This paper reviews the legal aspects of the Federal Interagency Day Care Requirements (FIDCR). Section I describes the scope of the regulations and the sanctions used to uphold them, namely the withholding or withdrawing of federal funds. This section examines some of the potential legal challenges to the regulations, constitutional issues,…

This essay reviews the history of and reasons for the federal government's reluctance to enforce standards for day care quality. It is argued that the federal government must at least assure that the day care it subsidizes is not detrimental to children. Several revisions in the existing federal standards and the mechanisms for enforcing them are…

This paper examines the current context and historical background of Federal Day Care Standards. Section I briefly defines the term standards, describes different types of standards, and discusses the rationale for minimum day care standards. Also examined in this section are: the process of standard formulation; legal defense of a standard as…

A discussion of the need to develop explicit, enforceable, and economically realistic federal day care standards. (BD)

This paper examines child day care needs and ways that federal and state approaches to day care standard setting and enforcement might be improved. Chapter I documents the magnitude of child day care needs, citing Department of Labor, Census, and other survey statistics on the numbers of children needing day care and the number of day care centers…

This report presents comparative data on standards and regulations for child care programs in Europe, Canada, Israel. Three models of child care systems are identified, and their implementation in eleven countries is described. Model I, the "anglo-American" model implemented in the United Kingdom and Canada, includes two or more parallel…

This statement of the enforcement of child day care licensing standards identifies basic concepts of the enforcement process and operational procedures necessary to bring about this process. Two types of enforcement operations, negative and positive enforcement of standards, are identified and examined in detail. Positive enforcement is defined as…

This report presents an evaluation of the Federal Interagency Day Care Requirements (FIDCR) conducted by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The evaluation focuses on the appropriateness of the requirements for federally supported day care programs authorized by Title XX of the Social Security Act. The first chapter of the report…

This article examines findings in three epidemiological studies of day care centers and concludes that higher standards of care can reduce the incidence of hepatitis among parents and staff. (Author/DB)

This study explores the potential benefits of multigenerational day care programs. Two small preschool programs serving predominantly low income black families were chosen for comparison. The programs were matched for child/staff ratio, level of staff professionalism, and characteristics of families served. The programs differed, however, in their…

The goals of this position paper are: (1) to describe some specific roles the federal state and local governments can play in regard to child care standards and regulations and (2) to make some straightforward and down-to-earth suggestions, which should undergird national child care standards and regulations, as these relate to day care. Some of…

As part of an evaluation of the existing Federal Interagency Day Care Requirements (FIDCR), this paper reviews the current regulations and presents recommendations for modifications in the requirements as they relate to group or family day care services for school age children from 5 to 14 years of age. The paper is divided into five major…

This paper presents a discussion of the impact of the physical design of day care settings on children and adults. Specifically addressed is the question of how the location and design of the facility, the arrangement of indoor and outdoor space, and the organization of the furniture and materials affect the behavior of the adults and children who…

This report presents summaries of 21 papers which address various issues related to day care policy formation. The papers were commissioned as part of the information gathering and dissemination activities of the Federal Interagency Day Care Requirements (FIDCR) Appropriateness Study. The summaries of the papers are divided into four topical…

This paper presents a discussion of the effect of the physical environment on children receiving day care services. Various dimensions of the physical environment which may affect the well-being of infants, preschool and school age children in group or family day care settings are examined. The focus is on the overall well-being and development of…