COMPLEXITIES IN MANAGING THE CHILD CARE INDUSTRY: AN OBSERVATION ON CHALLENGES AND POTENTIALS.

The evolution of programmatic childcare since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of early 2009, as well as the increasing diversity of childcare recipients, call urgently for novel insight into the morphology of the childcare sector. This paper attempts such elucidation, focusing especially on the structure, accessibility, delivery methods, and policies that affect the sector's various programs. The authors assert that childcare is a public right rather than an elite privilege, and that quality programs should therefore be available to parents at a reasonable cost. So far, this remains an American dream yet to be realized. For far too many families, attaining high quality childcare requires trekking a path riddled with difficult terrain. The authors contend that the burden of navigating such obstacles would subside with a restructuring of the current childcare sector. Issues to be addressed include the following: (a) the coexistence of public, private, and non-profit agencies in the childcare industry; (b) the operation of legal and non-legal services within the same market segment; (c) diversity of the work force and resulting instability; (d) various governmental provisions such as grants and loans; e) preferences of ethnic clientele. Taking these essential factors into consideration, the authors argue that the childcare sector requires a public-private joint venture in which the necessary financial and human resources are pooled together to reach the common goal-that is, to provide every family equal access to quality childcare, which is not only crucial to our country's foundation, but also a fundamental human right. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]