CCCABC

Re: Day care bucks advanced despite reporting lapse [read article below]
CanWest News Service
April 4, 2004
Byline: Norma Greenaway

As Minister Frulla points out, (Ottawa Citizen article, April 4, 2004) the intent of the Multilateral Framework Agreement funding is to enhance access to regulated child care, to create new quality spaces and to make them more affordable for more families. But what about the provincial accountability to the federal government and to the taxpayers when a government cannot be trusted to manage the federal funds?

For the last two years families and child care advocates in BC have raised serious concerns about the significant cuts in spending on licensed and regulated child care in our province. We have pointed out that the BC government is using federal early childhood dollars to replace, rather than add, to provincial child care spending.

The BC Government’s own report shows that while BC received $50 million from the federal government in 2002-2003 for early childhood, the BC government chose to cut $23 million from child care subsidies for low and moderate income families and to use $27.6 million taken from child care and other ECD programs to increase spending on other priorities. The provincial priorities are not improving the affordability, accessibility or sustainability of licensed and regulated child care programs for children, families and child care providers.

It’s clear to us that reporting and new accountability measures between the federal government and the provinces/territories are required to ensure that the BC government cannot continue to misuse federal funds.

– – – – –

[ The original article ]
Day care bucks advanced despite reporting lapse
CanWest News Service
Sun 04 Apr 2004
Byline: Norma Greenaway
Source: CanWest News Service; Ottawa Citizen

OTTAWA – More federal dollars aimed at increasing access to regulated child care began flowing to the provinces this month, even though only two met the requirement to report how past funds were spent on early childhood development.

The lack of reporting beyond British Columbia and Alberta has raised alarm bells among advocates of regulated child care. They say Ottawa shouldn’t send another penny to the other provinces and territories until they detail how early childhood development money is spent.

But the money, a total of $150 million announced in last month’s federal budget, went automatically to the provinces and territories on April 1 as part of the multibillion-dollar transfer of funds for social programs at the beginning of the new fiscal year.

“I think you should have to demonstrate that you did something before you get the money,” says Martha Friendly, co-ordinator of the University of Toronto’s childcare resource and research unit. “The problem (with the bock transfer) is there is no mechanism if the province basically wants to make off with the money for other purposes.”

Friendly is among those pushing the federal government to separate the block transfer into separate funds, earmarking one specifically for early learning and child care.

Federal Social Development Minister Liza Frulla says she is concerned about the reporting gap. The minister said she wrote her provincial and territorial counterparts last week reminding them they were supposed to provide baseline reports on spending on early learning and child care to their populations by last November. Quebec, the only province with a universal child care program, is not part of the multilateral framework agreements on early learning and child care.

On Sunday, Frulla opened a three-day trip to the Maritimes to meet her counterparts and press them to make the reports, and commit to using the new money to enhance access to regulated child care.

Frulla argues that with more than seven in 10 women with children under the age of six now in the workforce, there is intense grassroots pressure on provincial governments to account for how day care dollars are spent.

The budget ramped up child-care spending to $1.050 billion over the five-year program, $150 million more than the Chretien government promised in its last budget last year.

Frulla, who met her Ontario counterparts last week and plans to travel west in May, says she’s giving the provinces and territories the benefit of the doubt because many had recent elections.

Frulla said she wants to use the talks to ensure “we are all committed to child care” and that “the money gets spent the right way.”

Frulla says attaching strings to the money is not the answer because early learning and child care has to be a joint responsibility. The federal government cannot afford to fund a national program on its own so it cannot unilaterally call the shots, she said.

CCCABC

According to Premier Campbell, the BC government:

• has “increased child care resources” and
• is “strengthening services and programs for women.”

This is what he claims in his “New Era for Women.”

We need to set the record straight!

The truth is that over the last three years, more than $840 million has been cut from the three Ministries with responsibilities for child care, children, women, and families.

Quality child care is not affordable for most BC parents and government cuts, policy changes and restructuring are destabilizing licensed child care.

Premier Campbell says he is interested in community input — Let’s tell him what we know!
Add your voices — Send an e-mail to premier@gov.bc.ca and:

• Tell him how BC’s cross ministerial budget cuts are affecting you.
• Tell him that if his government is serious about meeting the needs of women and children, he should reverse the cuts, increase provincial child care spending to match previous budgets, and immediately start using the federal child care dollars to supplement, not replace, provincial child care spending.

