“TOBI, a coalition of residents and nonprofit organizations representing a broad cross-section of communities and issue areas, came together in September 2009 to begin the work of opening the City’s budget process.  The group developed the TOBI Declaration identifying six key principles and values inherent to an open budget process, and a set of recommended actions for immediate change.

TOBI, a coalition of residents and nonprofit organizations representing a broad cross-section of communities and issue areas, came together in September 2009 to begin the work of opening the City’s budget process.  The group developed the TOBI Declaration identifying six key principles and values inherent to an open budget process, and a set of recommended actions for immediate change.

Moderated by SPT’s Winston Tinglin, TOBI co-chair Melissa Wong (Toronto Women’s City Alliance) began the town hall with an introduction of TOBI, its members’ frustrations with the current budget process and goals for change.  TOBI members, Andy Mark (Chinese Canadian National Council-Toronto Chapter), Natalie Hundt (ACORN), Keegan Henry-Mathieu (Toronto Youth Cabinet) and Jane Mercer (Toronto Coalition for Better Child Care), introduced the TOBI principles and values.  Finally, TOBI co-chair Ann Fitzpatrick (Children’s Aid Society of Toronto) introduced the group’s recommended actions and its current activities, before Winston Tinglin opened up meeting for questions from those attending..

Occupying Councillors’ seats on the floor of Council Chambers, candidates, residents and members of community groups embraced TOBI’s call for change, offering insights and ideas to open the budget process.  Several gave their endorsement of the TOBI Declaration, and vowed to bring the issues to their campaign work.

Video proceedings of the evening will be made available shortly.  TOBI invites candidates, residents and organizations to endorse the TOBI Declaration and get involved in transforming our City’s budget process.”

For more information about TOBI, please contact Ann Fitzpatrick at amfitzpatrick@torontocas.ca or Melissa Wong at info@twca.ca

The Toronto Coalition For Better Child Care is a proud supporter of the Toronto Open Budget Initiative.

WINNERS 2010

Thank you to all participants for supporting the Toronto Coalition for Better Child Care’s 2010 Child Care Raffle!

With your help, we are able to continue working towards a system of high quality Early Childhood Education and Care for children and families in Toronto.

MORE ONTARIO FAMILIES WILL BE ABLE TO SEND THEIR KIDS TO KINDERGARTEN FOR THE FULL DAY NEXT YEAR.  

Some interesting facts:

> “Up to 50,000 four- and five-year-olds in nearly 800 schools will attend full-day kindergarten starting in September 2011″

> “The government is providing approximately $245 million to school boards to build new classrooms and renovate existing ones over the next two years”

> “Full-day kindergarten will include option integrated before- and after-school programs in which parents can choose to enrol their children for a fee”

for more information including a complete list of schools that will offer full-day kindergarten starting September 2011 click here.

The Globe and Mail reports,

While parents are clamouring to enroll their children in all-day kindergarten for next fall, interest in extended-day programs has been less enthusiastic, meaning that many of the GTA schools set to introduce the full-day program next fall won’t be offering before- and after-school care.

Minister of Education Leona Dombrowsky announced the list of more than 200 sites for the second phase of its rollout Tuesday, including an additional 20 sites in Toronto. The vision of Charles Pascal, the expert who developed the model for the program, was to provide continuous care throughout the day, combining childcare and education. But for that model to be maintained, the school boards stand to learn a lesson from the first phase of the rollout: Parents won’t commit to before- and after-school programs without a firm price tag.

“We’re not able to offer it at any of our sites, there hasn’t been enough interest,” said Catherine LeBlanc Miller, a trustee for the Toronto Catholic District School Board, which will roll out the full-day program at 28 sites this fall. “I think it’s because of the fees, parents want to know the price before they commit.”

Kelly Baker, a spokeswoman for the Toronto District School Board, said after-hours childcare would be offered at “only a handful” of the 71 schools where the board will introduce the program this fall.

“I think there is a range value. Last I heard there wasn’t a concrete price so that might have something to do with why people haven’t signed up,” she said.

None of the 25 sites at the York Region District School Board had sufficient demand either.

The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, however, will be offering extended daycare next fall at most of its 16 full-day sites through contracts with existing providers like the YMCA.

“They are charging $22 a day and have advertised this to parents,” said spokesman Bruce Campbell.

