Vancouver City Council

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

	Date:	June 23, 2003
	Author:	Carol Ann Young
	Phone No.:	604-871-6042
	RTS No.:	3383
	CC File No.:	2402
	Meeting Date:	July 22, 2003

TO:	Vancouver City Council
FROM:	Director of Social Planning
SUBJECT:	2003 Childcare Grants Allocation 1 of 3

RECOMMENDATION

A. THAT Council approve City-wide Child Care Support Services grants to Westcoast Child Care Resource Centre totalling $212,260 as listed in this report; source of funds: 2003 Childcare Grants Funds, 2003 Operating Budget;

B. THAT Council approve one Administration of City-owned Child Care Facilities grant of $105,700 to Vancouver Society of Children's Centres; source of funds: 2003 Childcare Grants Funds, 2003 Operating Budget.

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

The General Manager of Community Services RECOMMENDS approval of A and B.

COUNCIL POLICY

Council established the annual Civic Childcare Grants Program on October 23, 1990, as part of the Civic Childcare Strategy. The overall objectives of this grant program are:

· to support the viability, accessibility and quality of existing childcare services;
· to assist childcare initiatives in high need areas;
· to encourage and support efficient, coordinated administrative services required for a childcare system in Vancouver;
· to lever other sources of childcare funding whenever possible.

Council approved "Moving Forward" - Childcare: A Cornerstone of Childhood Development in April, 2002, which set out a strategic plan for childcare and child development services for the City.

On February 27, 2003, Council approved the interim 2003 Operating Budget, which included an adjustment that limited the inflationary increase for the City Grants programs to 1.75%. Consequently, the 2003 budget for Civic Childcare Grants is $706,800.

Approval of grant recommendations requires eight affirmative votes

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to recommend approval of:

· Three City-wide Childcare Support Services grants,
· One Administration of City-owned Childcare Facilities, and
· Redistribution of approved but unspent funds from previous operating budgets.

BACKGROUND

Last year, Council approved an allocation for the 2002 City-owned and Administration Grants as follows:

City-wide childcare Support - $241,746
Administration of City-owned $78,150

The 2003 Budget Ceiling Report proposed that $325,500 be allocated to City-wide Childcare Support and Administration of City-owned child care.

DISCUSSION

1. City-wide Childcare Support Services Grants

This grant category was established in 1992 to fund the basic infrastructure that is integral to developing and maintaining a viable, effective, high quality childcare system in Vancouver, including:

· information and referral services for parents needing childcare;
· information, consultation and training regarding ESL, multicultural and diversity issues in childcare settings;
· ongoing in-service training and networking opportunities; and
· information and resource materials for those designing, building and operating childcare services.

The City provided leadership and funding in the development of Westcoast Child Care Resource Centre's services in the early 1990's. The provincial government, recognizing the valuable services of Westcoast in Vancouver, joined the partnership to expand services province-wide. For the last decade, Westcoast has provided leadership and stability to the childcare system in Vancouver and throughout the Province. It has been an innovator and an invaluable resource to both levels of governments in the planning and policy development and in supporting the various partnerships in the childcare system. Westcoast currently has a budget of $2.2M and employs 36 full-time equivalent staff. It provided approximately 65,520 hours of service to families, caregivers, government and related child development personnel. It has been recognized as a leader and has received numerous awards, including:

BC Council for Families - Distinguished Service to Families Award - 2002
City of Vancouver - Cultural Harmony Award - 1996
Canadian Council for Multicultural and Inter-Cultural Education -1990

Its current location at 210 West Broadway is approximately 10,000 square feet and is home to a unique childcare/child development library with over 13,000 catalogued items, office space for staff and the various programs, and its networking and training facilities.

In January, 2002, the provincial government announced that the funding for all Childcare Resource and Referral Programs, of which there are 44, would be terminated as of March 31, 2004. Programs, including Westcoast, which is the only province-wide resource and referral program, were given two years to seek alternative funding sources. For Westcoast, this means a budget reduction of $1.7M, part of which supports other services to Vancouver (e.g., library, provincial networking, training programs, facilities, etc).

Council should note, however, that at a recent conference of early childhood educators, Minister of State for Community, Aboriginal and Women's Services, Lynn Stephens, indicated that Westcoast services would continue to be provided. Council could reinforce this commitment in a letter to the government.

Since January, 2002, the Board of Directors of Westcoast Child Care has been actively realigning services and developing a funding strategy to be well positioned with alternate funding, should the provincial funding cease. Services that have been funded by the City of Vancouver can continue without the provincial contribution; however, downsizing their current location would be necessary.

