BENTONVILLE - Fewer than 20 percent of day-care providers in Northwest Arkansas meet the highest standards on a nationally recognized assessment scale that measures safety, adult-to-child ratio and a variety of other elements, said Michelle Stephens, executive director of the Helen R. Walton Children's Enrichment Center of Northwest Arkansas.

JONESBORO -- Side effects of the struggling economy are making their way to Region 8. Families are taking a good long look at child care. Some parents are cutting back; others are actually looking for more. It's a sign of leaner times, shrinking paychecks and job layoffs.

When parents and families get personally involved in education, their children do better in school and grow up to be more successful in life. Sounds like common sense, doesn't it?

Mountain Home - A Mountain Home daycare where a woman abducted a 16-month-old boy last summer will not face any permanent state sanctions over the incident.

A shortage of child-care assistance funds has prompted state administrators to place thousands of parents on a waiting list and to consider restricting eligibility.

Every year, Arkansans are passing up on about $280 million in state and federal benefits, Gov. Mike Beebe said Monday in announcing a $1.4 million pilot program aimed at helping low-income residents to receive all of the benefits for which they are eligible.