All-day kindergarten will be introduced in September in nearly 600 schools across the province, and by the 2011-12 school year, in an additional 200 schools, bringing the full-day option to about 50,000 students.

Extended-day care aside, the full-day program remains popular among parents.

“What we’re hearing from school boards is there has been a very healthy response to [the full-day] initiative, parents are voting with their feet on this one,” Dombrowsky said.

The province has pledged $200-million toward the program for next year, $300-million for the second year and another $245-million to build classrooms to accommodate the program. All-day kindergarten will be available everywhere, to about 240,000 students in 4,000 classrooms, by 2015.

The earliest phases of the rollout will be the most affordable, as boards and the ministry cherry-pick sites that need the least renovation. The TCDSB will receive just under $2.3-million and the TDSB just over $4.6-million in capital funding, to build and expand classrooms for the second phase.

But boards are already expressing concerns that the program is under-funded – The TDSB is projecting a $400,000 shortfall and the Peel District School Board a $1.8-million shortfall in funding for phase one of the rollout.

Toronto schools that will offer full-day kindergarten in 2011-12 include:

Buchanan Public School

Burrows Hall Junior Public School

Chalkfarm Public School

Galloway Road Public School

Heritage Park Public School

Ionview Public School

Queen Victoria Junior Public School

Sprucecourt Junior Public School

St. Margaret’s Public School

Walter Perry Junior Public School

Holy Rosary Catholic School

Nativity of Our Lord Catholic School

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School

St. Charles Garnier Catholic School

St. Dominic Savio Catholic School

St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Catholic School

St. Norbert Catholic School

St. Rita Catholic School

St. Teresa Catholic School

St. Wilfrid Catholic School

Online Article

The Ottawa Citizen – Mon May 31 2010
Page: B1 / FRONT – Section: City
Byline: Matthew Pearson – Source: The Ottawa Citizen

When Erin Way talks about the importance of clear communication, flexibility and a good sense of humour, you might think she’s rhyming off the secrets to a successful marriage.

Instead, the kindergarten teacher at Riverview Alternative Public School is explaining what it takes to make her classroom partnership with early-childhood educators work.

Last fall, Way’s school in Alta Vista teamed up with Andrew Fleck Child Care Services to provide a full-day kindergarten program. Way teaches the 20 junior and senior kindergarten kids in the morning and hands them to a pair of early childhood educators for the afternoon.

The program saves parents the hassle of picking up their children and transporting them somewhere else in the middle of the day. It provides children with a consistent place to learn and play all day long. And it gives the rest of us a glimpse into the future as the government prepares to roll out full-day kindergarten in schools across the province starting this September.

The decision to introduce full-day kindergarten sets a new course for early-childhood education in Ontario.

Advocates say the new model will benefit children and their families, despite some kinks in the plan.

What’s happening at Riverview looks a bit different from what’s coming to about 50 public and 26 Catholic kindergarten classrooms in Ottawa starting this fall, where one teacher and one ECE — employed by the school boards — are to work in tandem all day long.

At Riverview, the day begins with 21/2 hours of instruction in the morning, led by Way, the kindergarten teacher. At 11:45 a.m., a pair of early childhood educators takes over and children stay until their parents pick them up by 5:30 p.m.

If the transition is seamless, it’s because Way and program co-ordinator Lisa Carry check in with each other regularly. They share strategies and tips, not to mention a cramped office. They point out when a student is having a bad day. They make sure discipline is consistent.

And when they disagree, they talk about it.

Carry says each brings her own strengths to the table.

ECEs specialize in children’s early years and use play-based activities to help kids develop social and self-help skills, while teachers focus on cognition and base their lessons on a curriculum set by the province.

If one of the educators notices something about a child — be it a learning challenge or a particular interest — they can point it out to the other, who can also encourage the child’s exploration or provide some additional attention.

Both say students will benefit.

As they enter Grade 1, kids will have developed far more oral-language skills. They’ll have adjusted to the routine of school and will be accustomed to being in the same class for the whole day. And those with special needs may be identified sooner.

Way recognizes it will be an adjustment, but says once kindergarten teachers adjust to sharing the classroom with another educator, many will like it. “I think teachers are going to be happy to have someone to rely on.”

When Paula Clarke’s son Jack was in kindergarten at Riverview, she had to leave work in the middle of the day, take him to a different program for the afternoon and then drive back to her office.

