M E M O / N O T E D E S E R V I C E

To / Destinataire	Mayor and Members of Council / Maire et membres du Conseil	File/N° de fichier: ACS2003-PEO-COM-0012
From / Expéditeur	Jocelyne St Jean, General Manager / Directrice Générale People Services Services aux citoyens	Contact / Personne-ressource : Aaron Burry Director of Community Services Branch / Directeur des Services communautaires 580-2424 ext. 23666, Aaron.Burry@ottawa.ca
Subject / Objet	Redistribution of Child Care Subsidy Spaces / Nouvelle répartition des places en garderie subventionnées	Date: July 16, 2003 / Le 16 juillet 2003

PURPOSE

This memo is to inform the Mayor and City Council that a number of existing Child Care subsidized spaces have been transferred within the purchase of service programs in order to maximize their utilization in our community. One hundred and forty subsidies have been redirected to areas of the city where there is an immediate need for child care and subsidized spaces.

BACKGROUND

Provincial funding for the licensed child care sector has been static since 1994. Centres and agencies established prior to 1994 had a confirmed amount of subsidies, however no child care centre or agency established after that date had subsidized spaces. This left child care centres in developing communities unable to serve parents who required subsidies.

The City of Ottawa has grown since 1994, and the demographics have changed and developed. Certain child care centres and agencies who previously relied on subsidized spaces are now attracting a larger, full-fee paying clientele thus leaving a considerable portion of their subsidized spaces unused. Due to recent provincial budgetary constraints, unused provincial Child Care funding will now be permanently diverted to other programs in the province of Ontario. In order to maximize and retain this funding, a redistribution process occurred within the City of Ottawa.

There are a total of 6,364 child care subsidized spaces in Ottawa; 4,084 are in centre-based programs and 2,280 in home-based programs. A review of the utilization of these spaces was conducted in February 2003. Childcare centers were asked to complete a survey reflecting their current and projected need for child care subsidies. Two actions arose as a result of this survey. First, many existing temporary subsidies were made permanent. Second, a recommendation was made to transfer spaces that had been consistently unused for the last three years to programs with a high demand for spaces.

DISCUSSION

The optimization process occurred in early July 2003, and approximately one million dollars ($1,000,000) in unused childcare subsidized spaces were redistributed. This represents approximately 2% of the total existing subsidies in the city.

A shift in current city demographics has reduced demand for infant, toddler, and preschool spaces, therefore a number of those spaces have been redistributed to School Age programs. Since the cost of care for school age children is significantly lower than for the younger age groups, 140 recovered subsidies translated into 160 newly redistributed spaces in the City of Ottawa. It is expected that this optimization process will now occur on a regular basis to ensure that necessary subsidized spaces can be found where needs exist throughout the city of Ottawa.

As a result of this transfer, child care agencies will serve more parents who qualify for a subsidy. As well, a greater number of parents now have access to child care services close to their home, work, and community.