A visit from the B.C. Minister of State for Childcare, Linda Reid, on Friday was nice, says an Abbotsford single mother.

But it's not going to fix the child care crunch.

A single mom and UCFV student featured in the Times' Friday edition was glad she had the chance to meet Reid when she visited Abbotsford Friday.

But Brenda Methorst felt Reid still didn't acknowledge the level of need for local child care, something Methorst describes as a crisis - especially when trying to find part-time daycare for a nine-month-old child.

"I guess I feel like she was brushing me off on everything I tried to bring up," Methorst said….

"Lots of families aren't choosing child care as an option," Reid said, when asked about a recent independent study that shows there are nearly 7,000 children - in Abbotsford alone - who need child care, and only 1,175 licenced spaces.

"That number doesn't necessarily mean 7,000 kids need daycare."

Methorst said Reid didn't seem to think there's any kind of child care crisis in Abbotsford. Reid said the government is building more spaces in B.C. and encouraging "better utilization" of public buildings, such as schools, to create more child care spaces. Those who work in the industry say the workers just aren't there, however. Reid said Friday that there are about 350 Early Childhood Education graduates in the province each year.

"That's for the entire province - they're not graduating here, or if they are, they're not staying," said Andrea Senft, project co-ordinator for the Abbotsford Early Childhood Committee.

Last year, 21 ECE students graduated from the two-year program at UCFV, while 48 graduated with the one-year certificate. There are no projections for 2008 graduates, since they must first apply to graduate.

Senft is also the school district's early years community liaison and chairs the Fraser Valley Coalition for Child Care as well.

"We are in a daycare crisis and people don't want to talk about it. It's beyond crisis," Senft said.

In her role, she hears from at least 15 to 20 people on a weekly basis who need child care, but can't find it in Abbotsford.

"Finding daycare for a child under one? Forget it. I know people who are driving to Langley for daycare . . .

it breaks my heart when parents call, looking for child care and I have no answers for them," Senft said.

She is no stranger to child care costs herself.

"My daycare payment each month is actually more than my mortgage payment," Senft said.

"There were times when I paid more for daycare than I made."

Senft, Methorst and Abbotsford CCRR program supervisor Jerry Wadell all point to a need for more workers - or better incentives for ECE workers to enter the field.

"ECE workers don't get paid enough. There's one posting that's been up forever [months] and we haven't received one resumé for it," Senft said.

She pointed to a recent report on child poverty in Canada that shows B.C. leads the stats where child poverty is concerned.

That report also outlines the need for early learning and child care programs that are accessible to everyone, "as one of the key pathways out of poverty for Canadian families."

"We're failing our children," Senft said. "When are we going to start caring about our kids, especially children under six?"

Methorst, Senft and Wadell all emphasize those in the child care and early learning field are usually hardworking, caring people who go above and beyond what is required.

They want to see more workers available, or again, incentives in place [such as better wages] to attract workers to be in the field.

"Someone needs to step up. How about our MLAs? I want someone to say children need to be a priority," Methorst said.

"Child care needs to be seen as just as much a priority as other projects the government has all kinds of money for, like the Olympics or the Trade and Convention Centre."