1. City Wide Grant - Westcoast Child Care Resource Centre

Three applications for city-wide support services have been received and reviewed in relation to the objectives and outcome, as described in the City's childcare strategic plan "Moving Forward" document. The previous three years' funding was also available to six community organizations to work with Westcoast to facilitate community networking. This structure was set up to assist the new child care coordinator and facilitate information-sharing within and across networks. Participants on the City wide networking committee indicated that these activities were valuable; however, city funding was not critical to maintain such activities. As such, funding for the network based structure has not been requested this year.
 
The three applications for funding this year include:

· Resource and Information Services (RIS) - $98,176

RIS responds to inquires from the childcare, child development community and the general public regarding best practices and quality in early childhood education environments. This includes policies and procedures, program planning, indoor and outdoor play environments and equipment, training and job recruitment activities, needs assessments, resources on starting and operating an early childhood program, as well as other topics. RIS is responsible for the Westcoast Library (one of the best child care libraries in Canada), Saturday Workshops, newsletters, website, conference and information booths, student orientation and support to affiliate organizations which are not staffed, such as Western Canada Child Care Association, etc. RIS provided 3,755 hours of service in 2002/03 (see Appendix A for program summary and service targets).

· Multicultural & Diversity Services (WMDS) - $100,070

WMDS supports Vancouver's diverse population by assisting child care programs to provide multicultural, anti-racism, anti-bias and bullying prevention education for children and families in their programs. WMDS offers outreach visits to child care settings, consultation to staff, parents, ECE instructors and community partners. It also has a large collection of specialized resources for multicultural and diversity related play. WMDS provided 2,713 hours of service in 2002/03 (see Appendix A for program summary and service targets).

· Information Day Care (ID) - $33,880

ID increases the profile of child care and child development programs by responding to a wide range of community inquires. Information and referral services for families looking for child care/child development services are available in English, Chinese, Farsi and Punjabi. Service is offered through phone consultation, parent orientation sessions, written materials such as maps, and checklists as well as one-to-one on site assistance at the office location on West Broadway (see Appendix A for program summary and service targets).

In addition to these program requests, Westcoast has also requested consideration for an additional $70,000 allocation for program enhancements (see Appendix B for additional funding requests). Staff is recommending, at this time, that new funding requests be considered as part of next year's budget.

FUNDING ALLOCATION

For 2003, it is recommended that $232,126 be approved for City-wide Child Care Support Services and grant funds be allocated as follows:

Westcoast Resources & Information Services	$ 98,176
Multicultural and Diversity Services	$100,070
Information Daycare	$ 33,880
TOTAL GRANT BUDGET	$232,126
REALLOCATION OF UNSPENT FUNDS FROM PREVIOUS YEARS	$ 19,866
TOTAL GRANT RECOMMENDTION 03/04	$212,260

NOTE: Reallocation of unspent fund for this year will have a modest impact on operating request for next fiscal year, given the proposed increase to the Administration of City-owned Child Care Facilities Grant described below. Should Westcoast request the full allocation next year, consideration will be given in the 2004 budget ceiling report.

2. Administration of City-owned Childcare Facilities Grant

The Civic Child Care Strategy called for the development and support of a single purpose non-profit childcare organization to manage City-owned/leased facilities in the Downtown. The facilities were a result of a number of negotiated child care spaces in City projects. This grant category was established to fund administrative costs of the Society.

The Vancouver Society of Children's Centres (VSOCC) was established in 1994/1995 to fulfill the responsibilities on the management of City-owned/leased facilities in the Downtown. At that time, its budget was $300,000, with eight full-time equivalent staff and 37 licensed child care spaces. Council approved an administration grant of $55,050 from the 1995 Operating Grant to assist with the administrative costs of the organization.

VSOCC's mission is to develop and deliver an integrated and comprehensive continuum of early childhood education and family services in City-owned facilities that reflect community values and needs. Today, VSOCC employs 57 full-time equivalent staff, and has approximately 50 volunteers that work in the program and within the agency. Its annual operation budget for 2003/04 will be $2.3M.

Currently, VSOCC operates three licensed City-owned child care facilities: Library Square, Dorothy Lam Children's Center and Quayside Children's Centre. In addition, they have been working closely with the City in the design of three additional programs: Shaw Tower in Coal Harbour, Concord Pacific Centre on Homer Street and Pender Street Children's Centre. With the completion of the three new centres, VSOCC will manage approximately 700 licensed child care spaces (see Appendix C for 2003-2004 workplan).

VSOCC has provided leadership in the child care community and provides a continuum of child development services for children ages three months to school age, including licensed child care, family place, preschool and various parenting programs. VSOCC has received a Community Services Awards from First Baptist Church for community service in the downtown core.

