CHILD DAY-CARE - A KEY BUILDING-BLOCK OF FAMILY SUPPORT AND FAMILY PRESERVATION PROGRAMS

With all of the stresses on families in the 1990s, child day care has become a necessity of life. While child day care services have always been a part of child welfare, they have sometimes taken a back seat to the crises that arise in protective services. As child welfare services are reframed to emphasize family support, strengths, and resiliencies, an enhanced role for child day care services is emerging. Using the Pyramid of Services model, this article organizes the complexity of child day care systems and delineates their place in the framework of family preservation and support services.