These days, she drops her daughter Alice off in the morning and picks her up at the end of the day. “It’s given us a weekday that’s totally manageable instead of incredibly stressful,” Clarke said.

She added the government’s full-day program will benefit parents in a way the current patchwork of programs and services never could.

“I’m not crazy about (Ontario Premier Dalton) McGuinty, but I think that this is a really good thing to do,” Clarke said. “I’m going to be paying for it through taxes and I won’t be benefitting from it in five years, but I’m still happy it will be in place. I think every child deserves to have the best start in their educational experience.”

The plan for provincewide full-day kindergarten was set in motion almost a year ago when Charles E. Pascal — who was appointed by McGuinty as a special advisor on early learning — laid it all out in a report.

To Pascal, the problem was clear: “The current fragmented patchwork of early childhood services too often fails the best interests of our children, frustrates families and educators, and wastes resources,” he wrote.

In addition to two years of full-day kindergarten for every child who turns four by Dec. 31, Pascal called for before- and after-school programming as part of the package.

He also recommended programs for families and children — currently spread amongst multiple providers — be brought together under one roof and, down the road, envisioned extending parental leave to up to 400 days on the birth or adoption of a child.

Full-day kindergarten is the first piece of the puzzle.

“I think it’s going to be a bumpy road as we travel down it, as with anything new, but I do believe it’s the best thing for children and families,” says Eleanor Heap.

As the executive director of Ottawa School Day Nursery — which operates 14 child care centres that are based in schools — Heap says the message she hears most often from parents is one of uncertainty: What will this mean for my family? How does it all work? How much does it cost?

Some say the province hasn’t done a stellar job explaining the plan to parents or daycare providers.

Cheryl Heywood, chair of the Licensed Home Child Care Network of Ottawa, says the province’s five-year roll-out plan is ambitious, but fears a piecemeal approach, where some schools get full-day programs earlier than others, could do more harm than good.

“The vision of Charles Pascal’s paper is good and we support it, but not the way it’s going to be rolled in piecemeal because it’s way too confusing for parents and I don’t believe it’s going to be a very stable situation for many of the families,” she said.

Staffing could also be a challenge.

According to Pascal’s report, the province graduates approximately 8,500 elementary teachers every year — more than three times the number of new early-childhood educators entering the system.

Heywood expects school boards and child care centres will both feel the pinch.

“There’s just not enough graduates coming out of college to fill the gaps,” she said.

Heap agreed, but added she doesn’t fear a staff exodus as ECE workers flock to jobs with school boards.

The key for both sides when it comes to recruiting staff will be offering competitive salaries and benefits to woo the strongest candidates, she said.

The Ottawa Citizen reports “Concern about steep fee increases and the possible closure of child-care centres is mounting across the province as the clock ticks toward the September implementation of Ontario’s new all-day kindergarten.

Municipal politicians and child-care agencies are warning that fees will likely rise by about 30 per cent and many centres will shut down when four- and five-year-olds move from daycare centres to schools.

Despite assurances from the province that it would strive to make the transition painless, doubts remain about the government’s ability to prevent massive disruptions to the system.

“We are worried about the destabilization of the child-care community because our subsidies are going to be siphoned off to the school boards from our kindergarten program,” said Diane O’Neill executive director of Aladin Childcare Services.

“If I lose my subsidy dollars, I am in threat of being closed because I won’t be able to fill those spaces.

“The fees will be going up anywhere between 20 and 30 per cent.”

O’Neill’s comments echo those of Toronto Mayor David Miller, who sent a letter to Premier Dalton McGuinty earlier this month warning that “without adequate transitional resources, our staff estimates that fees for infant care will increase approximately 30 per cent, from an average of $71/day to $92/day.”

Miller says Toronto’s allocation of $786,000 in operating funds, which will pay for an additional 78 subsidized spaces, and $184,800 for capital projects are woefully inadequate for the transition to the new program.

“With a system of 24,000 subsidies and a wait list of more than 16,000, this will not address the system’s impact of the new programme (sic),” Miller wrote.

Diane Deans, chair of Ottawa’s community and protective services committee, who has sent her own letter to the premier about the potential for trouble ahead, agrees with Miller.

“We support all-day learning, but our deepest fear is that the new program is going to have adverse effect on the system. You take some of these subsidized spaces away and you put the whole child-care system in jeopardy,” Deans said.