As new developments come on board, the demands for the administration increase. VSOCC board has developed a business plan to maintain service quality during continued expansion and is exploring the possibilities of a permanent site to house the administrative functions of the agency. The Vancouver Supported Child Care Society will be vacating its 3,000 square feet office space on August 1, 2003, housed within the Westcoast Childcare Resource Centre. Given VSOCC and Westcoast deliver City-funded services, there is an excellent opportunity to co-locate service.

To meet the growing administrative demands as a result of the growing City-owned, developer-built childcare spaces, VSOCC has requested $105,711 in this year's grant submission, an increase of $27,561 over last year's approved allocation. The additional funds proposed in this year's budget are to augment staffing for future developments and quality enhancement, as the program expands (see Appendix D for budget breakdown). While the operating budget has increased seven-fold since the inception of VSOCC, the City administration grant has only included an inflationary increase.

FUNDING ALLOCATION

The total administration budget of VSOCC for 2003-2004 is $296,595. For 2003-2004, it is recommended that VSOCC be funded for $105,700, which offsets a portion of the overall administration budget. This additional funding will enable VSOCC to consider co-location with Westcoast and facilitate a more collaborative relationship between the two City-funded organizations. In addition, it will help to offset the financial impact of Westcoast losing the Supported Child Care tenant as of August 1, 2003.

The 2003 Operating Budget for Civic Childcare Grants is $706,800, with $325,500 allocated for City-wide and Administration grants. City-wide Childcare Support Services and Administration of City-owned Childcare Facilities grant requests were $232,126 and $105,700 respectively. This report recommends $212,260 for City-wide Support Services, with a redistribution of approved unexpended funds of $19,866; and $105,700 for Administration of City-owned Childcare Facilities for a total of $317,960. The redistribution of approved but unexpended funds for Westcoast this year will have financial implications on their ongoing operating costs in subsequent years and will be addressed in the 2004 budget ceiling report with the Council. Any additional funding requests should be considered within the larger financial review of child care services, with a report back to Council in the Fall of 2003.

Program	2003 Proposed	2003 Recommended
City-Wide/Admin of City Owned	$325,500	$317,960
Program Enhancement	$125,480	July
Inner-City	$255,820	July
Program Stabilization	0	Allocated to Inner-City
Program Development	0	Allocated to Inner-City
Research and Innovation	0	Allocated to Inner-City
Total Approved Allocation	$706,800
Remaining Funds		$388,840

CONCLUSION

This report recommends approval of $317,960 from the 2003 Operating Budget and redistribution of $19,866 of approved but unspent funds from previous years:

· Three City-wide Childcare Support Services Grants totalling $212,260

· One Administration of City-owned Childcare Facilities Grant totalling $105,700 from the 2003 Operating Budget and a redistribution of $19,866 from approved but unspent funds towards city-wide services request.

This leaves $388,840 remaining in the 2003 Childcare Grant Budget.

- - - - -

APPENDIX A
 

WESTCOAST CHILDCARE RESOURCE CENTRE

INFORMATION DAYCARE Summary for 2002 to 2004

Westcoast Information Daycare (ID) increases the profile of child care and child development programs by responding to a wide range of community queries. ID provides information and referral services for families looking for child care and other child development programs in Vancouver. These services are available in English, Chinese, Farsi and Punjabi, and are delivered through telephone consultation, choosing child care parent orientation sessions, written materials such as maps, and checklists as well as one to one on site assistance at our office location

Information Daycare Activity	2003-04 Hours	2002-03 Hours
1. Deliver 45 Choosing Child Care sessions for almost 800 parents in 3 languages.	90	80
2. Respond to almost 8000 calls from the community	1333	1250
3. Mail/Fax 4000 child care and ECE information packages to Vancouver families	375	333
4. Distribute 13,000 lists of Vancouver based licensed child care settings and family place programs	1083	1050
5. Monthly updating of a database of almost 600 Vancouver based licensed and/or registered child care settings and family place programs	96	96
6. Input and updating of more than 150 family resource programs and information (playgroup, drop-ins, toy lending and/or early intervention programs	96	192
7. Conduct annual child care fee/facility survey	400	400
8. Provide information to community agencies, as well as municipal and provincial governments on childcare facilities and parent needs in Vancouver	80	75
Total	3553	3476

WMDS City Summary for 2002 to 2004

Westcoast Multicultural and Diversity Services (WMDS) supports Vancouver's diverse population by assisting child care programs to provide multicultural, anti-racism, anti-bias and bullying prevention education for children and families in their programs. WMDS offers this assistance through outreach visits to child care settings, consultation with child care staff, parents, ECE instructors and community partners, a specialized resource collection that includes multicultural and diversity-related play and reference materials and a wide range of professional development workshops.