CUPE

It’s been more than a decade since the federal Liberal government promised a national child care program to help working parents and ensure quality care in children’s early years.

Since then, the only province to follow through and deliver a universal program has been Quebec. Currently, 40 per cent of the 600,000 regulated child care spaces in Canada are in Quebec.

But even those gains are in jeopardy. The Charest government has moved to increase the cost of Quebec’s $5-a-day child care program – the envy of child care activists across the country – to $7-a-day. And there are concerns the Liberals might move to further erode the program. This, activists say, would be a major setback for children and parents across the country.

Read more…

CCCABC

The Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC and our members across the province send greetings of solidarity to the tens of thousands of Quebec families, child care workers and community activists who are fighting to save the most progressive and only universally accessible child care system in North America.

Quebec’s child care program has been a benchmark for those of us in BC who have worked for over two decades to build a similar system here. Now that our provincial government is waging a direct assault on the limited progress we have achieved to date, we look to Quebec’s family and child care policy as evidence that, when there is political and public will, a universal child care program is possible

We applaud your ability to mobilize parents across Quebec. Their angry response to the government’s plans to erode your system is evidence that when women have access to affordable child care – they value and rely on it.

While our resources are limited, the Coalition is ready and willing to do whatever we can to support your struggle and to protect Quebec’s child care system.

Yours in solidarity,
Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC

– – –

La CCABC et nos membres à travers la province envoyons souhaits de solidarité aux dizaines de milliers de familles Québecoises, travailleurs/euses de garde à l’enfance et activistes communautaires qui luttent pour sauver la seule système universale et accessible de garde à l’enfance en Amérique du Nord.

La programme de garde au Quebec a fourni une modèle pour nous autres en Colombie Brittanique qui avons travaillé pour plus que vingt années en essayant à établir une système semblable ici. Maintenant que notre gouvernement provincial est en train d’attaquer directement le progrès limité que nous avons obtenu a date, la politique familiale et de garde à l’enfance du Québec nous montre que quand il ya du volonté publique, une programme universale de garde est possible.

Nous applaudissons vos abilités à mobiliser des parents partout au Québec. Leurs réactions furieuses au plan du gouvernement d’éroder votre système est preuve que quand des femmes on accès à garde pas chère, elles l’utilisent et la chèrissent.

Malgré que nos ressources sont limités, la Coalition est prête et disposée à faire tout ce qu’on peut pour supporter votre lutte et a protéger la système de garde à l’enfance au Québec.

En solidarité,
CCCABC

Campbell River Child Care Society

For your information, please share with others who you feel would be interested in “the cause”.

The staff at four child care programs in Campbell River, operated by the CR Child Care Society, with support from their Board of Directors, are planning to suspend services for one day on March 31, 2003. They will mark it as a Day of Mourning for Child Care in BC.

It is hoped that through this, they can draw attention to the loss of hope in the political will to build a system of affordable, regulated, professional child care services that are accessible to all families. The new (April 1, 2003) C-COF (Child Care Operating Funding) ignores the funding needs that were previously acknowledged by the Provincial Government.

Group child care centres face the biggest cuts, and they will be challenged to survive, particularly those for school aged children. For some programs, the future looks grim. Rather than go quietly into that future, they have decided to take pay cuts, they will raise fees, and they will stop for a day and ask, “Take a moment to think about child care. How much do group child care programs mean to you? To our community? To taxpayers? Can we better afford to keep them, or lose them?”

The answers to these questions will shape the future of child care in this province. The voices that must be heard answering, are those of parents, grandparents, employers, educators, municipal politicians . . . No voices means “no problem”.

March 31 was the day chosen because it is the final day of the current funding, and it is the 21st service day in the month. Because people on subsidy can access only 20 days of subsidy each month, they would have to pay for their child care that day anyway, so by scheduling the suspension for this day they will not “lose” any money. The details of that day have yet to be worked out. They may be dependent on whether other programs in the community join the action. They do expect to have staff at each of their facilities to act as information posts.

Are you and the staff at your centre willing to support this idea? We are publicizing the idea in the hope that it will catch on in other communities and that it will be a provincial day of mourning for child care in BC. Together we CAN make a difference!

If you have any ideas or wish to lend support, please let us know. E-mail Kathy Rae at krae@island.net and Joyce McMann at jmcmann@island.net.

