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Parents faced with a choice of wait lists for daycare centres or unlicensed day homes might soon see more options in the middle.
The province is encouraging more people to get licensed to run home-based daycares.
Saskatchewan currently has 340 licensed child-care centres (with a total of 15,008 spaces) and 239 licensed child-care homes (with a total of 2,233 spaces). The government doesn’t have a way of tracking the number of unlicensed private day homes because they are not monitored.
Figuring out which type of daycare fits your family’s needs can be a daunting task, as Melissa Hilt is realizing now after searching for a space for her one-year-old daughter, Sophie.
“There are so many new kids in Regina,” she said. “They’re building the schools, but are there enough daycares for those kids also?”
Calling down the list of centres in the city, Hilt discovered several have two-year waiting lists. Through her research, she found many centres don’t accommodate permanent part-time spaces and those that do cost a lot.
She had better luck calling home daycares who said they had spaces but some were not comfortable caring for her daughter who has special medical needs.
Hilt said she would prefer a home-based daycare in her neighbourhood, but said she would feel far more comfortable at a government-licensed home.
“One hundred per cent yeah,” she said. “I feel like if somebody is able to get that licence they possible have more training, more practice, in case of an emergency situation, they might be able to act faster,” Hilt said.
As a new mom, she was very happy to hear the government is offering grant money to encourage more people to open licensed day homes. Government checks and balances would also provide additional peace of mind for Hilt compared to an unlicensed home that wouldn’t be monitored.
“Just keeping that person accountable, I would hope that if they’re licensed that somebody is coming out to make sure that the home is safe for the kids,” Hilt said.
For any parent she said it’s stressful to find a stranger to care for their child.
“But especially because my daughter Sophie has had so many challenges in her life, I need somebody that is very confident in being able to perform CPR if need be,” Hilt explained. “I’m just finding it challenging because not a lot of people are comfortable home-based, to take such a high-needs toddler.”
Hilt appreciates the commitment of more funding for training and extra activities to encourage cognitive development for toddler at a home daycare.
Chris Isaac has run a licensed day home in Regina’s Rosemont neighbourhood for more than 36 years. She said government funding for equipment and programming absolutely helps her provide better experiences for the children in her care. She also appreciates the guidance of educational consultants.
“They work with you; it’s a support group,” Isaac said. “I’ve always felt with my consultants they help you and guide you in the right direction.”
Isaac said she used a government start-up grant years ago to expand a basement window to meet fire code regulations.
She would like to see more private unlicensed home daycares take the steps to become licensed.
A lot of the unlicensed (daycares) don’t realize they still have to comply with the federal child-care act with the same ratios of children as myself and they tend to go over and a lot of their insurance is invalid,” Isaac said.
Unlicensed homes can be reported to the government for safety issues or for exceeding the standard ratio of up to eight children for each caregiver.
The federal government has invested $41 million in funding toward child care and early learning over three years in Saskatchewan. The provincial government is directing part of that funding toward home based daycares.
Licensed home daycares are eligible for monthly nutrition grants of $60 per child and annual equipment grants up to $150 per space. The government also offers start-up grants between $2,825 and $3,525 to buy furniture and equipment, along with $1,200 to help cover the costs of meeting fire, health and safety requirements.
Licensed home daycares are also eligible for subsidies for low-income families and for grants up to $2,000 for children with special needs in their care.