The province has given the city $480,000 in operating funds, which will add 48 subsidized spaces, and $111,000 for capital, which Deans says is clearly not enough to manage the big change. The average fee in Ottawa for the toddler program is between $40 and $71 a day.

“There are a lot of details that have to be ironed out to make the system successful,” says Councillor Alex Cullen, whose request for a city strategy on how to implement the new program has been endorsed by the community services committee.

Part of the problem, Cullen says, is that no one knows exactly what is going on.

The agony stems from perhaps the biggest change in child care in Ontario, which was announced by McGuinty nearly a year ago. The $500 million program will see full-day learning in schools for four- and five-year-olds. School boards will offer not only normal school programs for the children, but also before-and-after school care. The Ottawa public school board has received $4.9 million from the province for the first year of the program, while the Catholic board got $2.2 million.

But the big fear across the province is that as children leave child-care centres and move to the school-based programs, they would leave a huge hole behind that operators will struggle to fill. Even more worrying, the child-care centres will lose the subsidies that many of the children have, threatening their survival. Operators say it will mean either closing down, cutting services or increasing fees to make up the losses. But neither choice is sustainable, particularly for agencies that have large numbers of subsidized spaces, they say.

Take O’Neill for example. She has about 230 children in her centre. She says a little less than 100 are subsidized spaces, which she would lose if the children enrol in a school-run program. The funding loss will gut her centre and she doesn’t know if it can survive, especially because she wouldn’t have the economies of scale that allowed her to run the more expensive toddler program. She says it is questionable whether she can sell the empty subsidized spaces to parents who pay the full fee. It would be even worse for fully subsidized child-care centres.

“There will be centres closed and these centres are the ones that will be serving the population in the lower socio-economic areas of the city that can’t afford regulated child care,” O’Neill said.

Frank Clarke, a spokesman for Education Minister Leona Dombrowsky, who is now responsible for the new child-care vision, acknowledged the concerns but said the province will help cities deal with with transitional problems. He said the province has a stabilization fund that will grow to $51 million, and another $12 million over five years to retrofit child-care centres to serve younger children.

“Our government will help stabilize the child-care sector as a direct result of full-day learning,” Clarke said.

“The current allocation of the City of Toronto and Ottawa will grow just as the stabilization fund will grow over time.”

online article

TORONTO — Michael Ignatieff fired back at accusations of a divided Liberal party Monday night, calling it a large “quarrelsome, argumentative” family — not without its characters — but adding that divisions in the party don’t change the Liberals’ position as “progressive centre of Canada.”

Speaking at the annual Liberal Leader’s Dinner, Ignatieff entered the room of 980 guests to a standing ovation.

In his speech, the leader of the Opposition didn’t address the prospect of a coalition government, choosing to focus instead on his vision of a 21st century Canada.

“There’s a freight train coming after this country. And we’ve got to wake up and see it coming,” Ignatieff said, adding that the combination of an aging population, rising household debt, soaring health-care costs and skilled-labour shortages mean the country is now more than ever in need of a Liberal government.

The Liberal party wants to focus on education, child care and restoring Canada’s reputation on the international stage, he said.

Ignatieff said the party wants to make post-secondary education accessible to any Canadian with the abilities.

“A simple pledge: you get the grades, you get to go.”

He also proposed investing money in adult-language classes and skills training for the labour force.

He would also see compassionate care leave extended to make an aging population more comfortable.

“We’re one of the richest countries in the world and if we can’t stand with Canadians shouldering the burden of care, what are we doing as a country?”

Citing the success of the Canada 150 Thinkers’ Conference in Montreal last March, Ignatieff said embracing the country’s diversity and allowing Canadians to spend time outside the country to learn is key to establishing an internationally renowned reputation both as peacekeepers and innovators.

He referred to opponent attacks on his time living outside of Canada as provincialism.

“They say it makes me less of a Canadian. It makes me more of a Canadian,” he said.

Deriding the Harper government for its stance on abortion, cuts to gay-pride funding in Toronto and Montreal, gun control and the country’s $54-billion deficit, Ignatieff encouraged the party’s donors to stay unified and prepare for an upcoming election.

“It is the core of our beliefs that our country is more than the sum of our parts,” he said. “That has been the vision of our party since Laurier. It is the vision I carry with me.”

