Proposed changes to the DNA in Ontario

[sunnydays]

I attened a meeting through CCPRN last night about the proposed changed to the DNA in Ontario. There are several different proposals and we do not yet know which one the Minister of Education will go with. One of these proposals (not surprisingly put forth by an agency) is that private daycare providers be allowed a maximum of 4 children including our own, but agency providers could have 7 (only 3 of which can be under 4 though). The Minister of Education, Liz Sandals, has made it clear that she intends to remove incentives to remain private and try to have all of us licensed in some way (we do not know yet if it will be working through an agency or through some new type of licensing or accrediation program). The CCPRN has proposed having caregivers go through an accreditation process instead which would ensure that we have things like CPR, police checks, safe homes, and professional development/training. The main message at the meeting was that we need to have our voices heard! We need to write letters to the Minister of Education and the ADM of Education (I will post email addressed once CCPRN sends it out) and have our parents write letters as well. In those letters we need to give concrete examples of the quality programming that we provide that engages brain development in young children (apparently this is the new buzz word for the govt...LOL). Our daycare parents can write letters outlining why they chose a home daycare provider over centre based care and also provide examples of the quality programming their child recieves in his/her private home daycare and the fact that their provider has CPR, police checks, safe and secure home, etc. They provided us with a hand-out at the meeting with some specific items they would like us to include in our letters...I hope that is will be posted on their website or emailed out so I can provide all of the list to you (it's a lot to type!). If we all band together and make our voices heard it is actually highly likely that we can make a change for the better! Please share this with everyone you know! I will post more information when I get it and please check CCPRN website for further information as well. Start asking parents if they can write letters, start writing one yourself, share with other providers. 80% of children are cared for in home daycares...we are the majority so we need to make our voices heard!