CDCA was founded in 1969 as a result of the deep interest of a number of child care center directors in establishing a central organization for child care. At the same time the United Way of St. Louis was interested in assuring that high quality standards were in place in child care centers receiving United Way support. Today CDCA has a staff of 47 with an annual budget of $2 million. Through its programs - Child Care Resource & Referral, Child Nutrition Services - the agency assists over 10,000 families find child care, fields over 16,000 phone calls for advice from child care professionals and families and reimburses over 800 child care providers for feeding 15,000 young children.