Tim Collins / News staff
It should go without saying that every child is entitled to quality care during their pre-school years. Unfortunatly, the reality is that child care may often be unavailable to working parents or come at such a cost as to be untenable, according to Johnny Strilaeff, CEO of the Columbia Basin Trust (CBT).
That’s why, according to some Revelstoke child care professionals, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that, when the CBT embarked in a wide reaching community engagement in 2013/ 2014, child care emerged as a very high priority in the Columbia Basin.
Since that time the Trust has been consulting with experts and staff in a variety of government agencies to craft a program that can have a meaningful impact on the issue and are now in the verge of announcing the program to the region.
“I’ve been a part of the Trust for a number of years now and I can honestly tell you that this is one of the most exciting announcements I’ve had the privilege to make,” said Strilaeff.
“It’s a three part program that I think was well considered and has the potential to make a substantial difference in the availability of child care in Revelstoke and the rest of the Columbia Basin.”
The first part of the program, which will have it’s formal announcement later in October, is for a $3 million grant initiative that will be open to both existing child care operators and anyone wishing to establish a new operation. While the criteria is still to be announced, Strilaeff maintained that it will offer a substantial funding opportunity that will, in turn, lead to an improvement and increase in child care spaces at the community level.
The second component will address the dearth of early childhood educators through a program of educational supports and bursaries for those entering the field or those people who, already in the system, wish to upgrade their qualifications.
Finally, the third part of the program will offer supports for child care operators on the business front. The program will help those operators to address business challenges and identify additional funding sources they may be able to access.
“Some of those grants come and go very quickly and it can be difficult, if not impossible, for an operator to be aware of everything that’s out there. They could lose out without even knowing it and this part of the program will help to alleviate the problem,” said Strilaeff.
Erin MacLachlan, a supported child development coordinator who works with the Community Connections child care program is excited about the CBT program and is particularly interested in the assistance being offered for early childhood educator training. She explained that there are three levels of training in play for child care workers and that it can be difficult to find workers who have the full two year requirement for early childhood educators who are allowed to operate programs for infant to three-year-olds.
“We are lucky in Revelstoke to have a committed group of people who are interested in making sure the quality of child care is consistently high. This program will only help to make their job easier,” said MacLachlan.
