Rationale for Child Care Services by Auerbach Stevanne;Rivaldo James A;Mondale Walter F.;

Author:Auerbach, Stevanne;Rivaldo, James A;Mondale, Walter F.; [Auerbach Stevanne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
Published: 2016-05-17T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

HOW TO PLAN FOR A COMPREHENSIVE DAY CARE SYSTEM

Glen P. Nimnicht

Instead of attempting to predict what day care may become in the United States, I want instead to combine some pragmatic considerations with some idealism. The result, of course, will be less than the idealist might hope for and more than most practical people will see as possible.

First, we must place day care into some context of a general program for the healthy development of all young children. No one could reasonably expect in the foreseeable future that any combination of federal, state and local governments, industry and profit-making day care services could provide quality day care for all of the children in the United States at a cost that people could afford. Furthermore, no evidence exists that this would be desirable, even if it were possible. Day care should be one of many alternatives for the care of young children.

Obviously, if one of the objectives of an early childhood development program is to strengthen the parents’ capacity as parents, those parents who want to care for their own children should be helped to do so as a fundamental aspect of the program. In explicit terms, this means that if a parent prefers to stay at home and care for the children instead of working, he or she should have adequate support to remain at home. In addition, if the parent is interested in learning more about child development and how to care for the child, the training should be available.

A second alternative is half-day programs for those parents who want to have the major responsibility for the development and nurturing of their children, but who desire some outside child care either for the development of the child or to allow some time to pursue other activities.

The third alternative, of course, is full-time day care services for those parents who prefer to be free to work or pursue other activities.

Given the temperament of the parents, any one of these three alternatives would strengthen their capacity to be effective as parents. But it seems obvious to me that for those parents who have the interest and the temperament to care for young children, the best way to serve them and their children is to provide the support and services necessary to help them stay at home. There is no indication of any kind that we need additional persons in the labor force; in fact, all of the current indicators are to the contrary. Thus, the policy of providing day care services to push the low-income parent into taking a job or entering a training program that may or may not lead to a job is not a sound policy. The parent, the child and the economy would be better off if the parent stayed at home. In fact, even the short-term economic benefits raise questions. The idea that day care services will save money by reducing the welfare rolls by enabling the parents to leave the home and take a job is certainly questionable.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.