National Post

After a spectacular amount of pressure from the community (11,000 names on the OCBCC petition) Premier McGuinty has committed $63.5 million in permanent funding in Ontario’s 2010 budget.

A crisis in funding for our Early Learning and Child Care programs was looming again! as core funding was due to expire March 31st and although we were given a temporary reprieve in May/09 with $18 million in “bridge funding” . . This Budget 2010 was critical !

Over the past several months the Province had been hearing from parents, advocates and our City partners -that Municipalities would have to start cutting subsidies as early as June 2010. And that, with the introduction of Early Learning Programs for 4 & 5s, we were heading for a total collapse of our child care system!

This government’s commitment of $63.5 million in permanent funding during a recession is a big deal! It tells us they do NOT want to loose Child Care subsidies on their watch. But the campaign also tells us that they are only going to act, when they feel the heat.

WE KNOW, the struggle is not over yet!

2009-2010 has been
Child Care’s Perfect Storm!

We have been reeling from one assault on our system to another .  . Enough Already!   . see .Pg 2

INSIDE . . . THIS NEWSLETTER:

•    The Provincial Budget 2010 pg 1
•    The City’s – Children’s Services Budget pg. 1 & 2
•    Councillor Joe Mihevc praises activists… pg.2
•    Child Care’s Perfect Storm . .  p.2 (including ELP for 4 & 5’s… Provincial underfunding… Proposed Changes to the DNA ?)
•    Growing Up Green

Toronto Child Care Raffle 2010 – a fabulous fundraising opportunity for YOUR program – Registration form enclosed

. . . .  City Budget 2010
hits Child Care in Schools!

The Children’s Services recommended Budget would see

Parent Child Care Fees SKYROCKET!

In the City’s Operating Budget (Feb) the Children’s Services Budget included a recommendation from Staff (that in order to find savings in their Department) the “Rental Agreement with School Boards be terminated”. This would be devastating to our child care programs in schools – Parent Fees would skyrocket. Programs would be destabilized and even be forced to close !

Our fragile Child Care system is already under extraordinary pressure as a result of Provincial   underfunding and the new Early Learning Programs in our Schools. Any further cuts to any programs is totally unacceptable and threatens the whole system with the usual ripple effect!
BUT thanks to YOU . . . . . .

The successful mobilization of your parents in the early part of this campaign, resulted in hundreds of phone calls and e-mails to the City’s Budget Committee, forceful deputations to the Committee, and excellent media coverage!
Resulting in the Full support of the City Politicians on Budget Committee who recommend: that the Rental Agreement with the School Boards (worth $5.8 million) NOT be terminated.    (see JOE MIHEVC below)

Councillor Joe Mihevc of the Budget Committee

* March 12 (excerpt from e-mailed response to community)

“ . . great news *today the Budget Committee recommended saving the childcare subsidy, and we expect that City Council will support that recommendation when it makes the final decision in mid April. The recently-announced budget surplus made this decision easier for all committee members, but I can tell you that your community activism put this issue high on the agenda, and because of that I believe it could have been saved regardless of the surplus. . . .

‘. . .On a related note, the Budget Committee also has recommended that $540,000 be spent to protect student nutrition programs and deliver the programs to 30 more schools. This means that more kids will get a proper breakfast and snacks to prepare them for learning. There have been many studies that show students learn and behave better when they are properly fed. I was particularly passionate about this issue, and am very happy the program will be funded.. . . . .”

IMPORTANT Upcoming Dates at the City’s Community Development and Recreation Cmte

The following meetings will each include Reports from Children’s Services

CDRC – April 23rd -  Middle Years Strategy

CDRC – May 26th – Children’s Service Plan

CDRC – June 26th – Provincial Funding and impact of Early Learning Programs on Child Care

The TCBCC will depute at each of these meetings

Enough Already!

We are keeping all the pressure we can on the Provincial government to get the answers and stability we need for Early Learning and Child Care in this Province – because we know you cannot continue delivering your programs with this much uncertainty in these areas:

>> Introduction of Early Learning Programs for 4’s & 5’s
>> Provincial underfunding of core child care system
>> Changes to the D.N.A. ? are they coming or not ?
>> and the Last Straw! . . .A broken City Budget

>>> the impact of Early Learning Programs for 4 & 5’s: . . .what will this mean for our children and families, as well as our ELCC programs?

