What now?
Courier-Islander (Campbell River)
October 17, 2008
By: Shelagh Germyn

An open letter to Linda Reid, Minister of State for Child Care, published here by request.

I, Shelagh Germyn, a runner from Campbell River, embarked on a journey of "A Million Steps for Child Care" one year ago in Oct. 2007.

The purpose of this week-long 265 km trek to the legislature in Victoria was to raise awareness of the lack of affordable and accessible child care in our community, our province and our country, and to bring attention to the dire situation faced by parents desperately needing quality child care services.

I appreciate that you met with me last October, along with the Million Steps committee, as I finished my run. You outlined what government already had in place and listened to our concerns, especially around lack of affordability for families and the dismal working conditions for qualified Early Childhood Educators.

You recognized the need for better wages in the field in order to attract and maintain a skilled labour force to fill both current positions and those that will be created by any new initiatives.

We also discussed the challenge of addressing wages and benefits while still keeping fees affordable for families. I'm sure you've heard these concerns many, many times since then. This can only mean that child care is still in a crisis.

The following quote from a concerned parent illustrates the continued strain that the current child care system places on working families in this province:

"I have three children ages 11 and eight years as well as an infant who is nine months. When I required child care for my older two children (11 to 6 years ago) the major challenge I faced was being able to afford quality care for my two children. Now, for my infant, not only am I faced with the challenge of affording child care, I have found it extremely difficult to find any child care.

"Finding and affording child care today compared to six years ago has become much more difficult and challenging. The present system of child care is unable to meet the needs of parents, children, and care givers in our communities. There are not enough spaces available for children, the cost is too high, and there is a shortage of early childhood educators. By investing into early learning and care, we are making an investment that will benefit our children into their adult years."

Our visit was a year ago, to this day... what has really changed?

What can you tell us that will restore our confidence and insure that the families of B.C. looking for quality child care will find it when they need it?

My feet have recovered but the child care system has not. We need to know that you care, as I do, sincerely and compassionately about our caregivers, children and families. As the Minister of State for Child Care, you need to address the continued lack of operational funding which is the cornerstone of today's child care crisis.

Do I need to run again?

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Minister responds
Courier-Islander (Campbell River)
October 24, 2008
By: Linda Reid, Minister of State for Child Care

Re: Open Letter to Minister Reid by Shelagh Germyn.

I met with Ms. Germyn a year ago to discuss the issue of child care and the steps our government was taking to address the challenge being experienced across the country.

In the months that followed our meeting, we embarked on a $12.5 million capital plan to create 2,000 child care spaces. In May 2008, we announced over 100 new capital projects across B.C and, by December, nearly all will be operational. Last fall's capital investment combined with continuing support this year is creating more than 400 new spaces across Vancouver Island, including two projects that just recently opened ….This year, our government is investing close to $300 million in child care. Since 2001, we have created more than 5,500 new child care spaces and support more than 87,000 spaces in about 4,600 licensed child care facilities.

One of our great successes over the past year has been in developing partnerships to create new child-care spaces. To this end, partnerships with BC Housing are well on their way to creating more than 200 spaces in existing or planned social housing developments - spaces that will, in turn, allow low-income families to access job and training opportunities knowing their children are safe and well-cared for.

We have focused resources on helping low and moderate income families by increasing the subsidy threshold from $21,000 to $38,000 - - - supporting about 50,000 children and 37,000 families. We have created a multi-age child care category to allow family child care providers to increase the number of kids in their care and allow families with preschool and school aged children to attend the same centre.

Our child care plan also provides direct funding to assist in the recruitment and retention of early childhood educators.

This includes operating funding, bursaries, and new pilot programs that offer up to $2,500 for tuition reimbursement for early childhood educators and up to $5,000 for educators to return to work in the field.

Last year, we registered 800 early childhood educators bringing our provincial staffing level to more than 10,500 actively licensed educators.

The facts demonstrate the extent to which we are committed to enhancing and improving every aspect of the child care system and this is work we are committed to on an ongoing basis.