The following is my rough draft of my Municipal Address. Please give me your constructive criticisms and opinions...please be kind lol. Honourable Council Members, Thank you for having me this evening. My name is Sarah-Jane Laberge and I am speaking on behalf of the Lanark County Chapter of The Coalition of Independent Childcare Providers of Ontario. CICPO was founded to be the voice of thousands of parents and Independent Childcare Providers across Ontario that have serious concerns about Bill 10 – the Childcare Modernization Act. Specifically the proposed reductions to the number and ages of children Independent Childcare Providers can care for. Education Minister Liz Sandals states this Bill will “strengthen the safety and quality of child care options for families”. With no data to substantiate her argument, the Minister has repeatedly alleged that ICP care is unsafe across the board. On October 20, the Minister of Education, in question period, implied that unlicensed child care centres are illegal. There seems to be some confusion about the difference between being unlicensed and actually illegal. From the Ministry of Education’s own website: “In Ontario, individuals may look after five or fewer children under 10 years of age without a licence—in addition to their own children—if in their own home.” I think we must make it clear for the public that “unlicensed” doesn’t mean “illegal.” While CICPO is in full support of improving childcare in Ontario, there are two major issues with this Bill that must be brought to the attention of Ontario’s families. The first is that, should it pass, Ontario families will face a childcare crisis of enormous proportion. Sometimes unlicensed home childcare is the only care available to families with young infants, as many licensed centres will only take children 18 months or older. Unlicensed homes can fill that gap between 12 and 18 months when families are desperate for care as parents go back to work after a 12-month maternity leave. So it’s really important to understand that we have a very specific role and that we cover about 80% of the people who are seeking child care. Unlicensed home day cares play an important role in our province. It’s important to understand that there is a demand for Independent Childcare Providers., the vast majority of which, provide safe care for infants, toddlers and preschoolers. Thousands of families are happy with the care they receive and save money by not sending their children to more expensive licensed care. Right now only 22% of Ontario’s children are in licensed care while family members and Independent Childcare Providers (ICPs) care for the remaining 78%. In real numbers, approximately 350,000 children are cared for by ICPs in Ontario. CICPO conservatively estimates that 140,000 of the current spaces will be lost due to forced reduction of spaces and ICP closures. The remaining 210,000 spaces will come at a premium, as those parents whose providers work within the proposed new limits will have to face a fee hike by as much as 40%. Promises by the Education Minster of an additional 6,000 licensed spots are not only theoretical but will do nothing to stem the tide of this crisis. One of the things that is such a dramatic influence on the way in which this bill would be rolled out is whether you are in an urban area or a rural area. In much of the rural areas, such a Lanark County; there aren’t many stand-alone daycare centres. People look to neighbours, friends and people in the community to provide daycare. When it’s made more and more difficult for anyone to provide that kind of service, it just reduces the opportunity for people to find childcare. The Official opposition Education Critic Garfield Dunlop has requested that the bill travel during the winter recess so that we can have a better understanding of its impacts. Hundreds of letters have been written already about how the bill will negatively affect daycare providers and families with young children, but it seems that it would be good for the minister to hear these stories first-hand from the people who have to live with the effects of the bill every day. Families and child care providers should be consulted on this bill so that we ensure that any new legislation will help, not hurt, families and children. I think that, apart from the varied voices that come with the process of public hearings, one of the most important voices left out is the small town, where people may not be able to access bigger-scale centres. One of the most important things that I think is a potential fallout from the changes that are being contemplated is what this will do for people who can’t meet the requirements, who see having fewer children as something they can’t manage. Once you’ve produced that level of frustration, that level of inability to pay fees and incur the costs, parents are going to be looking for spaces for their children. Decreasing accessibility will only contribute to an underground market. Care will be in such high demand that parents will be more likely to accept substandard care arrangements. Secondly, this Bill does not address the issue of oversight. Frankly, you can have as many rules and laws as you want. If you don’t have people who can go out, inspect, find out and determine whether people are respecting those laws and then take action to enforce, then the bill is effectively a well-written piece of legal material that has no force or effect. Bill 10 does not address individual licensing of home day care providers. We want to be licensed. We embrace oversight. ICPs are not unlicensed by choice. No individual home daycare provider can obtain a license in Ontario as the government only provides licensing to agencies and centres. Those providers affiliated with an agency are working under their agency’s license, not their own. Affiliated ICPs also incure a 20% loss of income when with an agency. However, instituting a registry or licensing of all home care day providers would ensure that all childcare settings meet universal standards of Health, Safety and Quality of care. In addition to having a current CPR, First Aid and criminal record checks, all childcare settings would be subject to yearly and impromtu inspections as well as be inspected by and adhere to the Health Departments regulations. Licensing would allow for 100% government oversight rather than relying on the public to report non-compliance. And here is one other very significant benefit; ICPs would be able to provide care for the thousands of children currently on subsidized wait lists. As at December 2013 there were almost 17,000 children on the subsidy wait list in Toronto alone. Clearly, the licensed sector does not have the capacity to meet the