The Premier’s announcement on the implementation of the Early Learning Program ELP (Oct/09) and the Min. of Education’s announcement on school sites (Jan/10). . . have left us all with many unanswered questions, leading to great anxiety, as we await more details from both the Min. of Education and MCYS.

From the Ministry of Ed: The Full-Day Early Learning Statute Law Amendment Act (Bill 242) has now been introduced. It addresses:
•    Core ELP obligations for School Boards
•    Designation and Recognition of ECE’s roles
•    Duty to Co-operate
•    Subsidies (may) be available

Deputations on Bill 242 were heard in March, and many in the ELCC community deputed, including the TCBCC. We stressed that the Proposed Extended Day does not meet the needs of:

Children: this is not quality care! There are high ratios and group size and NO plans for a nutritious meal and snacks!

IMPACT of Early Learning Programs

for 4 & 5’s: what will the impact be on our children and families, as well as our ELCC programs

Parents: the costs are high and subsidies have not materialized yet, and the program only operates 40 weeks of the year!
Our Child Care system: How are ELCC programs to remain viable if the 4s & 5s move over to the ELP’s and when will we hear about the transition and stabilization funding for child care that McGuinty promised in October 2009!

It is becoming increasingly clear that the two Ministries do not have a handle on this program yet. . . So WE must continue to give them our Best Advice! . . . Thank-You to all of you who are raising concerns – The pressure your questions create helps to influence the program as it evolves!

>>> Provincial Underfunding of Child Care when will we get the increase in child care subsidies / grants we so desperately need and the assurance of stable funding?

After a spectacular amount of pressure from the community, the  McGuinty has committed to …$65 million  in permanent funding in the 2010 budget – and that is a huge victory for our community.

But the struggle is not over yet: We won an important battle and that increases our strength as a community, but the Province continues to underfund our system and these pressures must be recognized:
•   Inflation costs (annual per diem increases) have not been recognised by the Priovince for 15 years! (the City continues to dip into reserves and without Provincial $$$s, will still have to cut 3,500 subsidies by 2012 (instead of 5,000!)
•   Transition and Stabilization funding – how much the ELCC sector is to receive has not been announced yet

•   Increased Wage Improvement Funding and increase other base funding for wages so that we can pay ALL staff fairly and retain ECE’s in the ELCC sector – without Parent Fees increasing

•    Pay Equity payments in the proxy sector need to be funded again

>>> Proposed  Changes  to  the  D.N.A. ?
At the very end of January the Ministry of Children and Youth held one (of two) planned consultations, with invited members of the ELCC community to unveil their “proposed changes to the DNA”, for “discussion and feedback”. The very negative response (the changes would compromise quality)     they received at this 1st consultation . . as well as the negative attention in the media and from the community at large . . . appeared to lead the Ministry to cancel the 2nd consultation – contacting those individuals one-on-one instead!
IF the Ministry intends to move forward with changes they are required to post the “proposed changes” for a broader consultation (on their website) for 30 days. . . . But two months later and they haven’t been posted yet. . . . Does this mean the ideas are Dead? . . . not necessarily !!!! We will continue to monitor this VERY carefully – and make sure that MCYS continues hears the concerns of the ELCC community.
AND. . .The Last Straw! For this season, was  >>> A Broken City Budget ! leading to  policy changes being driven by budget cuts!  (Rent Grants!)
Growing Up Green “Working together with our Early Learning & Child Care Programs and our Parent Community”

Allow us to introduce you to:

Small Wonders:
Designing Vibrant, Natural Landscapes
for Early Childhood

Published by Evergreen - a national non-profit environmental organization with a mandate to bring nature to our cities through naturalization projects

Excerpt from the Preface: Imagine creating a space for young children that evokes their sense of wonder and curiosity; a place that offers a rich variety of play opportunities; a place where children can fill their senses, make friends, explore the natural world and try something new every day. This book is about designing such places at the facilities where young children play and are cared for, such as child care centres and daycare facilities.

If you work with young children — whether as a daycare centre supervisor, a staff member or a parent — this book is for you. It describes Evergreen’s approach to creating vibrant, nurturing and safe outdoor spaces for young children, and it offers a framework for developing your own creative designs that serve children’s needs, as well as the needs of the staff and the community.

