Greater Sudbury is leading the way in Ontario in terms of child care.
That is what city councillors were told Wednesday at the priorities meeting of city council by Lois Mahon, chair of the Best Start Network and Carmen Ouellette, Greater Sudbury manager of children's services.
The city was first in the province to develop a network of family centered child care spaces, called Best Start, across all four school boards.
Mayor John Rodriguez, in his state of the city address Tuesday, noted that licensed child care spaces have increased from 2,200 in 2000 to almost 5,000 today, one licensed space for every 4.5 eligible children. Of that total, francophone spaces represent 40 per cent. An Aboriginal child care centre is opening in August.
“Our community was able to get provincial funding for this new program, Best Start, because we already were leaders in the number of child care spaces we had developed,” said Mahon.
“In 2000, our long-term goal was to have one licensed space per 10 children. We have already surpassed that today,” she said.
A Best Start Network involves a series of hubs in area schools offering children (prenatal to six years), and their families a place to meet, to learn, and for the children to be better prepared to attend regular kindergarten classes.
All indications are that the provincial funders are so pleased with the program that they are willing to continue funding, said Mahon.
Ward 1 Coun. Joe Cimino, a school administrator, said the hubs cater to kids in their formative years.
“It allows the grandparents to be involved with the kids. Crucial is early assessment offered by experts. If the child has language or motor skill problems the parents can get it looked after before the child attends regular school programs,” said Cimino.
Mahon said Best Start programs can mirror in the morning what the child is taught at Junior Kindergarten (JK) in the afternoon.
Ward 8 Coun. Ted Callaghan asked Mahon how the program could be measured for success.
“We can measure how well the child is prepared for school against a provincial standard and see how that child is progressing.”
Ward 11 Coun. Janet Gasparini said the city was able to pull off the first Best Start program because of “our skill at establishing crucial partnerships.”
“Best Start happened here because of the co-operation of 36 partners who came to the table and put their money down to make it happen. That is why the province supported us and reported us as being such a success story,” said Gasparini.
For more information visit www.sudburybeststart.ca or call 3-1-1.
