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    "label": "Child Care-Child Care Background",
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    "title": "Child Care-Child Care Background",
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    "url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/clinton/7763297/7763297-20110688S-003-002-2025/7763297-20110688S-003-002-2025-002.jpg",
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    "ocrText": "Oct-16-97 02:17P\nP.05\nStaff education and training are among the most critical elements in improving children's\nexperiences in child care, but 41 states do not require providers who offer care in their homes\nto have any training prior to serving children.¹⁴\nBabies and toddlers are particularly vulnerable to poor quality care.\nAlmost half of babies who haven't reached their first birthday are regularly spending their\nday in some form of child care.¹⁵\nA recent national study found that half of rooms in centers serving babies and toddlers\nprovided such poor quality care as to jeopardize children's health, safety and development.¹⁶\nStudies of home-based care produced equally troubling results.¹\nScarcity of after-school programs leaves school-age children home alone.\nNearly 5 million children are home alone after school each weel:.¹⁸\nJuvenile crime peaks between 2:00 and 6:00 p.m. and there is some evidence that more teen\npregnancies occur during this time.¹⁹\nA 1990 study found that eighth-graders left home alone after school reported greater use of\ncigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana than those who were in adult-supervised settings.²⁰\nGood after-school activities for children and teens can be hard to find because options are\ninadequate in many communities. This problem is even more serious in low-income\nneighborhoods -- only one-third of schools in low-income neighborhoods offered before- and\nafter-school programs in 1993.²\nAmerica can help working families get affordable, quality child care.\n1. Strong safety standards must be established and enforced for all centers and homes offering\nchild care. Programs to improve the quality of care and help parents find good options for\ntheir children should be expanded.\n2. Child care providers should be trained professionals, earning family-supporting wages.\nEfforts must be made to increase the number of child care staff who are appropriately trained\nand compensated. Scholarship and loan forgiveness programs should be expanded to support\ncareers in child development.\n3. Structured after-school activities should be available in all communities. Investments should\nbe made to expand the supply of quality care for babies and toddlers, and to strengthen and\nenrich existing programs.\n4. Child care help should be available to low-income families to prevent welfare dependency.\nFederal, state and local dollars should also help other working families with their child care\nexpenses and better afford quality care.\n5. Employers should help their employees who need child care, and should invest in improving\nthe quality of child care in the communities in which they operate.\n6. The Family and Medical Leave Act should be expanded to cover more workplaces and\nemployees to help enable working parents stay home with their children during the critical\nearly months of a child's life."
}