Child-care 'hub' planned
The Record (New Westminster)
November 26, 2008
By: Theresa Mcmanus

New Westminster city council has supported the preliminary concept of developing an early childhood development hub in Queensborough.

A staff report noted there is a "real opportunity" to develop an early childhood hub given the proposed expansion of the Queensborough Community Centre. In October, council endorsed the concept in principle…..

….The city's draft child-care needs assessment indicates that Queensborough has the smallest share of child-care spaces and the lowest proportion of group child-care spaces per 100 children up to age 12 in the city.

According to a staff report, early childhood development hubs act as a focal point for their neighbourhoods and enable families to get information and access a continuum of services related to their needs.

"They have proven to enhance child outcomes, including school readiness and success," said the report.

"They also facilitate inter-sectoral collaboration and partnership building."

Four early childhood education hubs are envisioned in New Westminster: the east hub (serving Queen's Park and Sapperton); the Queensborough hub; the uptown/downtown hub; and the west hub (including Connaught Heights and Lord Tweedsmuir).

"It's a preliminary concept," said John Stark, the city's senior social planner….

Harper said this is a very important initiative in terms of developing child care spaces. "Queensborough is particularly low," he said about child care. "It shows the kind of fortitude we've had in trying to deal with real issues in the city."