Campbell River Child Care Planning Committee

We are very concerned about the future viability of many group child care programs in our community. The Child Care Operating Funding Program (C-COF) is going to kill them. One of our infant/toddler centres will be loosing about $1500 per month after April 1st. They are already struggling because the loss of social needs day care subsidies have hit families that can no longer afford their services, subsidies have become more difficult to access, and the cost of caring for infant and toddlers remains high! A before and after, out of school program anticipates a loss of about $2000 each month with the loss of the FAP transition and CCP. Another group centre with 3-5 year olds and school age children will loose about $5,000 a month! People are talking about cutting wages? (the averages wage for an ECE here is $11.87) Increasing the child/staff ratio? Closing their doors? None of the strategies are healthy for children, parents and/or professional child care workers, but we can not see the light at the end of the tunnel any longer!

Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada / Canadian Child Care Federation, Ottawa

With a federal budget expected in February, 90% of Canadians say they strongly agree (51%) or agree (39%) with the statement “Canada should have a nationally-co-ordinated child care plan.” And 86% strongly agree (32%) or agree (54%) that “There can be a publicly funded child care system that makes quality child care available to all Canadian children.”

These are some of the initial findings of a poll released today by the Canadian Child Care Federation (CCCF) and the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada (CCAAC). The poll of 1,200 Canadians was conducted by Millward Brown Goldfarb.

“Canadians are sending a loud and clear signal that they view the creation of a national, publicly funded child care plan as a high priority,” said CCAAC Executive Director Maryann Bird. “The Canadian government ought to show that it has received the message by making a substantial, multi-year commitment to such a plan in the upcoming budget.”

Bird also noted that “Canada has fallen behind almost all OECD countries in providing child care. Even the U.S. is moving ahead of us on this. It’s time we caught up. Canada should be a leader not a laggard.”

Other polling results revealed:

• 90% of Canadians either strongly agree (44%) or agree (46%) with the statement “I believe government could do more to ensure that all Canadians have access to quality child care”;
• 96% believe that the quality of Canadian child care can be improved by “regulating all child care services to meet quality standards”;
• 93% say that child care is very important (71%) or important (22%) to “allowing women to participate in the workforce”; and,
• 90% strongly agree (41%) or agree (49%) that “quality child care is essential to the prosperity of Canada”.

“I think it’s especially significant that people overwhelmingly recognize the importance of quality child care to our economy,” said CCCF Executive Director Sandra Griffin. “Quality child care is a vital long-term investment in children and provides an immediate benefit for parents by allowing them to work.”

Griffin added that “in the 21st century, child care may be the single most important investment we can make to improve our productivity and quality of life. Experts tell us that for every $1 we invest in early childhood education and child care, we get $2 or $3 in return. I can’t imagine a single businessperson who wouldn’t be happy with that kind of return on investment.

“But the key to getting the return is investing in the right kind of child care. We’ll only get the quality we need from regulated settings with well-trained and well-paid staff.”

The Millward Brown Goldfarb survey was administered to a random, national-proportionate sample between November 27, 2002 and December 12, 2002. The results of such a sample of 1,200 are accurate to within +/- 2.9%, 19-out-of-20 times. Further results from the poll will be released later this winter.

On January 14, administrators and supervisors of group centres (including school age) are meeting to address the new funding program. One of our multi-licensed child care facilities is losing as much as $25,000 a year.

We have asked administrators to come with specific dollar figures to estimate the loss in our community. We will be discussing the impact on our community, looking at solutions for sustainability and ideas to increase public awareness. We will let you know the outcome of this meeting.

We contacted all child care facilities to ensure that they had received the new operating grant application package from the Ministry and remind them of the deadline. Some had not opened the kit and others didn’t realize there was a deadline. Others had not received the kit at all.

The longer the solidarity line
The shorter the struggle

I am a single parent with 3 children, ages 10, 6 and 3. I am a full time Selkirk College student, currently employed full time as a co-op student until the end of this year. In January I will be returning to college to complete my final semester prior to receiving a diploma in Computer Information Systems.

I have no support system. I have no family in this area, nor any real friends whom I can depend on as I am relatively new to the area, and being a single parent doesn’t leave a lot of time to forge new friendships. I rely heavily on Hobbit Hill Children’s Centre to provide quality care for my children so that I may go to work or school. I have already seen my tuition double (with no offsetting raise in student loan levels), my child care subsidy slashed by more than half, and now, to my shock, disbelief and horror, I have been informed that this government has not committed to provide funding to assist in paying the wages of childcare workers.

