Turning your child over to another adult, often outside the context of family;friends and even community is an anxiety provoking proposition. Yet in order to provide for their families, thousands of parents have established this as a part of their daily routine. Most parents describe searching for child care arrangements as a harrowing experience. Piecing together information about child care through word of mouth, school and supermarket bulletin boards, community centers or referral agencies; educating oneself about how to identify quality; and long waiting lists make finding child care a time consuming task filled with worry The search is especially difficult for families whose options are limited by income, non-traditional working hours or the limited child care choices available in many low-income neighborhoods. But regardless of income or individual circumstance, parents count on government regulations and monitoring to ensure that their children are in child care arrangements free from health and safety hazards and that promote their child’s cognitive and emotional development. For many children, child care is the setting in which they first learn to interact with other children on a regular basis and to establish bonds with non-familial adults. Research has shown the link between thinking and feeling, and that children need to be protected from physical hazards, and equally important, from harsh, inattentive or distant relationships with care- givers. Unfortunately, greater knowledge about children’s first learning experiences has not resulted in a comprehensive system of quality early care and education. National studies of child care have found that the elements of high quality care are found in only 25% of child care settings.