Pursuant to House Joint Resolution No. 70, the Council selected Delegate Arthur R. Giesen, of Verona, a member of the House of Delegates and a member of the Council, to serve as Chairman of the study. Selected to serve as members of the Committee with Delegate Giesen were Delegate Dorothy S. McDiarmid of Vienna, Delegate John D. Gray of Hampton, Delegate Evelyn M. Hailey of Norfolk, Delegate Norman Sisisky of Petersburg, Senator James T. Edmunds of Kenbridge, Senator Paul W. Manns of Bowling Green, Dr. Charles G. Caldwell of Harrisonburg, Mary H. Steinhardt of Hollins, Betty H. Peters of Hampton, Dr. Martha Hamilton of Richmond, Peggy Swanson of Annandale, Louella Pangle of Strasburg, Dr. Harrison Spencer of Abingdon, and Virginia M. Babcock of Appomattox.

In November of 1974, following Delegate Giesen's resignation from the House of Delegates and, therefore, from the Virginia Advisory Legislative Council, the Council appointed Delegate Vincent F. Callahan, Jr., to serve as the new Chairman of the Committee.

The Council's study was initiated in response to the Governor's Conference of Day Care Needs in 1973. This Conference made many recommendations which could improve the delivery of services to children, but there was insufficient time to act on the proposals. To carry out its task the Committee identified certain issues for its consideration: What are the needs of young children and what responsibility does the State have to meet any or all of these needs. Information has been sought concerning what State agencies are currently delivering services to children, what needs of children are going unmet and for what reasons, and, finally, what can be done by the State to fulfill these deficiencies. The consideration of an office or agency which would plan, administer, and coordinate State programs affecting children and which would serve as an advocate for children's services was the main objective of these inquiries.

In its initial deliberations, the Committee decided to concentrate on children from birth to eight years of age, with the understanding that prenatal problems and the needs of children over eight would be given attention when necessary. There is a nationwide trend toward regarding early childhood education as encompassing the ages zero to eight years of age, and in the preventive health field, many programs are administered to the primary grade child. The Committee felt it was necessary to limit the scope of its study in this way, in order that the inevitably broad range of children's needs which it would face would be more manageable.

To obtain as much information as possible concerning the types of programs and services now being offered by the State to children, the Committee invited each State agency involved in the planning and delivery of services to children to appear before it. After hearing from these State agencies, a series of six statewide public hearings was held to determine the effectiveness on the local level of the programs mentioned at previous meetings and to hear public testimony on the issues the Committee had formulated. In conjunction with several of these hearings, the Committee toured day care centers, special schools, and institutions in the regions where the hearings were conducted. Each meeting and hearing held and each facility visited provide a wealth of information about Virginia's youngest citizens. The Committee came to realize, however, that it would not be possible for it to recommend to the Council for action in the 1975 Session of the General Assembly the structure and guidelines for the establishment of a new office or agency for children. More time would be required to review the programs serving young children and to assess the need for new ones.

The Council has considered the information and material before it and makes this report.

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Meeting the needs of all young children is of vital economic and social importance. The quality of life in the early years is often the determining factor in the ultimate physical and mental health of an individual and in his educational and vocational attainment. This fact is not presently recognized by State policy. The young child cannot always be the sole responsibility of his parents, since they often lack the knowledge to recognize his special needs and the resources to fulfill them. The State of Virginia should establish policies and implement programs which have as their goal that of providing the greatest possible opportunity for every child to develop his physical, emotional, social, and intellectual competencies to their fullest.

In its deliberations the Committee designated three areas of concern in meeting the needs of children zero to eight years of age: health care, education and development and quality child care services. It is within this framework that the Council makes its findings and recommendations.