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The Coast's early childhood development program, Success By 6, is regrouping after the provincial government announced March 18 that it will phase out funding of the program by March 2011.
But the government softened its position this week, saying it would work towards a "meaningful, long-term and sustainable model" for the program.
"It has been a roller coaster ride with almost day to day changes in information and news, and it's been impossible for us to plan or sustain with the daily switches and changes in positions," said Sarah Pond, the Coast's Success By 6 co-ordinator. "It's very, very challenging."
Success By 6, which funds children's programming in the key developmental years before age six, was launched in 2003 as a partnership between credit unions, the United Way and the provincial government through the Ministry of Children and Family Development. The government has been funding half the program.
The Coast's Success By 6 program was launched last year through a partnership of the Sunshine Coast Early Childhood Development Planning Table, Success By 6 B.C. and the United Way/Lower Mainland. Pond said Success By 6 has provided nearly $100,000 to fund local programs and activities for children and their families.
In its March 18 announcement, the provincial government said it would cut Success By 6 funding by half to $2.5 million from $5 million this year and phase out funding completely by March 31, 2011.
Reacting to that announcement, Pond identified a number Coast programs that rely on regular Success By 6 funding and will thus feel the impact of the government cuts. These include: parent-tot drop-ins in Gibsons, Roberts Creek, Sechelt and Halfmoon Bay; Bellies and Babies; the nursery rhyme program, Mother Goose; perinatal outreach and perinatal hot lunch programs; and the early pregnancy course.
"These programs will be very challenged to find new ways to survive," Pond said.
Reacting to the government's shift this week, Pond noted that there's no news to indicate that government funding will be reinstated, but maintained that she's "optimistic" for the future of Success By 6.
"Providing [Early Childhood Development] services at a community level is all about collaboration and partnership, so having such an important partnership at least at the table can only be a positive thing," she said.
In the short term, Pond said the Coast's Success By 6 program isn't waiting only on the government to clarify its plans and intentions - it's also waiting on this year's funding disbursement.
"Usually our money comes to the community now, for April 1," she said. "And [the government has] said something about a timeline, perhaps sometime between now and the fall, but we don't know how much or when, so all those programs [slated to receive Success By 6 funding], starting today, will start to feel the impact."
