The United States Congress passed the Comprehensive Child Development Act of 1971 as a result of the suport of the most broadly based coalition assembled since enactment of the major social legislation of the early 1960s. Nevertheless, on December 9, 1971, President Nixon vetoed the legislation, contending that "neither the immediate need nor the desirabliity of a national child development program" had been demonstrated. The needs of increasing numbers of employed women, single parents, adolescent mothers, and families with special needs remain unmet. Part 1 of this book documents pressing social and economic forces and everday personal crises that contribute to the need for child care services to a growing majority of families. Part 2 describes 12 high-quality, comprehensive, and extraordinarily diverse types of local public and private sector child care programs, highlighting the lessons they offer for other communities and policy makers. Representatives of the exemplary programs attended a child care models workshop held in June 1981. Part 3 draws upon the accumulated experience of workshop participants to spell out what advocates can do in both the intermediate and the longer range to protect and expand presently existing effective local and national child care programs. Related materials, including a list of additional resources, are appended. (RH)