• Early childhood education can be a rewarding career.little preschooler image by Renata Osinska from Fotolia.com
  
  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2008, child daycare services totaled about 859,200 wage and salary jobs in the United States. Each state varies in terms of laws regarding opening and operating child care centers. However, there are a few federal regulations that govern how centers receiving federal funding are to function and how staff is trained.
  
  

Age Requirements

• According to the Administration for Children and Families, most states have an age requirement in order to legally work in child care facilities. To be a child care center director, most states require an applicant to be at least 21 years old. Teachers must be at least 18 years old, and assistant teachers or aides must be at least 16 years old.
  
  

Head Start Program

• According to Title 45, Chapter 13, Part 1306, Section 1306.23 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Head Start program staff must receive training before they begin teaching as well as while they are in service in order to acquire or increase their knowledge and skill-set. According to the regulation, training must focus on improving the staff and volunteer's ability to fulfill the service requirements of the Head Start program's regulations and policies. All staff must be educated on the program's philosophy and goals.
  
  

Performance Measurement

• The federal government and the Performance Results Act of 1993 requires the Child Care Bureau to report on the Child Care and Development Fund's (CCDF) performance on both short-term and long-term goals. In fiscal year 2010, the CCDF made $5 billion available to U.S. states, territories and tribes to help low-income families obtain quality child care. The program also is intended to improve child care standards and coordination between early childhood development and after-school programs. The CCDF's progress is annually reported in the President's Budget Justification to Congress.