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| Alison Watson and Kate Toye presented the findings of the recenlty completed Prince Rupert Child Care Assessment and Action plan to Prince Rupert Council on Monday evening |
A glimpse into some of the solutions for child care issues in the community made for the focus of a Monday evening presentation at Prince Rupert City Council as Alison Watson and Kate Toye outlined the findings of the recently completed Child Care Assessment and Action Plan for the city.
Prior to the review of the Prince Rupert findings, the pair made note as to how Child care is a critical social infrastructure, one which like other civic elements of infrastructure is key to development of a community and complex by nature; noting that like housing availability it can make the difference in attracting or maintaining a municipality.
Ms. Watson further observed as to how Child Care concerns are making for a larger focus when it comes to community planning, noting how there are critical shortages and how local governments are now being asked to identify their own needs.
The Review of their work involved three key questions, what are the needs, how many spaces are required and what actions can the City take to support space creation.
The presentation explored some of the methods of their review and the key components that they found resonated with those who participated in the survey.
The review identified Five key gaps that are currently to be found in Prince Rupert: Infant/Toddler Centre spaces, Flexible programs, Co-location hubs, Awareness of programs/benefits and the barriers found in the community such as staff, zoning issues and capacity.
At the current access rate it was determined that there was a shortage of 49 spaces in Prince Ruper considered a conservative estimate, they also observed that as the community is in transition that could look very different moving towards the future.
When it comes to the actions that the City could take, the findings highlighted the following:
Strengthen Child Care policies using the upcoming OCP discussions as an opportunity to include Child Care into the larger focus
Update regulations and create incentives, take advantage of bylaws to remove limits and offer supports towards growth of child care options
Support for Space Creation by direct or indirect options
Communications, Partnerships and Advocacy, make use of information campaigns and advocacy towards the province and Federal governments for continued momentum at both levels.
To complete their presentation, they both made note of the Space Creation funding options that are available to the city, Indigenous governments in the area as well as for non-profit organizations and business groups.
The final takeaway for Ms. Watson, who is a community planner based in Smithers, was to note that not many communities in the north were exploring the issue and then to pose a question to the Council members.
"What if ... what if Child care was an opportunity to capitalize in and distinguishing Prince Rupert in being a place where families can access child care. Noboduy's thinking about it we're all trying as small communities to do kind of do similar things in attract people, but no one is doing child care. And if anyone can get child care right it would be amazing."
When it came to questions, many of the council members noted how the work of the group and the document the delivered would serve the community moving forward and make for an important elements for future considerations.
Councillor Nick Adey observed as to how much work went into the project and what it could mean for the city.
"There is a way in which the variety of things that the City is doing in terms of managing growth and development; it's kind of a reminder of that, that piece in that conversation I think from that perspective would be very useful."
Among the enquiries, Councillor Cunningham explored themes related to training opportunities, with Ms. Toye making of the challenges currently in place for training, observing how the pay is currently low for those that take the two year programs.
She also noted that both Coast Mountain College and Metlakatla First Nation were offering training in the region.
Mr. Cunningham noted of the challenge of trying to increase wages for Child Care workers, which could drive up the cost of child care for families in need of the services.
For his part, and as a way to conclude the presentation the Mayor observed as to some of the current opportunities being considered in the community and how the City could take advantage of affecting policies through their OCP update work.
Mr. Brain also noted that he was confident that Prince Rupert would take a leadership role in development of child care initiatives and how the City would want to be a part of that.
You can review their presentation from the City's Video Archive the review of the Study makes for the first order of business for Council on Monday.
The document is also available for review from the City's Agenda from Monday, as well we reviewed some of the history of the City's work on Child Care themes with our Preview of Monday's Council session which you can review here.
Update: The City issued an information release highlighting their view of the report and the areas where they may look to take action on you can review their notes and other links to the Assessment work here.
A wider overview of Monday's Council meeting can be found from our Council Timeline feature here.
More themes of discussion for the Council members can be reviewed through our Council Discussion page here.
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