August 29, 2011
New Child Care Centre Opens in Bay Bulls
Through a Provincial Government investment of $300,000, a new child care centre has been created in the community of Bay Bulls. The Honourable Charlene Johnson, Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services, was joined by Keith Hutchings, MHA for Ferryland, at the funding announcement today.
“Our government is committed to enhancing child care in all areas of Newfoundland and Labrador,” said Minister Johnson. “In keeping with this commitment, I am delighted to announce this new child care facility and the development of 48 new regulated child care spaces in Bay Bulls.”
Funding has been provided through the Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) Capacity Initiative of the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services. This investment has assisted the Bay Bulls Child Care Centre with start-up costs for the centre, including the purchase of required equipment and program supplies. In addition to this funding, it is expected that the centre will receive an annual operating grant.
The Bay Bulls Child Care Centre is licensed to provide programs and services to children from birth to seven years old. This new centre is the most recent expansion to the Kilbride to Ferryland Family Resource Coalition, which is a community-based organization providing programs and services to families living in the Kilbride to Cappahayden areas.
“Through this significant investment, the Kilbride to Ferryland Family Resource Coalition will meet the needs for childcare services in an area that is seeing unprecedented growth in residential development and in the number of young children,” said MHA Hutchings. “The centre is located in the new state-of-the-art Lifestyle Building, which provides recreational and playground facilities for the centre. I would like to recognize the Town of Bay Bulls, the Family Resource Coalition and the region for their support in completing this much needed service.”
Paula Harvey, Chair of the Board, Kilbride to Ferryland Family Resource Coalition, was also on hand at today’s event and expressed her appreciation for the Provincial Government’s recent investment in the Bay Bulls Child Care Centre.
“Today is a very exciting day for our organization,” said Ms. Harvey. “Over the years we have seen first hand the need for child care services in the Bay Bulls-Witless Bay area. With the financial support provided by the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services, we are now able to expand our family resource centre in Bay Bulls to include a much needed licensed child care centre.”
Since the fall of 2006, the ELCC Capacity Initiative has supported the development of 10 new child care centres and the expansion of six existing child care centres throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. With the addition of the new child care centre in Bay Bulls, this brings the total number of spaces created to 349, exceeding the original commitment to create 200 new spaces.
Budget 2011 Standing Strong: For Prosperity. For Our Future. For Newfoundland and Labrador affirms the Provincial Government’s funding commitment to children, youth and families with an additional $9.2 million investment into the department, bringing the total investment to $33 million in just two years.
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Media contacts:
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Michelle Hunt Director of Communications Department of Child, Youth and Family Services 709-729-5148, 725-1593 MichelleHunt@gov.nl.ca |
Darlene Dunne Constituency Assistant to Keith Hutchings MHA for Ferryland 709-729-1390 ddunne@gov.nl.ca |
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Rhonda Thomas or Paula Harvey Kilbride to Ferryland Family Resource Coalition 709-747-8532 r.thomas@kffrc.com kffrc@nfld.com |
2011 08 29 2:20 p.m.