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Goals, Objectives, Strategies and Results — Continued
Goal 7: The child care system is sustainable and meets the
needs of British Columbia families.
- Business Area:
- Women's Services, Seniors and Child Care.
Child care is an essential service to support families' participation
in training and work, and to support healthy child development in
care settings. An estimated 245,377 BC children require child care
and 35 per cent of working families report that child care concerns
have interfered with their ability to find employment, although
over 90 per cent of parents report they are using their
preferred child care arrangement.14 Numerous studies
in Canada and elsewhere have cited benefits of quality child care
that include increased school readiness, higher earnings, reduced
need for special education, reduced social assistance costs, and
reduced absenteeism for working parents.
It is important to ensure that parents are supported in participation
in the workforce through access to, and an ability to pay for quality
child care. Child care programs provide a level of social stability
and produce important benefits for the economy.
- Objective 1:
- More child care spaces are available.
New federal dollars for child care in British Columbia will support
an expansion of child care spaces. Work is being undertaken to implement
a long term child care plan, including the investment of federal
money and improving delivery of child care programs, including the
parent subsidy program.
- Strategies:
- 1. Implement the long-term plan for child care, including
an investment plan for investment plan for child care dollars
.
- 2. Improve service delivery, systems and business processes
in child care and subsidy programs.15, 16
| Performance Measures |
Baseline 2003/04 |
Target |
| 2004/05 |
2005/06 |
2006/07 |
| Output: Number of funded childcare service providers |
3,6001 |
3,700 |
3,900 |
4,100 |
| Outcome: There are more licensed child care spaces
available for families in BC |
75,000 |
76,500 |
78,000 |
78,000 |
| Outcome: Financial assistance for child care providers
is fairly distributed under the Child Care Operating Funding
Program measured by: |
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| a) per cent of eligible centre-based providers that
are funded; and |
a) 80%2 |
a) 80% |
a) 85% |
a) 85% |
| b) per cent of licensed family providers that are funded |
b) 65% |
b) 65% |
b) 70% |
b) 75% |
- Objective 2:
- Low income families are better able to meet the cost of child
care.
Ensuring that low income families have access to child care is
important both from a social and economic perspective. Low income
families are better prepared to participate in education or employment
if they are able to pay for child care. The following strategies
are designed to respond to these needs.
- Strategies:
- 1. Deliver Child Care Subsidy Program.
- 2. Implement a client service plan to meet language and literacy
needs.
| Performance Measure |
Baseline 2003/04 |
Target |
| 2004/05 |
2005/06 |
2006/07 |
| Output: Number of subsidies for children of eligible
parents1 |
28,000 |
30,600 |
30,600 |
30,600 |
- Objective 3:
- Government is enabled to make informed decisions on issues
that affect child care services.
Government decisions about child care in British Columbia require
information and analysis that are reliable, relevant and comprehensive.
The following strategies are intended to support evidence-based
decision-making about child care programs.
- Strategies:
- 1. Develop options to continue implementation of a long-term
strategy for federal contributions toward child care.
- 2. Develop or improve research, information management systems
and policy analysis tools.
- 3. Continue to monitor and evaluate the operating and capital
funding programs.
- 4. Strengthen accountability through revised program standards
and reporting requirements.
| Performance Measures |
Baseline 2003/04 |
Target |
| 2004/05 |
2005/06 |
2006/07 |
| Output: Implement new funding based on allocation
of federal funding |
|
Implement and assess |
Continue and adjust |
Recommend new options for expanded funding |
| Output: Subsidy forecasting model developed |
No formal model |
Complete |
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| Output: Evaluate the following programs: |
Frameworks completed |
N/A |
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| a) Childcare Operating; |
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a) Complete |
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| b) Capital Projects; |
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b) Complete |
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| c) Resource and Referral Center; and |
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c) Complete |
| d) Parent Subsidy |
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d) Complete |
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