Throughout this book you’ll find questions meant to help you assess your own space, see its full potential and imagine the possibilities for a design that’s tailored to your specific site. It’s our hope that it will inspire you to envision, and then undertake, the transformation of your own early childhood play space.

This book was developed in great part by Troubadour Music (www.raffinews.com) and Universal Music (www.umusic.ca)
CHILD CARE
Essential for our Families – Essential for our Future

Purchase this very popular TCBCC Poster TODAY!  and support the important ADVOCACY work of the Toronto Coalition for Better Child Care

The cost of this 20” x 20” Poster is:
$5.00 each or. . . $10 for three + postage handling $7.00
Contact us at:  416-538-7630 for more details

the annual child care Raffle

REGISTRATION:  MARCH / APRIL 2010
(draw date June 17, 2010)

Raise money for YOUR centre and support the important advocacy work of the TCBCC

Here’s How It Works

1.  The Toronto Coalition for Better Child Care handles collection of all prizes, printing and distribution of raffle tickets, all promotional materials, and obtains the raffle license.

2.  YOU organize your staff and families to sell as many tickets as possible! And then your program and the TCBCC split the proceeds 50/50.  The more tickets your centre sells the more money your centre makes.

3.   Exciting prizes include: weekend getaways, spa packages, Blue Jays tickets, restaurant and theatre packages and much, much, more!  (If you have any questions or can contribute to our prize list – just give us a call: 416-538-7630

A fabulous fundraising opportunity for your program!

This is the perfect time to participate in an exciting joint fundraiser for child care programs, FRP’s, early years agencies, and the TCBCC!  This will be our 14th consecutive year of collaborating with Toronto’s Early Learning & Child Care community to raise much needed funds for programs like yours and the important advocacy work of the TCBCC!  Make sure that your program is a part of this exciting event!  Great prizes include:  a Muskoka getaway; Downtown Hotel packages; Fitness Club memberships; spa, restaurant, and theatre packages; exciting family  entertainment; children’s books and CD’s; and  more! Over 120 prizes in total!

How does it work?

• The Toronto Coalition for Better Child Care handles all of the organizing, including obtaining all the great prizes; the lottery license application; the assembly, printing and distribution of tickets and promotional materials!

• The Child Care / Family Resource Program organizes their families to sell the tickets

• Tickets will be available at the TCBCC office towards the end of April. The closing date for tickets to be returned to the TCBCC is May 31st. So you have a full month to Sell! Sell! Sell!

• The draw will be held on June 17th 2010!

• The Toronto Coalition for Better Child Care and participating child care programs split the proceeds 50/50.  It’s as simple as that!

If you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact us.

Jane Mercer

Executive Co-ordinator

Toronto Coalition for Better Child Care

416 538 7630 x2

]]> http://childcaretoronto.org/?feed=rss2&p=101 1 http://childcaretoronto.org/?p=149 http://childcaretoronto.org/?p=149#comments Thu, 29 Apr 2010 17:59:03 +0000 admin http://childcaretoronto.org/?p=149 In today’s news – Bill 242 passes third reading at Queen’s Park.

Transition funding for child care in Ontario was announced. As well, licensed child care was moved to the new early years division.

For a link to the Ontario Goverenment Press Release and Materials, click here.

Minister of Education Leona Dombrowski and Minister of Children and Youth services Laurel Broten recently announced the following:

1. Ontario passes full-day learning legislation - this legislation permits school boards to implement the full day learning program. The full day learning program includes  ECE’s in the classroom and the extended day program. The legislation allows school boards to collect fees for the extended day.

2. Transition funding for child care programs - With the introduction of the full-day learning program by Premier McGuinty, background analysis discussed the necessity of transitional and capital funding for child care programs.

The Provincial government has now introduced two new forms of funding:

Fee subsidies will be permanent funding starting this year at $6 million and growing $51 million over the next five years. This is in addition to the $63.5 million replacing Federal funding from the last budget.

Light capital is non-permanent funding available only to not-for-profit child care programs. It too will start this year, and will grow to $12 million in five years.

3. Transfer of licensed child care programs to the Early Years Division, Ministry of Education

Previously licensed child care programs fell under the Ministry of Children and Youth Services. Licensing specialists will remain under the MCYS until they are transferred the Ministry of Education.

For child care programs there is no immediate change with this transfer of responsibility. The municipal role distributing child care programs remains unchanged.