WELLINGTON COUNTY – The county’s Children’s Early Years Division is on the hunt for more people willing to provide child care out of their homes.
“It really is a wonderful opportunity for people to support not only building a business of their own, but also support their community,” said Mandy Koroniak, director of children’s early years for Wellington County.
Koroniak said the county is specifically looking to increase the number of home child care providers registered with Wellington Home Child Care, the county agency licensed by the Ministry of Education.
The agency currently has a licence for 42 home child care providers, and not all the spaces are filled, Koroniak said. She also noted the licence could be extended if more providers were to apply.
The need for child care in the county is high in general, and licensed spaces are in high demand, particularly in rural areas.
“There are really long waitlists throughout our service area,” said Koroniak. “It is the rural areas that have lower access rates.”
She explained that, beyond looking at waitlists, census data can help provide an idea of the level of need.
For example, in Wellington North, where there are 655 kids aged four and under, there are only 58 full-day, full-year child care spaces. That means an “access rate” for child care of only 8.9 per cent.
“We use this data to evaluate where there is likely a need for licensed child care,” said Koroniak.
Meanwhile, in Mapleton Township, there is no licensed child care, and in Minto there are just 49 centre-based spaces, she said.
“We would be really happy to see growth in those rural areas,” Koroniak said.
She couldn’t say how many unlicensed home daycares there might be in the county, but noted one important benefit for parents who choose to go the licensed route is cost.
“Our agency is enrolled in the CWELCC (Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care) system,” Koroniak said, explaining that under the province’s agreement with the federal government, the system allows child care providers to reduce fees.
“This is what’s commonly referred to as $10-a-day child care,” she added.
While fees for parents are not yet as low as $10 per day, they do tend to be significantly lower than those charged by unlicensed providers.
“Rates are now reduced 50% from 2020 levels,” Koroniak said.
The system generally benefits parents, but it has also increased waitlists for licensed care, she said.
Having more home care providers willing to join the county’s agency and get licensed would help to reach more parents.
Having more home daycares would also be helpful in rural areas, “where it’s harder to build child care centres,” she said.
Getting licensed does require a bit more work than opening up an unlicensed home daycare.
For example, a police vulnerable sector check is required for everyone over the age of 18 living in the home, and first-aid training is required for the child care provider.
But while some home child care providers do have formal education in the field, Koroniak said they are not required to be registered early childhood educators.
“It’s not a requirement that they hold that designation,” she said.
There no cost to join the county’s agency, and through a start-up grants program, the agency is actually able to offer support for new providers, she said.
The on-boarding process takes between four and six weeks, but Koroniak said existing unlicensed providers would not need to shut down in order to make the transition.
“We would work with that provider to meet the requirements of joining our agency, and it should be a seamless transition,” she said.
The first step for anyone interested in joining is a phone call. The number is 519-837-2600 ext. 3050.
For more information visit wellington.ca/homechildcare#BecomeProvider.
