Editor:
Re: “Daycare changes positive,” Letters, July 27.
Dianne Goldberg’s comments about our ad in the July 20 Coast Reporter miss the point.
Dig a little deeper into the Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative (CCFRI) documents and you will find a two-tiered treatment of licensed daycare providers that service infant and toddlers. Licensed family daycares are subsidized at a lower rate than licensed group daycare, even when the two operations are charging almost the same fee for service. In the 27-page Child Care Operating Funding Program Changes and Fee Reduction Initiative FAQs (a link is posted on our website at daycaresorangecrushed.com), refer to Q&A 3, 40, 41, 42 and 64 to understand the two-tiered daycare subsidy.
Q&A 59 shows subsidies are paid in two increments: up to four hours, and over four hours. So a child in care for 4.5 hours is subsidized the same amount as a child in care for 12 hours or overnight. Is this fair to the operator? Is it fair to those working extended hours, relying on that daycare support? FAQs 3, 40, 41, 42 and 64 may help you understand the two-tiered payout to parents.
Q&A 50 tells us the NDP intends to “address unintended consequences” like these. Why should we sign a 14-page contract and hope that sometime, somehow, any inequities it contains will be addressed?
We believe the CCFRI does not treat licensed family daycares fairly and should be reviewed. We are not alone; many daycares province-wide are not opting in to a program that does not value their services equally with group care providers. If they opt out or cease operations, the effect on the province’s workforce could be significant.
Rob and Eve Corlett, Eve’s Family Daycare, Gibsons
