Children, families and early child care professionals will benefit with new enhancements to the province�s Early Learning and Child Care Plan. With funding from the federal Child Care Spaces Initiative, enhancements will include an increased subsidy program, improved support for professionals and enhanced inclusion for children with special needs.

The Honourable Ross Wiseman, Minister of Health and Community Services, was joined by child care professionals and families at Family and Child Care Connections, a community-based, non-profit family resource centre, as he outlined the new enhancements.

"Quality child care is essential to our society," said Minister Wiseman. "Enhancements in key areas will help shape a child care system that is both responsive and progressive, with young children and their families benefiting."

The Child Care Spaces Initiative provides provinces and territories with funding to support child care services and is used in accordance with priorities identified by each jurisdiction. Newfoundland and Labrador designated the most recent funding of $3.85 million annually to enhance the existing Early Learning and Child Care Plan. The plan supports the development of a solid foundation of affordable, quality and available child care services for children, families and communities.

The newest enhancements to the plan are focused in four main areas.

Affordability: The Child Care Services Subsidy Program is currently available for eligible families who require access to regulated child care services. The eligibility threshold will increase from a net income of $25,000 to $27,500. Families in receipt of net incomes greater than $27,500 may be eligible for partial subsidies. This increase will result in an estimated additional 170 children and their families benefiting from the Child Care Services Subsidy Program.

Recruitment and Retention: Well-trained staff is a vital part of quality child care and is critical to expanding the number of child care spaces. The former Educational Supplement and the Income Enhancement Initiative have been combined to form the Early Learning and Child Care Supplement, resulting in a streamlined application process. Supplement amounts for eligible Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) will increase, bringing the maximum annual amounts to $3,330 for Level I ECEs and $6,660 for Level II ECEs working in regulated child care settings. To help offset the cost of training and to further enhance recruitment and retention efforts, $5,000 bursaries introduced in 2006 for graduates of two-year ECE programs working in regulated child care settings will continue. Those in receipt of bursaries agree to a two-year return of service in a regulated child care centre.

Quality: The quality of child care children receive, especially in their younger years, has tremendous impact on their overall development and success in school. There will be increased and enhanced province-wide professional development opportunities for those working in the child care field. This will have a positive impact on the developmental programming in child care centres and will further support quality child care in the province.

Inclusion: Access to quality child care can sometimes be a challenge for children with special needs and their families. Some child care centres require additional supports and staff time in order to offer an inclusive program. To build on previous initiatives which promote inclusion of children who have challenging needs in quality child care environments, funding will be increased to help meet the need for additional support for this purpose.

"The priorities our government has identified in these key areas are ones which will continue our progress in strengthening early learning and child care so that children and families in this province have access to quality and inclusive services," said Minister Wiseman.

"Through our early learning and child care initiatives we have set the stage for increased numbers of child care spaces," said Minister Wiseman. "Since we released our Early Learning and Child Care plan in May 2006, approximately 234 new spaces have been created in the province. This was accomplished through both the Provincial Government�s capacity initiative and indirectly by fostering a climate which supports child care centres and regulated family child care homes in creating additional capacity."

The Provincial Government unveiled its Early Learning and Child Care Plan in May 2006. The plan focuses on the key directions of enhancing affordability; supporting recruitment and retention of trained staff; increasing capacity; improving quality of professional development opportunities; and supporting the inclusion of children with special needs. This plan and its enhancements complement the Poverty Reduction Strategy, rural development initiatives and gender equity employment.

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Media contact:
Glenda Power
Director of Communications
Department of Health and Community Services
709-729-1377, 685-1741
glendapower@gov.nl.ca