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Child care referral program faces closure
Richmond Review
By Martin van den Hemel
Staff Reporter
Jan 18 2007
EXCERPT
The Coalition of Child Care Advocates of B.C. is calling
for Minister of State for Childcare Linda Reid to step down
in the wake of last week's announcement of funding cuts
that will see Richmond's popular child care resource
and referral program shut down.
As many as 6,000 local families each year use the service
to find suitable licenced care providers for their children.
With funding to the resource and referral programs throughout
B.C. slated to be cut from the current $14 million to $9 million
by April, and then to $3 million in October, the board of
Volunteer Richmond saw it had no choice but to shut down the
program without the funding to pay for the nine full-time
staff. Volunteer Richmond runs the program.
"Minister Reid no longer has the faith of the child
care community and it is time for her to take responsibility
for the crisis in child care and step aside," said Susan
Harney, chair of the child care coalition....
In a letter published in The Richmond Review last Saturday,
Reid explained that the cutbacks were the result of a reduction
in federal transfer payments to the province....
Michael McCoy, co-chair of the Richmond Community Services
Advisory Council which advises Richmond council, said he fears
that the loss of the program will put children and families
at risk, and increase the frustration level among parents.
"I think there's the real danger of parents just
becoming frustrated and needing to work, of grabbing alternatives
that will not keep their kids safe." As the program
winds down over the next six months, and disappears, families
and children will be put at risk without the layer of security
that this service afforded, McCoy said. Via a telephone call,
the program helps parents access child care-related information
such as whether a company was properly licenced.
"Where are these (parents) going to go now?"
asked McCoy.
The timing of the announcement also seemed odd, McCoy said.
"I think there's the real danger of parents just
becoming frustrated and needing to work, of grabbing alternatives
that will not keep their kids safe." As the program
winds down over the next six months, and disappears, families
and children will be put at risk without the layer of security
that this service afforded, McCoy said. Via a telephone call,
the program helps parents access child care-related information
such as whether a company was properly licenced.
The timing of the announcement also seemed odd, McCoy said.
"I think probably any rational person would say in
economic difficult times, government does have hard decisions...however
this province is doing incredibly well..." he said.
What's more troubling is that the province hasn't
yet released its plan to replace the program, he said.
"My fear is some centralized service will open up in
Vancouver, which to me just centralize something somewhere
and you don't know the service, you don't know
the community in Richmond...and it just becomes sort of like
a Daycares 'R' Us phone line."
McCoy suggested the City of Richmond consider funding the
program. The provincially funded program is operated by non-profit
organizations and promote child care services in various communities.
Richmond's program is operated by Volunteer Richmond,
and has an annual budget of about $300,000.
The ending of the service means nine full-time people and
several part-timers will lose their jobs.
Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie said while the city is working
hard to improve day care, through initiatives such as a land
dedication in Hamilton, he finds it discouraging to see cutbacks
from senior levels of government. "You can't do
it as a city by yourself," Brodie said.
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