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Parent Advocacy >History
of Child Care in California*
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The history of child care in the United States reflects the changing
social and political events that have occurred. Over time, there has been
a general acceptance of child care services and an increasing amount of
funding to provide child care for low income families. Today there is
a trend to universal preschool. All three and four year old children would
have access to early childhood education and child care supported by state
and federal funds, similar to kindergartens operated by school districts
throughout the United States.
The development of subsidized child care is best reflected by major social
influences during the following periods of time:
Altruistic Period
- 1801 to 1900
Churches and community-based organizations became the key providers of
child care for the children of families who needed to work or be relieved
of continuous responsibility. The caregivers were mostly volunteers, who
altruistically wished to help children learn and benefit from their efforts.
- 1801 Pestalozzi described ideal education for young children at home.
- 1824 Owen established Pestalozzian preschool at New Harmony, Indiana.
- 1840 Froebel opened the first school for children aged 3 to 7 and
named it kindergarten.
- 1841 Brook Farm utopian community had a program for young children
so that their mothers could be relieved of continuous responsibility.
- 1863 Day nursery opened in Philadelphia for mothers involved with
Civil War effort.
- 1878 Dr. Felix Adler opened Ethical Culture School, free kindergarten
for children of working parents, New York City.
- 1892 90 day nurseries existed in the U.S., mostly with philanthropic
support for children of needy mothers.
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Uniformity Period
- 1900 to 1965
Both state governments backed by federal funding and local public agencies
became involved in providing regulations, standards and funding for child
care programs. The regulations targeted facilities, while the standards
targeted the level of care. Child care as a part of the welfare system
was formally initiated.
- 1912 Federal Children's Bureau opened to coordinate federal work with
families, opposed by those who said this was inappropriate government
activity.
- 1913 Licensure required for institutions that care for children in
California. By 1924 six states had regulations for day nurseries.
- 1929 President Hoover was inaugurated; stock market crash precipitated
depression of 1930s.
- 1933 President Roosevelt was inaugurated; authorization of WPA nursery
schools under Federal Emergency Relief Administration, whose primary
purpose was employment of adults; 75,000 children were enrolled within
one year in 1,900 programs administered by public schools.
- 1936 Licensing laws passed to protect children from common hazards
believed to be present in all types of out-of-home care.
- 1941 United States entered World War II; women encouraged to take
paid work.
- 1942 Last WPA schools closed.
- 1943 State 'Lanham' Child Care Center Program is established to provide
child care services to working women as a result of the war. It was
funded mostly through the federal Lanham Act and parent fees. California
contributed $500,000. Centers were operated by school districts and
administered by the California Department of Education.
- 1945 State Child Care Center Programs began with $40,000 in state
funds. They were expanded again in 1947, made permanent in 1957. Eligibility
included children of agricultural workers, veterans obtaining educations,
school teachers, nurses, any needy parent and single parents in job
training. \
- 1946 World War II ended; mothers were expected to return to home duties;
only 12 percent had outside employment. The Lanham Act schools closed.
California was the only state to take over these schools with $3.5 million
of state funds and extended eligibility to veterans who needed child
care to obtain an education.
- 1962 AFDC Child Care Services first provided by county welfare departments
for welfare parents in work and training programs through availability
of new federal matching funds through Title IV-A of the Social Security
Act.
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National Government
Period - 1965 to 1980
The federal government assumed a stronger role in providing child care
for low income families. As exemplified by the development of Head Start,
the federal government became a leader in setting standards and funding
to provide quality education, health, nutrition and social support to
young children and their families.
- 1965 "Children's Centers" became the new name for state
child care centers. State law expanded the concept of child care to
include educational and social services.
- 1965 Head Start was established by the federal government to provide
a pre-kindergarten educational experience to children in poor families.
- 1965 State Preschool Program was established to provide educational
experience to low-income disadvantaged children, including children
from non-English speaking families. It was modeled after the federal
Head Start Program.
- 1973 Federal tax deductions were authorized for employers providing
child care services.
- 1975 First IRS tax credits for parents using licensed child care facilities.