needs of Ontario families. While CICPO has confirmed that the Ministry has undertaken NO analysis regarding the safety of ICP care, our Coalition has. Using a cohort of 0 to 4 years of age, CICPO gathered information from the Ontario Coroner’s Office, reports of deaths of children in the care of ICPs, and population reports from Statistic Canada over the period of 2009-2013. With the above data CICPO found that the five year mortality rate to children in the care of an ICP operating within the current regulations is 0.000017. These facts and calculations do not make the six deaths that took place over the last five years any less tragic. Yet the fact that only one of those deaths was classified as ‘accidental’ and occurred with an ICP in compliance with the current regulations clearly indicates that the real issue is not the existing regulations but the lack of oversight that prevents providers from working outside the law. Although Minister Sandals promises that this Bill will provide the oversight necessary to ensure ICPs caring for more children than the law allows will be shut down, the promise is an empty one. One cannot shut down what one cannot find. Even before this piece of legislation, there was already a complaint system in effect for daycare. If someone suspects wrongdoing or danger, an inspector is supposed to investigate the child care facility in a timely manner. On October 21st,the Ombudsman released his report;Careless About Childcare. His report highlights many of the problems and concerns that contributed to the horrible conditions that ultimately lead to the death of a toddler on July 8th, 2013 in an illegal daycare which prompted his investigation. Much of the Ombudsman’s report deals with, quote “a legacy of dysfunction” by this government. There is very clearly a history of poor administration on the part of the government. —sloppy, inconsistent complaint intake practices, and an inadequate complaint tracking system; —ministry guidelines not followed; —inspections delayed or never done; —staff untrained in conducting investigations or on legislation they enforce; —poor inspection practices; —careless evidence-gathering; and —failure to involve or educate parents about daycare standards and facilities that are not in compliance with them. The details of the kinds of problems that the Ombudsman reports demonstrate that the government has not been following its own rules. There are standards in place. There is already legislation, but we have to follow the legislation and guidelines that exist, as opposed to creating a whole new system to deal with potential problems. The government is unfairly attempting to change the rules for families with young children. Bill 10 will, in effect, destroy the child care system that is currently in place and make it difficult for ICPs to continue to operate. It also threatens the livelihood of thousands of people and causes unnecessary chaos for families needing to find care. But Bill 10 does not provide any solutions to the chaos that will ensue when thousands of daycare spaces close, as there will be a vast shortage of licensed centres. Where will children go when their unlicensed centres close? Where is the government’s plan for the 140000 of Ontario’s children who will be forced out? Of course, in turn, will families find themselves having to look at giving up a job in order to look after their children? It is extremely important that we actually accomplish the goal of this bill; which is to ensure all Ontario parents and children have access to healthy, safe, affordable, quality care throughout the province. As long as this government refuses to facilitate a registry or licencing system for individual daycare providers there will never be effective oversight. Minister Sandals’ encouragement of ICPs joining licensed agencies to prevent this crisis is disobliging at best, as the fees charged by agencies would result in ICPs absorbing an average income loss of 20 percent. When it comes to child care, people deserve a choice. There is no one size that fits all. Some prefer an intimate home setting which might not work for others. We must continue to offer families options so that they can feel comfortable leaving their children in the care of others. That is one of the dangers of this bill, it takes away from the family’s ability to choose what type of daycare best suits their lifestyle. To briefly recap, should Bill 10 pass with its proposal to reduce the number and age ratios of children ICPs can care for, we can expect the following: - Approximately 140,000 children will have their care terminated and their parents will have no options available for their care. As there is no grandfather clause in the Bill the terminations will be immediate. - Parents will face a hike of up to 40 percent in daycare fees. - There will be zero additional oversight. - Providers will lose an average of between $12,000 to $20,000 of family income per year through the involuntary reduction of spaces or by being forced to work for a licensed agency. Families who are already struggling financially may choose that one parent give up work as the increase in daycare fees will negate take-home pay. If Bill 10 is intended to address this government’s stated concerns regarding the overall safety and lack of oversight that exists for children in the care of ICPs, CICPO and its members would like to know why the Ministry of Education insists on addressing those concerns by reducing accessible and affordable childcare by 40%, rather than providing an individual licensing system that includes all home daycare providers. Instituting such a system would maintain the choices parents demand, ensure that government regulated health and safety standards are met, allow for inspections and eliminate the wait list for subsidized care. In short, rather than making childcare in Ontario safe, affordable and accessible, Bill 10 will make childcare in Ontario far less accessible, far more expensive and absolutely no safer. These ratio proposals are not only counterproductive to the health, safety and well-being of our children but are also playing with the livelihoods of tens of thousands of families in this province. In closing, I ask the Council to sign the CICPO petition and add your collective voices to those of the concerned Independent Childcare Providers of Lanark County and the community we serve. I implore you to write the the Liberal and NDP Provincial Legislative Assembly in support of these amendments and request that the Bill Travel. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Sarah-Jane Laberge
Posted on: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 16:21:34 +0000
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