EDMONTON – Public Interest Alberta has released the results of its 2018 Alberta Child Care Survey, which gives insight into many of the problems in the province’s child care sector and shows how the government’s Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) Centres program, also known as the “$25-a-day” program, is pointing the way forward in many of those areas.
“In addition to providing more affordable care, these survey results show that the ELCC Centres receiving public funding are doing measurably better in providing higher quality care with better-trained and qualified staff,” said Joel French, Executive Director of Public Interest Alberta. “They are also providing more care spaces for infants and children with disabilities, which can be very difficult for families to find.”
The organization released the results at Jasper Place Child and Family Resource Centre, which is one of 122 operators across the province receiving the ELCC funding.
“ELCC funding from the Alberta government has allowed us to open more quality care spaces, which are staffed by child care professionals who all have a two-year diploma in early childhood development,” said Adine Shuchuck, Executive Director of the Jasper Place Child and Family Resource Society. “Research has long shown how important quality child care and early learning experiences are for children’s development in the early stages of their lives.”
Billie MacFarlane is a mother with four children in care at Jasper Place and spoke about how valuable the ELCC support has been for her family.
“Without the government’s ELCC funding, there is no way I could afford to have all four children receiving quality care together at the same centre,” said MacFarlane. “Three of my children have a speech delay; this centre has a speech therapist onsite who sees them every two weeks. The ELCC funding allows the centre to employ educated, dedicated professionals. I will be forever grateful for what this centre has given my family. As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child and this centre is my village.”
“In addition to providing more affordable care, these survey results show that the ELCC Centres receiving public funding are doing measurably better in providing higher quality care with better-trained and qualified staff,” said Joel French, Executive Director of Public Interest Alberta. “They are also providing more care spaces for infants and children with disabilities, which can be very difficult for families to find.”
The organization released the results at Jasper Place Child and Family Resource Centre, which is one of 122 operators across the province receiving the ELCC funding.
“ELCC funding from the Alberta government has allowed us to open more quality care spaces, which are staffed by child care professionals who all have a two-year diploma in early childhood development,” said Adine Shuchuck, Executive Director of the Jasper Place Child and Family Resource Society. “Research has long shown how important quality child care and early learning experiences are for children’s development in the early stages of their lives.”
Billie MacFarlane is a mother with four children in care at Jasper Place and spoke about how valuable the ELCC support has been for her family.
“Without the government’s ELCC funding, there is no way I could afford to have all four children receiving quality care together at the same centre,” said MacFarlane. “Three of my children have a speech delay; this centre has a speech therapist onsite who sees them every two weeks. The ELCC funding allows the centre to employ educated, dedicated professionals. I will be forever grateful for what this centre has given my family. As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child and this centre is my village.”
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