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Letter: Unlicensed daycare

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Letter to the Editor
Author: 
Ferns, Carolyn
Format: 
Article
Publication Date: 
4 Mar 2014

EXCERPTS

Re: With A Light Touch (editorial, March 3)

You say "most [unlicensed] home daycares are safe and well-run." Where is the evidence? It is precisely because these arrangements are unregulated that we know so little about them. We only find out about abuses when a complaint is made or, as has happened a staggering four times in recent months, a child dies.

A light touch is what we have now, with little oversight and an ineffective sprinkling of licensed spaces. What is needed is a firm regulatory hand; the Child Care Modernization Act is a good start. But it won't do the trick unless it is paired with some heavy-duty funding to create a high quality system, with affordable, licensed spaces for those who need them.

Carolyn Ferns, Toronto

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