It takes a community to raise a child...
Nelson Daily News
21 Dec 2007
By: Mary Walters, Child Care Resource & Referral Interior Regional Coordinator 

Welcome to Kootenay Kids. We are a community based non-profit society focusing on the early years. Our programs serve the needs of children, parents and caregivers through education, support and childcare centres. We are pleased to have the opportunity to introduce our organization, diverse programs and issues pertaining to child care and early learning to the community through this monthly column.

Many times we have heard or seen these words above in the headline in presentations and brochures, overused at best. In the West Kootenays however this quote is a reality.

It can be seen in the services provided for children and families in our area through Kootenay Kids Society and many other agencies. Our region has a history of establishing unique programs such as "Life After Birth", "Child Care Resource and Referral", and "Columbia Basin Alliance For Literacy" to name a few. Also there are childcare settings, preschool programs and family child care providers who have provided quality programs for the children of our communities for decades. Dedicated staff in all these programs have provided support to families and children thru uncertain and adverse times often with minimal remuneration.

When faced with a child care crisis due to funding cuts in January of 2007, our communities - parents, Chambers of Commerce, municipal governments and many other children's champions stood up for services for children.

With this dedication, and long standing commitment the responsibility for early learning and child care programs rests with our communities. This can be done with the support of both the Federal and Provincial Governments. In February Bill C 303 the Child Care Act is scheduled to be passed in Federal Parliament. This Act could and would ensure that federal investments in early childhood are made in high quality, non-profit early learning and child-care services. The bill requires accountability from provinces on how the money is spent.

The support of the provincial government through distribution of early learning and child care funding is essential. This however, requires an inclusive plan of funding to maintain and expand services to all children and families. BC is estimating a provincial surplus of $4.1 billion in 2006-07...we believe this can be done. In the instance of child care, advocates in BC have researched governance models in Denmark, New Zealand, Quebec and our own BC school system. This report is available on the Child Care Advocates of BC website (www.cccabc.bc.ca). Also on the website is "A Costing and Accountability Model for a BC Child Care System."

With the surpluses predicted now and in the next years for BC this is the time to put into action the rhetoric.

The solution is in the heart and hands of those who work with children. Communities need the power, authority, mandate, tools and resources to continue to provide for the optimum development of all children in the West Kootenays.

It does indeed take a community to raise a child and a nation to raise a generation….