Children First Society director Patricia Davison is preparing.

She said the NWT Early Childhood Development Association spent the last month surveying parents others connected to the sector to get their input on the future of child care in the NWT.

Now that the surveys and discussions have been finished, a final report will be tabled by the end of the month and sent to the NWT Early Child Care Working Group. The information will then be forwarded to the GNWT to help inform decision making.

SA国际影视传媒滻tSA国际影视传媒檚 to help figure out the best way to fund young children so that they can develop and grow into a good, well-rounded citizens,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淭he type of model weSA国际影视传媒檙e looking for is that early childhood programs would have enough funding that the parents would only have to contribute a small portion of the overall cost.SA国际影视传媒�

The 2021 federal budget earmarked $30 billion over the next five years to establish a $10 a day National Child Care program. For parents, this means they would spend a maximum of $10 for each day a child is in some sort of external care. Low prices are accomplished by subsidizing day cares, early learning centres and other facilities to cover the expenses.

Every facility has its own challenges and circumstances, but Davison was quick to point out several ways steady funding would benefit the Children First Centre and its students. Noting digging up grant funding requires a full-time staffer plus a second person to help out just to keep the lights on, she said dedicated funding would not only give peace of mind to the society but also allow it to begin making longer term plans. It would also free up staff SA国际影视传媒� and grant money SA国际影视传媒� for larger, one-off projects.

Davidson said research has shown every $1 spent in early childcare saves between $9 to $13 in health, education and justice down the line as children grow older.

Another major area dedicated funding would help the centre and all early child care providers was in staffing. Davison noted she had employees who had been with the centre since it opened eight years ago who donSA国际影视传媒檛 have retirement plans. While her staff are dedicated, she noted many child care providers have great difficulty keeping good staff for any length of time because the wages are so low.

SA国际影视传媒滳hildren First Society is very fortunate in a lot of ways,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檙e doing okay, but when you look at what weSA国际影视传媒檙e paying our staff for the work that they do and the education that weSA国际影视传媒檙e expecting them to have, it just doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 balance out.

SA国际影视传媒淧eople will come in, weSA国际影视传媒檒l train them, weSA国际影视传媒檒l give them some great skills and some early childhood courses and theySA国际影视传媒檒l go across the street and make way more money. So why would they stay? I donSA国际影视传媒檛 hold it against them, but itSA国际影视传媒檚 a real dilemma.SA国际影视传媒�

Compounding the problem is the current funding model is based on attendance, meaning if a child stays home sick one day, the facility doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 get funding for that day, which could mean staff hours need to be cut.

Past that, Davison said she would like to use funding to reduce the costs of programming to parents to make the centre more inclusive, and with that in mind expand the building or move to a larger one. As of right now, the Children First Centre is at capacity and has a waiting list.

SA国际影视传媒淥ur mission is to support the greatness of all children in Inuvik. ThatSA国际影视传媒檚 very hard to do when weSA国际影视传媒檙e bulging at the seams facility-wise,SA国际影视传媒� said Davison. SA国际影视传媒淩ight now, if youSA国际影视传媒檙e a single-income, lower-waged person, itSA国际影视传媒檚 difficult. WeSA国际影视传媒檝e implemented lots of things to help people access programming, but if the program fees were lowered completed we could open up the doors and really say itSA国际影视传媒檚 for everybody.SA国际影视传媒