Family Day Care in the United States

Abstract

The author discusses the current status of family day care, including its demographics, organization, regulations, quality-control issues, and relevant research on its effects on children, families, and child-care workers. Family day care is a pervasive underground child-care system that merits far more attention by the social work profession in state and national child-care policy considerations. Social workers are in a unique position to help family-day-care providers enter mainstream child care in the United States.