are predicted children receiving more negative ratings from parents and teachers, poorer academic and conduct grades, lower standardized test scores, and more negative sociometric nominations. In addition, for some variables (IQ, work habits negative peer nominations, and compliance ratings) there was evidence of interactive effects in which both extensive infant care and exclusive maternal care were associated with more problematical functioning, depending on parental marital status, social class, and child gender. We found no evidence of negative effects associated with part-time care. This study has several important limitations that should be acknowledged. The first is the danger of generalizing these results to states and communities with higher-quality child care standards than those imposed in Texas. They may, unfortunately, be generalizable to the twenty states with child care regulations similar to those in Texas. This study has another important limitation. It did not examine the underlying processes that might contribute to the effects of child care history. For example, we do not know if the differences in children who were in part-time versus extensive child care are owing to (1) differences in the children's experiences while they are in the child care settings, or (2) differences in the quality of interactions that occur when the two groups of children are at home, or (3) some combination of children's experiences in child care and the family.

The Checkered History of Federal Child Care Regulation

The Checkered History of Federal Child Care Regulation

Chapter 1: The Checkered History of Federal Child Care Regulation

Chapter 1: The Checkered History of Federal Child Care Regulation

The child development associate credential as a child care staff standard: Accuracy, career development, and policy implications

A study of the Child Development Associate (CDA) assessment/credential system compared credentialed and noncredentialed child care staff using a written test, interviews, and competence ratings. Two states' child care regulations were also compared. The results are discussed in terms of the CDA assessment's accuracy and the credential's contribution to career development.