Wish me luck...finally got an interview

[playfelt]

The inquest into that little boy that drowned in a back yard pool at a home daycare here in Ottawa has started and there is info in the paper everyday and what is really bothering me is that they keep using the word "illegal" daycare - afterall the lady was charged $2000 for it by minisitry of community and social services - not the police who laid no criminal charges. The only illegal part was that like the rest of us didn't know that caregivers getting together on private property was a crime. But daily they are tainting all of us with that "illegal" moniker.

[Inspired by Reggio]

The inquest into that little boy that drowned in a back yard pool at a home daycare here in Ottawa has started and there is info in the paper everyday and what is really bothering me is that they keep using the word "illegal" daycare - afterall the lady was charged $2000 for it by minisitry of community and social services - not the police who laid no criminal charges. The only illegal part was that like the rest of us didn't know that caregivers getting together on private property was a crime. But daily they are tainting all of us with that "illegal" moniker.

Yes this bothers me too ~ at the time that occurred the agency I worked with PROMOTED the organization of provider play dates at each others house as a way to avoid isolation so even those who are responsible for REGULATION of LICENSED PROGRAMS were promoting ILLEGAL CARE as they too were not aware that this was suppose to be the 'interpretation' of the act of 'any premise receiving more than 5 children is required to be licensed and if not is therefore 'illegal'.

I still maintain it was not ILLEGAL at the time they were doing this they just made an EXAMPLE of that poor provider due to the fact that the lack of supervision and action plan for dealing with that pool on the premise resulted in the death of a child ... cause imo THAT could have happened had she been ALONE as well since the pool was obviously not properly BLOCKED allowing the child such quick and easy access and IMO had little to do with the fact play dates were going on!

The fact is they were just VISITING for a short period of time it was not like they did not all have their own PREMISE to return to for the bulk of their day. I still do not see what the difference is between meeting in this backyard or the public park or library or other 'public' destination and it is another prime example of how LOGIC does not often guide government policy but just made to appease the public and often ends up just making it even more confusing on how to follow the rules that are suppose to govern us

To me a more 'logical' approach would have been instead of banning play dates on private property would be to BAN POOLS on premises that are planning on caring for multiple children for the purpose of business .... aka you want to have a family pool than you do not open up a childcare program it is one or the other ... many insurance agencies will not insure a provider with a pool OR they charge an additional premium just for having the pool cause it is the POOLED WATER that is the liability because even with fencing bylaws and other regulations children still drowned everyday in them ... children do not die everyday as a result of normal provider play dates!