Excerpts:
In order to lift children and their families out of poverty, we have to ensure that all children have what they need for the best possible start in life. A child's early development is a strong predictor of success in school and in later life. The investments we make now in children and their families will be repaid many times over, across many generations, and contribute to a stronger economic and social future for all Ontarians.
Year three highlights:
Full-Day Kindergarten - Many studies have shown that full-day learning programs for four- and fiveyear- olds have a positive impact on academic, social and emotional development. This gives children a better chance of finishing high school, going on to postsecondary education and getting a good job. In fact, research indicates that every dollar invested in early learning repays a seven-to-one return on investment. In 2011, Full-Day Kindergarten expanded to reach approximately 50,000 four- and five-year-olds in nearly 800 schools. This will further expand to 120,000 students in 2012-13, and the program will be fully implemented by September 2014, benefiting 250,000 students. Full-Day Kindergarten saves working parents up to $6,500 a year per child on child care and allows for greater employment opportunities.
Best Start Child and Family Centres - Throughout the winter of 2010, the Minister of Children and Youth Services along with Early Learning Advisor Dr. Charles Pascal consulted with parents, service providers and experts on developing an integrated child and family services system through the Ontario Best Start initiative. The goal is to provide seamless, accessible family-centred programs and services in Ontario communities. Important next steps include learning from communities that have successfully integrated services through community action research, monitoring the seven speech and language services demonstration sites to evaluate different integrated service delivery models, and developing an outcomes index to monitor and measure outcomes effectively.
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High-quality early learning and child care - Safe, high-quality and affordable child cae is critically important to the well-being of low-income families. Ontario's investments help parents access child care, allowing them to play an active role in the labour force while giving their kids the essential skills they need for success in school.
The responsibility for child care is transferred to the Ministry of Education to provide a more integrated approach to the continuum of child care, early learning and education. Since 2003, Ontario's commitment to child care funding has increased from $532.4 million to $869 million, an increase of 63 per cent. Additionally, in 2010, Ontario committed to permanently fill the gap left by the federal government with an investment of $63.5 million per year. Through Ontario's investments, nearly 43,000 more children are receiving fee subsidies every year. Licensed child care capacity has grown by nearly 80,000 spaces since 2003. We are committed to working with our partners to modernize Ontario's child care system.