AAP News Vol. 13 No. 9 September 1997, p. 4
© 1997 American Academy of Pediatrics
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Tharp, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Improving the quality of child care

Marjorie Tharp

Years ago, James M. Poole, M.D., FAAP, graphically learned the importance of adequate child care when he was chief of pediatrics in an Army hospital in Germany. When he discovered the child care center had lead paint, Dr. Poole immediately closed the center. The next morning, the head of European command, General Becton, called to let him know that by closing the Army's child care facility, he had "single-handedly shut down the Army" since no one could report to work.

Dr. Poole told that story during his July 17 testimony before the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources to underscore the importance of child care for families and our country. Nearly 13 million infants, toddlers and preschoolers are enrolled in out-of-home child care settings for at least part of the day or week, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

"Child care should provide support for the family because these settings are essentially an extension of the family," stated Dr. Poole, who is a member of the AAP Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption and Dependent Care.