Stand up for quality childcare at UVIC

Like many graduate students, I'm a parent with a 9 year old in childcare. My son was lucky enough to be enrolled in UVIC's childcare--he has been at UVIC childcare since he was 16 months, and I believe the program is great.

All UVIC parents have friends (or have been ourselves) on long waitlists (2-3 years even!) to get in and know UVIC childcare needs to expand.

The UVIC Childcare Action group has been working to bring this issue to the attention of the university. I’m happy to report that our campaign has succeeded in its goal of gaining the attention of the administration, and of bringing awareness to the importance of the childcare crisis faced by UVIC students, faculty and staff. I work for the Graduate Students' Society and we have been active in this groups. We know childcare is a significant issue for our members.

However, we now face a new situation. In its response to our campaign and the need for more childcare, the Board of Governors is seriously considering engaging a private childcare corporation, Kids & Company. For a very low “membership” fee, Kids & Company asserts that they will set up childcare facilities to meet UVic’s demand. However, parents and early childhood specialists alike are raising the warning bell about privatized childcare. Without wanting to demonize Kids & Co. in particular, we can say that for-profit childcare must, necessarily, cut corners to make a profit, and that this inevitably means lower-quality care despite higher fees.

Large private facilities pay lower wages than not-for-profit organizations like UVic Childcare, which results in high staff turnover (not good for children). They also meet only the minimum provincial standards in both caregiver-to-child ratios as well as staff qualifications; in both these areas, UVic Childcare exceeds the standards. Kids & Company has not yet gained a foothold in B.C., but they have established centres in Calgary, Toronto, Waterloo and Halifax.

While information regarding the company’s performance is not easy to obtain, we have heard some disturbing stories from parents, and two incidents in which Kids&Co centres had their licenses put in jeopardy – once for mould and sewer drain issues (Toronto) and once for accidentally leaving a toddler behind in the building during a fire-drill (Calgary). While Kids&Co has not been operational for long enough to gain perspective on their success, the example of an analogous big-box chain, ABC Childcare in Australia, which expanded rapidly and experienced multiple problems with staffing and quality before going bankrupt, suggests that we may want to be wary of inviting privatized childcare to solve our problems.The Board of Governors is currently gathering information from Kids&Company about the nature of the services they would provide, and they are hoping to make a decision at their meeting on November 27th. In preparation for this meeting, the UCAG has been working to substantiate concerns about privatized childcare with evidence of potential problems.
In addition, we have clarified our objective: faculty members need quality childcare in order to allow them to do their jobs properly, not just any childcare.In support of this objective, we are asking that if you have not yet written a letter in support of our campaign – and we do understand, we’re all busy! – that you do so now, and that you stress that you believe that quality childcare is essential to the success of faculty members who are parents of young children.

***Letters must be sent by November 9 to be included in the Board of Governors agenda.***

Many of us have had – or know of someone who has had – experience with less-than-ideal childcare, and we understand that it is difficult to be productive when you’re uncomfortable with the environment in which you have left your child. We’re concerned that if Kids & Company supplies childcare services to UVic, it may create problems for parents at the same time as it solves them. Thank-you for taking the time to write a letter in support of our campaign.

You’ll find a letter template below; please add your personal perspective or experience, if you wish, and email it to Ray Protti usec3@uvic.ca; David Turpin dturpin@uvic.ca; and cc it to lsmarks@uvic.ca; provost@uvic.ca; and jdunsdon@uvic.ca.

If you are a graduate student, I would appreciate it if you cc the GSS on your letter and let us know if you are willing to have us publish it on the GSS website.

You can email me at gssmgr@uvic.ca.
Yours sincerely,
Stacy Chappel
University of Victoria Graduate Students' Society
University Childcare Action Group

SAMPLE LETTER FOLLOWS


To: Mr. Ray Protti, Chair, Board of Governors and Dr. David Turpin, President, University of Victoria dturpin@uvic.ca
Re: Childcare expansion
Dear Mr. Protti and Dr. Turpin:

I am writing to respectfully ask that you work towards immediate expansion of the UVic childcare system. The current situation is not working for UVic parents.



Through contact and discussion with other concerned parents, I have increasingly come to realize that my situation is far from unique. The UVic childcare is rated among the best in Victoria, but its waitlist times are are extremely long (over two years for students and averaging four to five years for staff and faculty).

This has caused serious hardship for UVic students, staff, and faculty. Impacts on productivity, retention, and recruitment are significant, and growing. This is reflected in the recent departure of a promising young faculty member, Dr. Katrin Meissner, who left UVic because she could not find care for her child.

Recent UVic initiatives to develop a home-based childcare network and part-time childcare in Center 6 are welcome and encouraged. However, these initiatives will not provide sufficient care to meet the demand, and will provide few permanent, full time spaces. This problem could be solved by expanding the UVic group childcare, to provide additional spaces without compromising the quality of the care.

Additional space is particularly needed for the infant and toddler age groups, where few facilities are available in the community, and waitlist times are particularly long. Recruitment, retention, and accessibility are strategic initiatives for UVic. These goals are currently threatened by limited access to high-quality childcare on campus and in the community.

Faculty and staff who cannot find childcare they are satisfied with are forced to either quit, reduce their work to part time, or struggle with multiple demands, resulting in greatly reduced productivity. Parent students without childcare are unable to access higher education.Given that the UVic childcare system is among the best in Victoria, significant expansion of this system is the best solution to the childcare crisis. I hope you will work together with the students, staff, and faculty towards this goal.

Thank you for your kind consideration.
Sincerely,

Childcare Bill supported by GSS

The GSS Sent this letter in support of Bill C303, the Access to Childcare act.

April 30, 2007

Dear members of the House of Commons HUMA Standing Committee,

I am writing on behalf of the University of Victoria Graduate Students’ Society (GSS) to encourage you to support Bill C-303.

Access to affordable childcare has a major impact on the ability of many of our members to succeed in pursing post-graduate studies. In 2006, there were 2423 graduate students at UVic, and of these 1426 were women. The median age of full time graduate students is 30 yrs, but for part time students, who are often students juggling parenting, jobs and their studies, the median age is 37.

While UVic has excellent childcare facilities, the wait for childcare, both at UVic and at other childcare centres in Victoria, can be several years. There are simply not enough spaces available. Many students complete an entire degree without being able to access UVic childcare services. Even parents who can afford the most expensive facilities are sometimes unable to find care. Bill C303 addresses the need to create new childcare spaces.

Lack of spaces drives prices up and for families living on a low income this means it is even more difficult to find safe, quality childcare. According to Campaign 2000, BC holds the shameful distinction of having the highest rate of child poverty in Canada (23.5%). For parents who are raising children in poverty, post secondary education is one route to increasing family income. For many students, the cost of childcare is a major barrier to attending college or university. In 2005, the average monthly cost of childcare in BC ranged from $705 for infants to $419 for after school care, and according to Statistics Canada’s Consumer Price Index, childcare costs in BC rose 5.6% from 2005 to 2007. Bill C303 supports the creation of public, affordable childcare.

Finally, Bill C303 safeguards federal funding for childcare. This is especially important to citizens of BC, where shortly after a federal childcare funding announcement the provincial government cut funds for infrastructure and creating new childcare spaces in BC.

For these reasons, we encourage you to support Bill C-303.

Sincerely,
Patrick Reed
Chair, University of Victoria Graduate Students’ Society