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AUBURN, JAN. 22---Research from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) shows that half of infants and toddlers experience less than minimal-quality day care. The quality in more than one-third of family-care programs is poor enough to actually harm children's development.

In the United States, 31 percent of preschoolers are in day care, 57 percent of school-aged youth are in need of programs, and 12 percent of youth are left without adult supervision. Children spend less than 20 percent of their waking hours in school. What happens in the remaining 8 percent of their out-of-school time is critical to their development.

Child care is not a simple issue, says Ellen Abell, Extension family and child development specialist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. "The availability of quality care can vary widely. In some places only center-based care is available. In other areas, only family child care exists. Some places have infant care options available, while others do not."

"If quality care is available in a community, it may be too far away from the home or workplace for some families to access, or it may be too costly. If families are able to find quality they can afford, the issue may become the ability of that program to remain open."

Child care centers and providers often cannot charge what it costs to provide quality care because it would be costly for the families in their area to purchase. Like any business, if expenses exceed income, child care providers cannot keep their doors open.

The increase in the number of families in need of child care is staggering. For example, recent released Census Bureau information reports that 59 percent of the 3.7 million American moms with babies had jobs in 1998, compared to 31 percent in 1976.

An increase in demand often results in increases in the costs of child care, Abell says. Costs could even go higher if the availability, accessibility, affordability and sustainability of early childhood, school-aged and teen-care programs are not improved.

Child care is an even bigger issue for people trying to get off welfare. Day care has been called an equal-opportunity budget buster. If moms go to work, they may make $10 an hour, but their child-care bill may be anywhere from $300 to $500 a month per child.

As parents become more aware of the importance of quality day care, it may get even more difficult. According to Working Mother magazine, 62 percent of parents have a hard time finding quality day care for their children. The magazine's National Child-Care Survey found that a majority of states continue to provide care that is "mediocre at best."

"This evaluation is disturbing because the quality of interaction between children and their day care providers is very important to children's healthy development," says Abell.

"A small window of opportunity exists when nerve cells in young children's brains connect to each other. If young children are not in a positive learning and loving environment, those nerve connections may weaken or even fade away because they are not being used. The lack of quality interaction early can make a difference later in children's readiness and desire to learn throughout their school years."

The changing way Americans work, the environments in which children and youth learn and develop, the way we parent, the financial security of families and communities, and the community environments in which we live combine to impact the care and development of children and youth.

"Providing high-quality day care for children and enriching after-school activities for youth are investments that will pay off in the long run," says Abell. "Research consistently shows that early efforts of these types make a positive impact on young people being better able to be productive, contributing members of society."