Although child care programs for mildly ill children are proliferating around the country, very few states have developed regulations for these types of programs, and no states have developed standards or guidelines. Based upon this concern, a group of medical and early childhood professionals, parents, and directors of programs for mildly ill children formed a state-wide (Arizona) committee to develop high quality yet reasonable guidelines that addressed both the medical and developmental needs of the mildly ill child. The resulting guidelines, presented here, cover 2 levels of programs: Level 1, for which the director should meet all of the requirements for licensed child care directors and have completed training in the areas of communicable disease control, recognition and care of usual childhood illnesses, and instruction on handwashing, feeding, and diapering; and Level 2, for which the director should be either a physician with recent pediatric experience, a pediatric nurse practitioner, or a registered nurse with recent pediatric experience. Following a list of definitions and descriptions of the two levels of care, the guidelines cover the following areas: (1) human resources; (2) professional consultation; (3) admission procedures; (4) inclusion and exclusion policies; (5) separation of ill and other children; (6) health related services; (7) interactions among staff and children; (8) activities; (9) equipment and fixtures; (10) hygiene; (11) diapering; (12) physical environment; (13) drinking water and fluids; and (14) infant care. Two appendices present an opposing point of view to the inclusion/exclusion policy, and a list of illnesses for nonadmittance to a regular child care program. (HTH)