No more room for children

No more room for children
By Dan Hilborn, Burnaby NOW assistant editor
Published March 1, 2003

Two of the largest licensed child-care providers in Burnaby are unable to cope with the growing demand for their services after recent cutbacks in provincial funding were compounded by a smaller than expected boost in funding in last week's federal budget.
Officials at both the Burnaby Children's Centres Society and the SFU Child Care Society say they have stopped accepting new applicants because they simply do not have the space.
"We've had a real influx of people wanting onto our waiting lists," said Debra Lazer-Dixon, executive director of the BCCS, which operates two unionized day cares with spaces for 86 children in the Edmonds area of Burnaby.
"I already have 500 people on my waiting list, and all my time is being absorbed by answering people's concern that they won't have day care for their children," she said.
While Victoria and Ottawa continue to debate how they will spend the money, Lazer-Dixon hopes that her two major concerns are addressed - that more licensed child-care centres are opened, and that the employees have proper wages and training.
"We need way more child-care centres," said Lazer-Dixon, whose B.C. Hydro and Hanna Court centres are located on land that was donated to Burnaby city hall last year. "I'm urging parents to contact city hall to demand that new developments make space for day cares whenever they build in their neighbourhood."
Sheila Davidson, executive director of the SFU Child Care Society, which offers 210 child-care spaces for 240 children in a variety of programs on the Burnaby Mountain campus, said her biggest concern is the lack of a national child-care strategy.
"The province and federal governments are still talking about how this (budget) will play out," Davidson said Thursday, more than a week after the federal funding announcement was made. While Ontario and Alberta have clearly stated they do not want Ottawa imposing child-care rules on them, she is unsure if B.C. supports a national strategy.
"Some people say B.C. is sitting on the fence, others say B.C. is committed to child care," Davidson said, noting that her society is facing a $480,000 cutback - amounting to wage cuts of $3.50 an hour for its employees - since the Munroe agreement was cancelled.
Davidson is also concerned that B.C. may ultimately end up giving more child-care money to parents who can already afford it, while cutting funding for parents who can't afford it.
"What we need is a provincial vision and framework and a long- term plan that will roll out to an affordable quality system for families and an adequate wage and benefit plan for the staff," she said. "It can be done; however, we are still miles away.
Davidson noted that prior to the federal budget, B.C. was already headed down a road of reducing its child-care budget from a high of $200 million in 1999 to $178 million this year. "That will drop again next year," she said.
She also believes B.C. is developing a "two-tiered child-care system" that provides funding to people who can already afford the service, but offers nothing for parents who don't have enough money to even look for day care.
"Centres like SFU are fully enrolled becauuse we have parents who can afford it. But we also know that centres in lower socio- economic areas have lost families due to cutbacks in family services. With the new provincial operating grant based on enrollment, those under-enrolled centres will no longer get the full amount, so it amounts to a double whammy."
When asked if she believes the government is funding child care for people who can afford it, but not for those without the cash, Davidson said: "Well, one could say that."
And, like most licensed daycare providers, Davidson is a firm believer in having proper education, training and wages for anyone who looks after somebody elses' children, even if they work at a family-run centre.
"There are lots of people who decide to take children in who don't meet the regulations. They might not meet health and safety standard or they might not have any training. I don't want to bash family child care - that's not what I'm doing - but what I am saying is that kids need to be in quality spaces and that includes quality family child care.
"Kids need quality early childhood development because the first five year of life is setting the stage for their whole future. As a society, we have to pay more attention to children, we have to do it collectively and we have to do it through our tax dollars," she said.