Message from the Minister of State
for Child Care and Accountability Statement

Government recognizes the important role that quality child care plays in ensuring long term positive outcomes for children. B.C.’s children are our future and it is my privilege to be the Minister of State for Child Care. In partnership with other ministries, we aim to give children the strongest start possible by increasing supports available for child care, early childhood development and early learning programs. Working with the other child-serving ministries, we are developing a holistic approach for early learning and child care that will give B.C. children the strongest start possible in life.

Quality child care, together with early learning and child care initiatives, contribute to improved child development and increased readiness to learn, key factors that support one of government’s Five Great Goals for a Golden Decade — to make B.C. the best-educated, most literate jurisdiction on the continent. The establishment of a baseline for school readiness of kindergarten-aged children in British Columbia — seventy-five per cent of all school children in B.C. enter school ready to learn — provides the information necessary to track performance in this area. The school readiness performance measure is a key measure for all partnering ministries and it will assist future planning and priority setting to improve outcomes for children.

To inform the development of early learning and child care policies, government consulted extensively with a number of stakeholders regarding priorities. Government is committed to enhancing availability, quality and choice around early learning and child care. Targeted investments to low-income families and families with children with special needs will promote better access for more parents to quality child care.

We aim to build the best system of support for children with special needs, including children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). In making strategic investments in supports for families we are moving towards meeting government’s Great Goals that emphasize healthy living and supports for vulnerable children.

Research confirms that collaborative planning and community-based integrated service delivery will serve communities well and maximize positive, effective results for children and their families. Innovative research tools, such as the B.C. Atlas of Child Development,² which demonstrates the relationship between child vulnerability patterns and socio-economic conditions, will help government to work with communities and policy makers to develop strategic approaches to healthy child development in the province.

I am confident that families, communities, organizations and government working together can ensure that our young children — our youngest citizens — have every opportunity to thrive.

I am the Minister of State for Child Care and under the Balanced Budget and Ministerial Accountability Act, I am accountable for achieving the following results for 2006/07:

• In consultation with the Ministries of Education and Health, provide leadership to establish/expand five neighbourhood service hubs that offer a range of integrated services for families, including child care, and inform the Provincial Child Care Council and other interested parties regarding the results.
• Establish three new community partnerships that focus on child care, target specific communities and model best practices, and report results to the Government Caucus Committee (GCC) on Social Development.
• Host a Family Friendly Workplace Forum.
• Present a plan developed in collaboration with the Ministers of Advanced Education and Health to increase the number of skilled and qualified behavioural interventionists for children with autism in B.C. to the GCC on Social Development.
• Work with the Ministry of Advanced Education on the development of a recruitment and retention plan for Early Childhood Educators, which includes an Aboriginal focus, and present the plan to the GCC on Social Development.

Honourable Linda Reid
Minister of State for Child Care

February 8, 2006