Excerpts from the plan:
The Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC supports the right of every child and family to access quality child care within their own community. To realize this right, we need a publicly funded, community-delivered, comprehensive non-profit child care system that:
- provides children from birth to 12 years of age with optimal environments in which to grow and thrive.
- provides families with a range of quality, affordable, inclusive, accessible choices including licensed family and centre-based care.
- provides those who care for our children the wages, working conditions and respect that reflect the value of the work they do.
- helps build cohesive, equitable, safe and healthy communities.
The reasons are self-evident and fully supported by extensive, credible research. The early years are a critical period of development. The vast majority of parents, especially mothers of young children, are in the paid labour force and use non-parental care. The quality of care their children receive matters. Good care promotes healthy development but poor care can do harm.
This is an opportune time for the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC to release Our Child Care Action Plan. This Plan:
- clearly demonstrates that if there is political will &em; a system can be built.
- sets a standard by which BC's Child Care Action Plan can and will be judged.
Our Child Care Plan has two key elements:
- Provincial child care legislation
- 5 Actions to build the system