Dear Andrea,
My daughter was born into a community that faces many funding challenges when it comes to child care. My family is lucky right now because we can afford child care if we need it. But many other parents in my community are facing a far worse situation because of a lack of affordability and subsidies for licensed child care spots.
Currently in Durham Region we have 3,800 children waiting for a subsidy for an opportunity to have safe and affordable licensed child care. That’s 3,800 children waiting for the political leadership to put our community and those communities like ours first.
I read your proposal on $100 million for child care. On one hand I was excited that the ONDP is the only party to mention child care. On the other hand I feel as though our community is being left behind, because providing appropriate funding for every parent in Durham currently on the wait list for child care would cost $38 million at an average of $10,000 per subsidy.
Many parents are forced to give up jobs or work shift work to accommodate family needs which separates spouses on opposite schedules. Or even worse, parents are left to choose unlicensed precarious child care options. This makes circumstances dire for those who are single parents in need of help.
I understand the focus can’t be everywhere but I believe the focus should be equitable. Your platform says you will provide critical relief funding in the first year to help childcare providers and parents. But really what does that mean for Durham?
When I read the limited details on your plan, it mentions funding for London and Windsor among the 18 communities at risk of child care facilities closing. This made me frustrated, because I know these communities have not seen a steady growth in their population of children age 0-12 like Durham. I also know that these communities currently have zero children waiting for an affordable childcare subsidy. Unlike our community, they are not saddled with large wait lists and parents who can’t access affordable child care. Our extremely long wait list (an average of three or more years) means some children could age out before they even get access to childcare in our region.
We need to stand up for working families in Durham and other regions just like ours. We need all party leaders to speak up now and commit to a clear vision for how their policies will affect the long wait lists and lack of options of safe affordable licensed child care. Where is your public commitment to provide direct funding to our region? You will stand up for Windsor, London and others. Will you stand up for the 3,800 children in Durham Region desperately waiting for your answer?
Sincerely
Amy England Oshawa Regional and City Councillor,
Child and Youth Advocate, Region of Durham
