Survey reveals 'extreme lack' of quality child care
Cowichan Valley Citizen
25 Oct 2006
By: Andrea Rondeau

In spite of some recent improvements, the Cowichan Valley still suffers from an "extreme lack" of quality, licenced child care, Cindy Lise, Coordinator of Cowichan Success By 6, says in a report to North Cowichan council.

"We will still not meet the needs of parents within this community, in particular parents who have infants, and culturally sensitive programming for our aboriginal children," Lise said.

She reported on research and community forums the organization has conducted since January to try to get a handle on what the Cowichan Valley has in the way of early childhood education and child care, and what is still needed.

With information from these endeavours, Success By 6 has set a list of priorities to help improve support for children in the community.

Some positives include the opening of some new child care spaces this summer, she said, with more still to come, but there still is a lack of child care providers, and comparatively low wages that discourage people from getting into the field and staying there.

"Service providers are often overworked and underpaid," she said.

Another challenge is that the Cowichan Valley is a region with a lot of high-needs kids, such as children who are aggressive and have behavioural problems.

Not only is this a challenge for child care providers, she said, but if the issues aren't addressed in youth, the problems are often indicative of what the kids will be like as they grow up.

Some priority areas that need more funding and support, Lise said, are increasing public awareness, issues around young parents, how to get involved and how to support the development of children before the age of six.

"We put more interest and more energy and public awareness in preparing our vehicles for winter and spring gardening, than we do in raising healthy children and healthy families," she said.

There needs to be greater ease of access to such things as transportation, child care, health care, education, recreation and culture.

"Parenting is difficult enough, and when barriers make it difficult to get to work, school or to access support or information, simple tasks place significant stress on our families," Lise said, "so providing support in any area that we can to make sure that their lives are a little bit easier makes all the difference."

Lise thanked North Cowichan for their support in sending a letter to the federal government asking for the reinstatement of promised child care money that was taken off the table following the defeat of the Liberal government by the Conservatives in the last election. "That's a step for our community to say we really value our children," she said.

Lise urged the municipality to include early childhood needs in their thinking when planning various aspects of community life.

Developing neighbourhoods that are safe for young families, championing the need for quality, low-cost housing, and making it a priority in health and development, she said, are among the areas where young children should be taken into consideration.