Child Care offices saved
The Grand Forks Gazette
21 Mar 2007
By: Kyra Hoggan

A conference call Friday left Boundary Child Care Resource and Referral (BCCRR) staff unsure how to react, after discovering the centres won't close altogether, as was originally planned, but will be forced to maintain operations in the face of massive budget cuts.

Louise Heck, BCCRR coordinator, says keeping the office open is an enormous coup, for which she entirely credits the public outpouring of support after the province announced its intent to close all provincial CCRR offices on Jan. 5, 2007.

"I absolutely believe it (the return of some funding) was the result of the public outcry, from individuals, municipal governments and regional districts," Heck says.

She says closure plans would have eliminated years of hard work on the part of dedicated CCRR staff province-wide, while even shoe-string funding will provide for maintaining the program foundation, earned through the great work and sweat equity of so many people over the years.

The provincial CCRR budget, before the cuts, was $14 million, to be reinstated to a level of $9 million now, according to Heck.

Budgets for individual offices have not yet been determined, but Heck says the province has told her to expect about 46 per cent of her previous budget for the Boundary office.

This is particularly problematic in light of the province's refusal to pay out the BCCRR's new lease, one the province demanded the local office sign last year.

All CCRRs were told to seek better visibilty, with inncreased signage and bigger storefronts on busier thoroughfares. In following government instructions, the BCCRR moved from their prior location to their current downtown mall storefront - which costs about $1,000 more per month.

"Realistically, we could see less than a single full-time-equivalent position to staff the facility," she says, explaining that would mean cutting more than half the staff, with a commensurate decrease in programming.

Some speculation indicated the federal budget might hold some relief, but Heck says CCRRs were told by the province not to hold out hope that the federal government would offer funding to prop up shortfalls in CCRR budgets.

She say the $9 million in returned money does not address the cuts to operating funding for licensed childcare providers in the province. ...