As compared with figures from 1979, the incidence of validated abuse in child day care facilities in Texas has risen 330 percent. In response to growing public concern about the potential risks to children in day care, the state Senate Committee on Health and Human Resources was directed to examine state laws regulating child day care and to report findings and recommendations to the legislature. Four categories of state regulated child care were examined: day care centers, group day care homes, family day care homes, and registered family homes. The background of day care regulation in the state was reported; included was the finding that registered and licensed facilities have recently doubled while state child care regulatory staff has been cut by more than half. Recommendations to the legislature included (1) notifying parents when a day care facility's license or registration is being denied or revoked; (2) increasing parents' awareness of the state's limited regulatory function; (3) strengthening procedures for verifying registered family homes' compliance with fire, sanitation, and safety requirements; (4) authorizing legal remedies against registered family homes; (5) requiring family homes to renew registration every 2 years; (6) charging a fee for licensure or registration; and (7) increasing funding for the Child Care Licensing Division. Regulation of registered family homes, child care training, and criminal background checks for child care providers were also discussed. An appendix includes the state regulation for child care facilities. (CB)