Cuts reduce services for children
Government: Reductions expected, but the cutbacks were more than anticipated
Cariboo Press - Salmon Arm Observer
10 Jan 2007
EXCERPT

Government is taking a big bite out of child-care services, which will mean lost services in the Shuswap.

The federal Conservative government has dismantled an Early Learning and Child-Care Program the Liberals had put into place.

With that dismantling goes $455 million in child-care funding, $5 million of which went to child-care resource and referral projects in B.C.

Shuswap Children's Association administrator Lynne Wickett says child-care resource and referral (CCRR) officials were prepared for changes because their programs had been tied to the now-defunct federal initiative. What they weren't prepared for was the extent of the cuts to their programs.

Effective April 1, the $19 million CCRR budget will be cut back to $9 million. Effective Oct. 1, the province will remove a further $6 million, reducing CCRR program funding to $3 million - the same level of funding that was in place in 1987.

Child-care resource and referral workers were advised by e-mail Jan. 4 to take part in a telephone conference with the office of the Minister of State for Child Care the following afternoon.

At that time, they were told which programs the province would continue to support and that the province has $40 million in federal funding, which must be spent by the end of March.

"The disheartening thing for us is that it never seemed the federal dollars were going into a well-thought-out provincial plan," says Wickett, who wonders where the $40 million will go. "It's so difficult to build satisfactory systems without long-term planning."

While CCRR projects in some communities, including new buildings, will be closed before they can even open, Wickett says local organizers, concerned about possible cutbacks have been careful with their projects. But that doesn't mean there will not be a loss of service in the community.

"We've actually used CCRR as the hub in building early childhood programs throughout the area," she says, pointing out area workers have tried to foster recognition of the importance of early childhood education on children's lifelong learning experience and the importance of good-quality day care.

With less funding, Shuswap Children's Association will have to cut back programs for attracting training and supporting private day- care operators....