Where does this government think families will find the money to pay for quality child care? For this society to continue operations, parents would have to pay $55 per day, per child. Impossible. That would mean that I would not be able to work until my eldest child would be responsible enough to care for her younger siblings, or leave my children in the care of an unlicensed, untrained “sitter”. Is that fair to the children? Is it too much for parents to ask that our children be cared for by qualified childcare workers? Is it too much for childcare workers to ask that they be paid a salary to reflect the admirable jobs they do? The staff at Hobbit Hill do much more than just “watch” the children in their care. They work with the children, teach the children, help children with their homework, help to build their self-esteem. They take the children on outings and expose them to activities that as a single parent I have not been able to do. They have assisted me with parenting techniques and advice. They provide an invaluable service to the community. Where will our society be when only the rich can afford child care and the rest of us are forced to raise “latch-key kids”?

I truly feel that this government is punishing me for being a single parent. Yes, the ultimate choice was up to me. I chose to have children. I chose to leave my partner. I could have stayed in an abusive relationship and waited until “death do us part”, but I wasn’t prepared to be killed just yet. I was under the impression that our government had a mandate to end family violence, however, I now wonder. I have faced prejudice and increased financial burdens. I have watched this government take the food off my children’s plate, and in essence they are “starving our futures”.

Sincerely,

Debra Morris
Castlegar, B.C.

Premier Gordon Campbell
P.O. Box 9060
STN PROV GOVT
Victoria, British Columbia
V8W 9E2

Dear Premier Campbell,

Parents want to be, and need to be, a substantive part of the New Era for British Columbia. Parents contribute significantly to the tax base in British Columbia and more importantly, are responsible for raising the next generation. However, parents cannot raise children in isolation. Early childhood care is a necessary public service that benefits us all and deserves to be funded, like other public services, through the tax system.

Parents For Child Care is concerned by what is happening to families in British Columbia. While your government has maintained core funding specific to child care there are two ways that other initiatives of your government are having a serious negative impact. The destructive cuts to subsidy are causing turmoil for low income families, and in particular for single-parent working mothers. Furthermore, because subsidy cuts are causing parents to leave programs there is a ‘ripple effect’ throughout the system as declining enrolment affects the stability of already fragile centres.

The other issue is related to the disparate nature of childcare funding in British Columbia. The lack of a consolidated ministry program has forced childcare service providers to find funding in whatever Ministerial budget they could. The result is that bits and pieces of childcare funding have been spread through a variety of Ministries. Although we appreciate the initiative to protect core funding under the auspices of the Minister of State for Women’s Equality, this has not prevented childcare funding from being seriously undermined by the Core Services Review.

The goal of the core services review, to pare Ministries down to their core function, acts as a cross-ministerial assault on the ‘non-core’ child care funding spread throughout the government. The resulting closure of child care centres at colleges and hospitals across BC is just one of the side effects. These closures are wreaking havoc on the lives of working, studying and tax-paying parents. Child care, and its funding needs, must be regarded as a complete package and consolidated in a single Ministry with all its funding restored in one budget. Cuts in other Ministries would not then have such a devastating impact.

In contrast to these concerns, Parents For Child Care would like to express its appreciation for your government’s introduction of the school-age grant for centres that participated in the previous government’s funding assistance plan. However, parents are concerned that the introduction of this funding is not tied to reduced fees for families and so does not necessarily address affordability. We are also still awaiting the details of the new operating grant to take effect April 1, 2003. We would not only like to see this plan but details of your government’s long-term plans to address the crisis for parents created by the scarcity and expense of quality child care placements in BC.

The need for such a long-term plan, consolidated in a single Ministry is clear. In developing such a plan your government must take account of the economic argument put forward by the Vancouver Board of Trade in 1999. It clearly outlined the economic benefits of government investing in child care services and recommended that investment in early child development for children aged 0 – 6 years become a public spending priority. This report was based on economic research by Cleveland and Krashinsky (University of Toronto) which argued there is at least a 2 to 1 payback in economic benefit if we invest in our children from birth to age six.

