A model for cooperative day care is proposed which aims to protect the beneficial aspects of the child rearing relations of the nuclear family by substituting a caring group of parents for the caring solitary parent. Early child care in the nuclear family provides a secure wholistic relationship between mother and child, but it also sets that relationship in the context of roles which alienate family members from each other. There may be an inevitable relationship between real long term solutions to the growing child care crisis and a restructuring of the now accepted sexual division of labor. Described are some of the issues and problems involved in the creation of the State Street Center parent cooperative in New Haven, Connecticut. Included is a discussion of the theoretical foundations of the program, emphasizing some of the areas in which group care in a cooperating community alters the child care environment. (CS)