Parents scramble as local childcare crunch tightens
The childcare crunch Central Okanagan families have endured for the last several years has turned into a minefield in recent weeks.
Stunned parents are shell-shocked, reeling and dismayed with the pending closure of StarBright and Building Blocks, two muchneeded childcare facilities, including one dedicated to early intervention for developmental delays, meaning neither educators nor parents really know where to turn next.
“Hundreds of parents are scrambling to find somewhere for their kids. But there are just no centres that have space to take them,” said Theresa Martyn, director of Adventure Time Early Learning Centre in West Kelowna.
“Wait lists are at least two years long, some longer,” she added.
(Building Blocks Educare has since announced it will continue to operate as ProducKiDvity beginning April 1.)
“Where do these closures leave them? Where can they turn for child care help? You can’t just lease a space and call it a daycare,” Martyn explained.
Government regulations in place to ensure care is set to high safety, teaching and health standards have to be met.
“The criteria to open and establish are massive,” Martyn added.
“It takes time, effort and planning to create a space that satisfies the criteria set out by the province and Interior Health.”
Those criteria stipulate day areas must have mandated staff to child ratios, staff must have early childhood education certificates or similar accepted training. As well, they must meet exact needs for suitable outdoor space, indoor play and learning areas, designated quiet-time areas, lunch and snack areas, child-sized washrooms, handicap accessibility and more.
Meanwhile, it’s up to parents ousted by the closures to find care for some 200 kids who have called the centres their home-awayfrom-home for years.
It’s a daunting task with a looming deadline, for those about to be displaced, and also for first-time parents just starting to navigate the childcare search.
In Kelowna, Childhood Connections Okanagan Family and Childcare Society is a child-care resource and referral centre that can help take some of the sting out of the process.
Martyn added the ongoing crunch creates a “very, very scary” situation, but that society is the hub for information where parents can get all the needed information to make good decisions on child care, she said. “It’s a good road map.”
The society is dedicated to providing information, resources and accessibility on a range of flexible care options to support the needs of children, families and care providers.
Parents can find the right day care for their child, cost, type of care centre, including private home care, registered and licensed, in large and small centres from Lake Country to Peachland.
All of the daycares also list the child to caregiver ratio so parents know exactly how many children, and what age groups, their child will be with day to day.
Interior Health also has resources for parents, including reports on centres or homes that may have been written up for infractions by Interior Health childcare licensing officers.
Martyn added it’s imperative that parents do their homework when looking for a daycare to suit their needs and the needs of their child.
“Ask about the philosophy and learning style. Look at the quality of the centre. Not just how it looks, but how it feels and how many educators there are on staff, what are staff-to-child ratios, how are possible behaviour problems handled, and more,” she said.
“The zero to six years before school, are so very, very important for children. And it’s so incredibly sad that the most vulnerable of our children have been tossed aside by the closing of StarBright.”
Her advice for soon-to-be-parents is “get on the wait list as soon as you know you’re pregnant.”