Frantic parents scramble to find summer child care; Juggling daycare, holidays, camps and school often stresses families out
Vancouver Sun
June 21, 2008
By: Janet Steffenhagen

With only a week of school to go, some parents are scrambling to find summer camps and child care.

…. But even parents who already have summer plans in place might not find much time for relaxation.

The summer months are often a time of juggling child-care arrangements, holiday schedules, camps and summer school. Most families look for a balance between free time and organized activities, but that isn't easy -- especially for parents who are employed full-time outside the home.

"It's the topic of the week," Michele Kambolis, clinical director of the Harbourside Counselling Centre in Vancouver, replied when asked if she's hearing from stressed-out parents fretting about the summer.

"A number of parents have been coming in and wanting to talk about summer break," she said. "They're unsure about what's the right thing to do."

For working parents, the challenge is finding consistent, quality care, she said, noting that summer programs tend to be piecemeal and for many children, too much change can lead to anxiety and a less-than-restful holiday break.

"Summer programs tend to be week-to-week, and having a new teacher or child-care worker every week -- [along with] a new environment, a new set of kids -- can be very stressful for most children."

Typically, working parents do a lot of research to identify the best summer programs and line up early to get a spot, she noted. "Parents who have left summer planning until now will find themselves really scrambling and with far fewer choices. The popular camps fill up incredibly quickly."…

Sharon Gregson, a child-care advocate who is also a Vancouver board of education trustee, said the panic around summertime care makes the overall crisis in child care in B.C. more visible.

"In some areas, there are almost no licensed child-care spaces for infants and toddlers," she said.

Pam Best of the Westcoast Child Care Resource Centre agreed, stating there are only enough child-care spaces in B.C. to accommodate 15 per cent of the kids who need them. "That means most children who need child care are not in a licensed facility," she said. "It's absolutely desperate out there."….