CHILD CARE: WCC programs closing this week
Staffing challenges continue; recruitment so far unsuccessful
Jennifer Miller
Whistler Question
November 27, 2008

WHISTLER – Despite recent efforts by parents, government officials, Whistler Blackcomb recruiters and operators of the Whistler Children’s Centre (WCC), two infant and toddler daycare programs at the centre’s Spring Creek location are shutting down this week.

In addition to the closures, WCC Executive Director Kari Gaudet said Tuesday (Nov. 25) that staffing levels, retention and provincial licensing requirements continue to pose challenges for all the daycare’s programs at both its Spring Creek and Nesters locations.

The closures at Spring Creek represent the loss of 16 licensed, full-time daycare spots in Whistler for children under 3 years of age, with an estimated 26 families directly affected.

“Approximately 10 families have not been able to find care at all, or (have only secured) reduced care,” Gaudet said.

One mother, who was only able to secure one day of care at WCC’s Nesters location, was deciding this week whether she would be able to continue working after the Spring Creek programs close on Friday (Nov. 28), Gaudet said.

An ongoing shortage of certified Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) and people with Infant-Toddler training caused WCC officials to announce in mid-October that the two Spring Creek programs were in danger of closing….

“Our staffing levels continue to change on a daily basis,” she said.

Centre operators are currently focused on stabilizing and maintaining existing staff at the Nesters location before they can work on finding qualified teachers to reopen the Spring Creek programs, Gaudet said. So far, recruitment efforts have not unearthed any strong candidates with the required training.

MLA Joan McIntyre and Linda Reid, Minister of State for Child Care, have also become personally involved in WCC’s staff shortage and agreed to put Whistler at the top of the pile for processing B.C. certification for staff trained outside the province….

 “The ball is definitely in their (WCC’s) court,” McIntyre said. “We’ve tried to do everything we can. We’ve seriously been bending over backwards.”…

Donohue said he and a group of about 10 parents formed the WCC Parent Committee after October’s closure announcement, and has been working to engage the broader community in finding local solutions to the childcare crisis. He said the issue of childcare needs to be addressed on every level from the community through the federal government.

In the meantime, the parent group has organized a fundraiser …. to help raise money for the recruitment and retention of WCC staff.

Gaudet said childcare is an community issue that goes beyond parents who currently have their kids in care or require care. It affects employers, future parents and others, she said.

“We all kind of have to rally together to provide childcare in the community,” she said….