Partnering with Caregivers and Families to Provide Access to the Canada-Wide National Childcare Plan.
At Daycare Connection one of the comments we hear is how challenging navigating the childcare system can be.
Long waiting lists, high fees, knowing where to look and what questions to ask can be daunting and overwhelming. Families may wonder “Will my child adjust?” “Feel secure?” “Will they be loved and be accepted for who they are?” Families are sometimes unsure about what home childcare is and if they will have access to subsidies or the new National Child Care Plan.
Some home childcare providers indicated they wonder how the National Childcare Plan will impact their home-based centre and the work they invest so much into.
This is an exciting time for Early Childhood Education. Advocates have lobbied for years about the importance of a National Childcare Plan. Daycare Connection opted in to the plan because we believe “it is the right thing to do” and that “all families deserve quality affordable home childcare.”
One veteran Home Child Care Coordinator and RECE stated “Becoming a licensed home childcare provider with DCC gives providers support through a community network, peer-mentoring, and people they can rely on and talk to if issues arise.”
Another experienced Home Child Care Coordinator (RECE) stated “reasons to become a home childcare provider with Daycare Connection include; working from home as a self-employed independent contractor, making connections in the community/neighbourhood, and benefiting professionally through workshops and sharing information about city and provincial requirement. Parents choose home-care because they are looking for small group care, care that is intimate, personal, and attentive with one on one communication with one provider.”
A parent whose child attended home childcare through Daycare Connection experienced first-hand the benefits of small group care for her children. “I chose homecare because I was nervous about sending my child to a large centre-based setting. I met my homecare provider at my local EarlyON Centre. I saw her with the children she was looking after and got to know her. The more I got to know her, the more comfortable I felt. As I learned about homecare I liked knowing my child would be in a home environment.” Laughing, she recalls, “I went to the Daycare Connection office, knocked on their door, and asked that my child be placed in the home of the caregiver I had been watching. Years later, my child still remembers his caregiver with affection.”
Reflecting, the parent added “She gave him the level of patient care and attention he needed, making sure his needs were met. He loved her so much!”
If you would like to learn more about becoming a licensed home childcare provider with Daycare Connection or are looking for home childcare email homechildcare@daycareconnection.net or call 416-698-0750
Contributed by Jennifer Hooker (RECE)