In the first six years of life a child goes through the most critical periods for brain development. These periods help determine future capacity. As McCain and Mustard explain in The Early Years (1999), these years set the base for competence and coping skills that will affect learning, behaviour and health throughout life. Quality child care is central to the success of a comprehensive approach to early child development. We suggest, as does the Commission on Early Learning and Child Care for the City of Toronto (2002), that the division between “care” and “development” is misplaced.

A high quality publicly funded child care system supports the Liberal government’s New Era by providing for increased workforce participation. This is even more important in light of the recent BC Chamber of Commerce paper ‘Closing the Skills Gap’ which highlighted the need to get as many people into the workforce as possible. In short, child care must be a major component of the British Columbia economic recovery and will be a key to its long term success.

It must also be mentioned that Parents For Child Care expects our provincial government to use the majority of the federal Early Childhood Development Initiative funds to invest in child care services for BC children. These federal funds were earmarked to strengthen early childhood development, learning and care. We expect our provincial government to be accountable for the way in which these dollars are spent.

Parents across this province demand their voices be heard and we, Parents For Child Care, look forward to spreading the news that your government understands the child care issue and is willing to invest in children and families.

Yours Truly,

Necole Anderson
Chairperson
Parents For Child Care

cc. Minister Lynn Stephens
Minister Gordon Hogg
Minister Jane Stewart
Minister Linda Reid

Campaign BC, the B.C. Federation of Labour’s province-wide mobilization against the Campbell government’s economic and social policies, has confirmed route details for a massive May 25 march planned in Vancouver.

“Opposition to this government is not only solid, but growing daily,” said Federation President Jim Sinclair. “We’re calling on anyone who is angry with this government to join us throughout the downtown core to show Campbell that voters know his economic and social policies have utterly failed British Columbians.”

Demonstrators will begin marshalling at 10:30 am in four locations: Victory Square, Library Square, the Burrard Skytrain station and Seaforth Peace Park, in Kitsilano. The two sides will join together at the north end of Burrard Bridge and head for Sunset Beach, to join a rally scheduled at noon.

“What’s happening with our schools, hospitals, courthouses, legal aid system and community programs is a disgrace,” said Sinclair. “If you care about your future, this is the place to show the government you’re not willing to stand by and let them wipe out programs that have taken generations to build.”

CCCABC

Eligibility for the Child Care Subsidy will be reduced to a lower income level as part of the Liberal cuts to social programs announced last week. This means that many low income families will no longer be eligible to receive assistance towards their child care fees.

Child care advocates across the province are stunned and horrified.

“We have been telling the government over and over again that quality child care is not affordable for most parents. But, this government, that promised to listen and work with community groups chose to cut the heart out of Child Care BC and now they are reducing financial support to the very poorest of already low income families.” says a distraught Sharon Gregson, child care advocate.

This cut will affect the most vulnerable of our society, something that the Liberal government promised not to do during the election campaign. “Let’s be very clear. Cuts for these families will mean parents choose between quality child care and feeding their kids. We are not talking about families who have two cars, a boat and vacation property. These families are barely surviving! Any cuts will be devastating for these children” says Susan Harney of the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of B.C. “Families will be forced to leave their children in cheaper, unsafe, babysitting where adults are untrained and have no criminal record checks. Obviously the Liberals are willing to trade these children to save a few dollars”.

The Coalition strongly urges its membership to speak out against these cuts. What can you do?

1. Call or write your MLA. Tell them how these cuts will directly affect families. Personal contact, even phone calls, makes all the difference.
2. Email your stories to susanharney@shaw.ca We are collecting information from around the province that will be passed on to the media.
3. Organize meetings in your area with other social service agencies/programs. This is a time for us to speak with one voice. As we know child care is not the only service seriously affected.
4. Check the BC Federation of Labour’s web site. (www.campaignbc.ca) This web site will provide information regarding a rally in Victoria on February 23rd as well as information about town hall meetings that will be held throughout the province.
5. Contact the Advocacy Forum through the toll free number 1-877-361-1116. This phone is not personed but messages are checked regularly and someone WILL get back to you as soon as possible.
6. Let Gordon Campbell know that these kind of cuts are cruel and unfair. You can write Campbell at Room 156, Parliament Buildings, Victoria BC v8V 1X4. His email is Gordon.Campbell.mla@leg.bc.ca. Phone 250-387-1715 Fax 250-387-0087.