UPDATE –
A $25,000 grant from the province to the city of Kamloops to inventory childcare spaces will go a long way in making things better.
The money will help city staff figure out what age groups are served, how they are served and what the gaps in the system are, if any.
Social and Community Development Supervisor Natalie Serl says that’s not all they’ll be doing.
“What we also plan on doing is having different engagement opportunities with current stakeholders that we are aware of, different community groups so that everybody can help inform us what their knowledge of childcare spaces is,” she said.
“That’s so that we have a fullsome inventory that came from multiple sources to make sure that we’re putting together a really solid inventory.”
Serl adds the city will have a key role to play.
“Having knowledge on what the services are is really helpful in all kinds of conversations, and this inventory too will be submitted to the province, so it’s in their best interest to have as many communities as possible participate in these types of inventories,” she added.
“It’s so that everybody can be knowledgeable on the landscape of childcare services.”
The money is part of the $1-billion in provincial investment over three years. The inventory will take roughly a year to complete.
ORIGINAL –
The City of Kamloops is getting a $25,000 grant from the Province’s Community Child Care Planning Program to assess and create an inventory of existing childcare spaces.
The money is part of the $1-billion provincial investment over three years announced at last year’s Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) convention.
City of Kamloops Social and Community Development Supervisor Natalie Serl says part of this investment includes the Community Child Care Planning Program.
“This funding will enable to us to determine the age groups that are served, the hours that daycare services are available and community will be able to help us identify what the gaps are, what age groups tend to be missing from the available services,” she said.
Serl noted the whole inventory will take roughly a year to complete, adding that the second part of the grant is creating an action plan to figure out a way to meet the needs that are identifed.
She also said there will be many opportunities for public engagement related to the child-care inventory.
