The Westlock Child Care Society will submit an application to take part in a province-wide pilot project to test out $25-a-day childcare.
The society held an information session Dec. 6 to get input from its members, answer questions get input to determine if there was enough interest among parents to pursue the $500,000 grant.
“One of the questions I’ve had is if staff would have to take a pay cut on $25 a day,” said Westlock Child Care Society executive director Christine Villeneuve. “We wouldn’t be able to exist on $25 a day, so what happens is if my fee is $40 a day, $25 gets billed to the parents, and the other $15 gets billed back to the government out of that $500,000 grant.”
The program would work by subsidy, with parents paying $25 and the government covering the rest.
Another aspect of the grant is that it will allow centres to train staff to handle more responsibilities in childcare, as well as open more spaces. Currently, the Westlock centre has 40 kids registered and averages around 30 children a day, but has a maximum capacity of 77.
“If we were full at 77 kids, that comes to over $300,000 from the grant going to subsidize parents,” explained Villeneuve.
“That would leave me with about $150-200,000 for professional development for staff, increased wages and resources for staff, or even more staff. Most of the income we have goes towards staff, or reducing parent fees.”
Another potential boon from the subsidy would be allowing the centre to stay open longer.
“Part of this is also extending our hours to meet community needs,” said Villeneuve. “If I know that people are working seven to seven, maybe instead of me being open at 7 a.m. and closing at 6:15 p.m., it might mean opening at 6:30 a.m. and staying open past 7 p.m.”
The Westlock Child Care Centre is one of three non-profit daycares in FCSS’ Northwest Alberta division that qualify for the program and one of 18 across the province.
“We’ve had letters of support from many businesses and community organizations, which is great, because if we can provide more evidence to the group that is going to review the applications for the $25 a day, we will stand a better chance because the community is saying ‘We back this.’”
The program is available only for non-profit daycare centres — after-school care and private dayhomes are not included in the project.
The project is expected to run for one year and if successful it will be expanded an addition two years, depending on government funds.
“It is a pilot project — we might end up getting this for one year and then they might say, ‘We can’t do this anymore’,” said Villeneuve.
“So there is definitely some risk management that we would have to do as a society. Probably it would look like parents signing a letter saying they understand that they’re only getting this $25 a day while we have the grant.”
One aspect that will not be changed is the current low-income subsidy program. If a child spends more than 100 hours in care a month, the province currently subsidizes expenses to the tune of $546.
Villeneuve estimates the average cost of $25-a-day daycare would be $550 a month, so with the subsidy, that would mean a low-income family would only pay $4 a month.
“If you have to work, and it only costs $25 a day for child care, that’s huge,” said Westlock Child Care Society treasurer and parent Robin Armstrong.
The deadline to apply for the program is Jan. 20, and successful applicants will be chosen around March. The subsidy would kick in April 1. A form letter of support is available at the society’s website for parents who want to voice their approval of the program.