- 1976 Resource and Referral Agencies (R&R's) and Alternative Payment
Programs were established based on a pilot study in 1973. The Resource
and Referral Agencies helped all parents find child care near their
work or home. The Alternative Payment Programs, usually operated by
the R&R's, provided "vendor- voucher" services to low-income
families. This promoted the concept of parental choice, where the parent
selected the child care program and the provider was paid by the state.
With continual expansion, there is now at least one Resource & Referral
in every county in California.
- 1977 State Child Care Tax Credit was established as a percentage of
the federal child care tax credit. It expired in 1992.
- 1978 Child Development Program funding increased by $20.7 million
in federal and state funds. This expansion increased funding for rural
alternative payment programs, campus programs, migrant care, and resource
and referral services
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Local Control Period -
1980 to 2000
County governments through the welfare system asserted a greater influence
on child care during these two decades. States came to recognize that
local communities knew best what services were most needed in the counties
of residence. In the 1990's, this shift toward local control continued
as seen in the expansion of programs that provided parental choice, as
well as the setting of local priorities for the use of new funding. The
unprecedented economy of the 1990's and welfare reform also brought about
a dramatic increase in funding for child care.
- 1980 The Child Care and Development Services Act integrated alternative
child care programs into state child development programs and expanded
funding by $12 million dollars. Priority was given to infant care, teen
parents, rural child care, children with special needs and resource
and referral services.
- 1981 Employer income tax deductions authorized for contributions to
employee child care through salary reduction plans, also known as "dependent
care assistance plans" (DCAP).
- 1985 School-age "Latchkey" program was established to provide
before and after-school care to children in grades K through 9 at $16
million annually.
- 1985 GAIN Job Services and Workfare program was established and required
the participation of all AFDC parents with children age 6 and over to
obtain training for future employment. Child care funding, administered
by County Welfare Departments, could be used to provide care by relatives
and neighbors, as well as licensed child care providers.
- 1985 Alternative Payment Program expanded by $6 million dollars.
- 1988 A new federal AFDC child care guarantee required California to
provide child care to all AFDC parents participating in approved education
and training programs. The state also provided 12 months of transition
child care to all AFDC parents who found employment. With state participation
in Title IV-A matching funds, parents with children ages 3 to 6 were
required to participate in GAIN.
- 1990 Child care and development programs in school districts received
enrollment growth dollars. This occurred again in 1991.
- 1991 Federal Child Care and Development Block Grant was implemented
in California. This provided a large infusion of dollars to serve low
income working families. Local child care and development planning councils
were established in every county in order to set local priorities for
spending the federal block grant funds. Another first was the establishment
of quality dollars; money that could be used for quality improvement
activities such as staff training and subsidies for child development
teaching credentials.
- 1991 State Preschool Programs were expanded by $44 million annually,
giving first priority to 4-year olds.
- 1995 All child development programs were no longer grouped with other
categorical programs and began to receive Cost of Living (COLA) increases
like K- 12 schools. A child care COLA was continued yearly through 2001.
A $20 million expansion was approved, half for the state Preschool Programs
and half for general child care programs serving children ages 3 to
5 years.
- 1997 CalWORKs, the State's new welfare system was established with
time limits and work requirements. A three-stage child care system was
established to provide ongoing child care for recipients as they transitioned
from welfare to work. This new system replaced the previous AFDC child
care programs.
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*This history of funded child care in California is not intended
as a comprehensive coverage of every program type or funding implementation,
but rather a presentation of the funded programs that represent the
trends in each era presented.
Resources:
Hewes, Dorothy and Hartman, Barbara, Early Childhood Education: A
Workbook for Administrators, R&E Research Associates, Palo Alto,
California, 1972, pages 12-16.
Hewes, Dorothy, It's the Camaraderie, A History of Parent Cooperative
Preschools,
Center for Cooperatives, University of California, Davis, California,
1998.
A History of Major Legislation Affecting Child Care and Preschool
Funding, On The Capitol Doorstep, 926 J Street, Sacramento, California,
December, 2000.
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