Childcare resource centre cuts staff but stays open
Cowichan Valley Citizen
04 May 2007
By: Andrea Rondeau

Childcare Resource and Referral offices across the province, including one in Duncan, remain open, but have taken a cut in staff to accommodate big funding cutbacks from the provincial government.

"We're all still here," said Delta McDonell, program coordinator for the Cowichan Valley Childcare Resource and Referral program and regional coordinator for Vancouver Island. "We're all still struggling with our cutbacks but we're all still here."

Early this year the province announced a 50 per cent cut in funding to the Resource and Referral programs to begin in April, with a further cut to come in September that would have seen the annual budget for the program reduced from $14 million a year to just $3 million.

These cuts came as part of a slew of funding cuts to childcare centres and programs across the province in the wake of the disintegration of a federal-provincial funding agreement ....

After public outcry against the deep cuts, the province announced reinstatement of some of the funding for the Resource and Referral program, setting the annual budget at $9 million.

This still represents a 33 per cent funding cut for the program. To keep offices open, some tough cutbacks have been made.

While it isn't perfect, McDonell said, they're happy to still have their doors open....