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With limited government funding and clients who can't afford to pay, it isn't easy for a day-care program to operate in an area with a high number of low-income families. Just ask Debbie Milne, executive director of Tracey Park's First Adventure program. Milne had announced earlier this month that she was forced to close the program despite high demand for its services. She said enrolment has lagged because of a local waiting list for subsidized child care.
But soon after reporting plans to close the centre at the end of the month, Milne told The Intelligencer that an anonymous donor has given $25,000 to keep it operating. The funding covers the program's annual base budget.
It's a noble, incredibly generous gesture, but it's not the final answer, as even Milne attests. The child care system remains "incredibly broken," she said. "Unless it is fixed, it will remain an issue."
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Milne says her program serves a dozen children ages two through six, many with high needs and from low-income families. Staff also help with parenting skills. There are about 160 families waiting to enrol in the program, but many are on a local waiting list for subsidized child care.
But Tracey Park isn't the only place in which the situation is critical. There are not enough day care spaces, nor is there enough funding to create more or help parents who need the service.
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Earlier this year, the provincial government expanded eligibility for subsidies, allowing more people to qualify for subsidized day care. But that change didn't come with the funding needed to meet the demand, thus the local municipality's funding shortfall.
The federal government, meanwhile, followed through on its promise to provide a $1,200 annual child care subsidy directly to parents. But the feds say they can't account for more than $2 billion in child care funding provided to the provinces over the past three years. Most of the provinces are long overdue on reports of how the money was spent.
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Those who will make decisions affecting the future of child care need to hear from the people to whom those decisions matter most, and the message from parents and care providers must be clear. If it isn't, it will take even longer to solve the mess that is child care in Ontario and Canada. Families will continue to struggle, and children will suffer.
Finding answers makes sense. If families can't afford child care, one parent may have to stay home, meaning increased hardship for the family - and the possibility of a greater demand on other social programs - and negative economic effects as more and more families spend less and less.
A public meeting is June 12 at 7 p.m. at Loyalist College. It will be hosted by the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care.
- reprinted from the Belleville Intelligencer