Child-care program changes get OK
Subsidy system to follow child, not agencies
Ottawa’s community and protective services committee has approved a child-care plan that could see the city pump $11.5 million into the sector between now and 2020.
The plan is intended to stabilize fees, slash wait times and help child-care agencies adapt to significant shifts in the industry caused by the introduction of fullday kindergarten in 2010 and the province’s efforts to modernize its childcare legislation last year.
The plan also envisions changes to subsidized child-care spaces, which in the past have been attached to specific child-care agencies. Now, as of next year, a floating system will be implemented, meaning that the subsidy will follow the child.
The city says families will be able to choose where their child receives subsidized care as long as that provider has space available within their licensed capacity and has a signed contribution agreement with the city.
Aaron Burry, general manager of community and social services, said the city will monitor utilization of the fee subsidy to ensure that the system does not exceed 6,300 spaces.
The new funding would come from the city’s child-care reserve fund.
Not-for-profit agencies will receive funding as part of what’s called a general operating grant that will replace, for some agencies, funding formerly received under a wage-subsidy program, while other agencies may receive government funding for the first time under the general operating grant program.
Of the 180 licensed child-care providers in Ottawa, 123 agencies (68 per cent) receive wage-subsidy funds. But there’s disparity between the amount of government funding per space that agencies receive, which varies from nothing to $5,300 per space.
The city says implementing a new funding formula will result in an equitable redistribution of existing provincial funds to eligible licensed child-care programs.
There are 28,051 licensed spaces in Ottawa and more than 12,000 children on a waiting list for a space (full-fee and subsidized).