In California, the desire to do something about child abuse, fanned by repeated and often sensational media coverage, has led to an understandable but counterproductive overreaction on the part of professionals and citizens reporting suspected child abuse. Child protective agencies receive an average of one report a minute. There are over 300,000…

A babysitting exchange program was created for a group of women in order to build a social support network and to provide a test of the buffer hypothesis (i.e., the idea that social support may shield an individual from the negative physical and mental consequences of stress, particularly when stress is at high levels). The sample consisted of 30…

Training materials for family day care providers are offered in this document in the form of pages providing topics for discussion and suggested workshop activities. Discussion materials consist of prototype forms for gathering data and keeping records, as well as guidelines for caregiving functions such as feeding, first aid, arranging the home…

Standards and guidelines for child care providers in the state of Utah are delineated in this document. Several basic needs of children are briefly described, including the need for self-esteem, freedom and exploration, guidance and discipline, love and respect, learning, relationships with others, and good nutrition. Statements of standards for…

Controversy exists in the field of child day care concerning the training of child care workers. Becker (1979) states that trainers should be child care professionals who help to engage workers in an educational/developmental process, as opposed to "outside" trainers from other professions who view training as a mechanism to "add…

Material related to routine as well as sensitive aspects of parent/day care center relationships is presented in this training module, one of a series providing staff development information for programs operated for dependents of military personnel. The module offers a brief discussion of ways caregivers can help parents feel at ease about…

In eight very brief sections, this booklet for beginning or prospective child caregivers provides a basic orientation to essential elements of out-of-home child care services. Child care programs, nursery schools, kindergartens, and the Head Start program are described and 10 features of a good program for young children are specified. Cooperation…

As more women enter the work force, a new family phenomenon is emerging - the shared parenting household. To examine the dynamics of this new family type, 40 couples in shared parenting families were interviewed. In these families, both parents shared the responsibilities of primary caregiver while also working at full-time white collar or…

Substitute caregivers are needed by day care centers in every state. Indeed, some areas are experiencing severe shortages of applicants for child care positions and short-term substitute work. This article describes problems encountered in current substitute caregiver systems and suggests ways of dealing with such problems. Specifically discussed…

Discusses a 4-C program which used a traveling workshop to bring in-service training to day care personnel in rural communities. (ST)

Those interested in promoting quality caregiving for infants and toddlers should consider several key issues. These issues concern the content of procedures and rules of the caregiving facility, staff selection procedures, the role of the environment in promoting quality care, optimal curriculum for staff training, the adequacy of group care for…

Part of a series of materials for Child Development Associate (CDA) trainees, this manual focuses on nutrition. When trainees successfully complete this curriculum, they are considered able to meet a number of objectives concerning nutrition. These objectives include abilities to (1) plan balanced meals for preschool children; (2) provide children…

This report describes the development of two British projects designed to increase support to persons paid to care for unrelated children in their homes, and to improve the quality of childminding. Informal Drop-In Centres offering stimulating play experiences for the children under the guidance of a trained playleader/community worker were…

The purpose of this study was to survey the agencies and individuals presently conducting infant/toddler development (ITD) programs in the Los Angeles County area to determine whether the agencies were operated by public or private organizations; the educational background of the individuals staffing these programs and the respondents'…