WMDS Activity	2003-04 Hours	2002-03 Hours
9. In-person and telephone consultations with child care/ECD practitioners, parents, ECE instructors and community partners	1500	1500
10. Network Site Lending of specialized resources	56	80
11. Outreach to City Child Care Settings	180	200
12. Multi-Session Training for child care providers	90	90
13. Single Session Workshops for child care providers	75	75
14. Resource Development, Lending Services and Inventory Control	500	500
15. School Readiness And English As an Additional Language (EAL) Demonstration Teaching	30	30
16. Preschool Bullying Prevention Program	150	100
17. Preschool Bullying Prevention With Diverse Populations	150	N/A
18. Exploring Private Public Partnerships	100	100
19. Round Table EAL Sessions with child care providers	N/A	10
20. Exploration of Outreach Refugee Families with Young Children	N/A	28
Total	2831	2713

RIS City Summary for 2002 to 2004
 
Resource and Information Services (RIS) responds to inquiries from the child care, child development community and the general public regarding best practise and quality in early childhood education environments. This often includes policies and procedures, program planning, indoor and outdoor play environments and equipment, training and job recruitment activities, needs assessments, resources on starting and operating an early childhood program as well as many other topics (i.e. social policy, statistics and current research on early childhood development and practise, etc).
 
RIS is responsible for the Westcoast Library, the Saturday Workshop series, Westcoast Post, web-site development, conferences/ information booths, student orientations, job posting board, multilingual child care resources, non-staffed affiliate support (School Age Child Care Association, Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC, and the Western Family Child Care Association).
 

RIS Activity	2003-04 Hours -Projected	2002-03 Hours - Actual
1. Respond to general inquiries related to Westcoast, child care and child development services and resources	250 hours	250 hours
2. Facilitate transition of City Wide Child Care Committee to City Child development Advisory Committee	45 hours	30 hours
3. Support Vancouver Child Care Training Committee	10 hours	10 hours
4. Plan and deliver the Saturday workshop series	260 hours	260 hours
5. Plan and deliver specialized workshops for child care/child development community development	35 hours	35 hours
6. Publish and circulate the Westcoast Post 3 times per year to over 600 child care and related contacts	125 hours	125 hours
7. Identify, collect and circulate specialized child care/child development library resources	100 hours	100 hours
8. Provide access to library to Vancouver child care/child development and family support practitioners	1275 hours	1275 hours
9. Manage and operate the Resource Centre for Vancouver families and child development and child care practitioners and planners	1600 hours	1600 hours
10. Participate in child care/child development /family event and celebrations	25 hours	25 hours
11. Participate in Child Care Advocacy forum	45 hours	45 hours
Total	3770	3755

 

APPENDIX B
 

Westcoast Child Care Resource Centre
2003-04 Grant Request

Westcoast requests continued grants of $232,126 for the following three Vancouver based services for April 1, 2003 through March 31, 2004 :

Resource & Information Services $ 98,176

Multicultural & Diversity Services $100,070

Information Daycare $ 33,880

Westcoast also requests consideration of $69,850 in additional funding for the following activities:

$4,400 for Information Daycare to promote availability of referrals for Vancouver families to parent drop-in, family resource programs through other City organizations

Promotional Staffing $1,500

Translation of print materials $1,000

Printing $1,200

Staff Travel $ 300

Allocated Program Costs $ 400

$37,950 for Promotion & Outreach to Vancouver families in Inner City areas

(i.e. parts of Networks 2, 3 & 5) re availability of Westcoast child development supports/resources for families (i.e. centralized library, mini-lending libraries, mobile lending services, web site)

.8 FTE Outreach Support Staff $31,300

Staff Travel $ 300

Staff Training $ 400

Translation of print materials $ 1,500

Printing $ 1,000

Allocated Program Costs $ 3,450

$27,500 for Westcoast's Safe Spaces Bullying Prevention Program to address increasing demand for Safe Spaces training by Vancouver child care and child development practitioners

.6 FTE Safe Spaces Trainer $23,500

Safe Spaces Materials $ 1,500

Allocated Program Costs $ 2,500

APPENDIX C
 

VANCOUVER SOCIETY OF CHILDREN'S CENTRES

Work Plan 2003 - 2004
Goals, Objectives and Outcomes

Goal: Facilitating Stable, Flexible, Quality Child Care

Objectives
· To open 16 new toddler spaces
· To implement and evaluate a new approach to delivering downtown child care at the Pender street location
· To pilot and evaluate enhanced programming within our current child care services based on our market research findings
· To develop a partnership based model for early childhood and family services in the downtown
· To facilitate the development of kinder care and school age programming within the new elementary school
· To increase the range of programs for families within our agency
· To complete the development of the new spaces at Shaw and Concord, including program outlines
· To facilitate the development of detailed equipment lists for new early childhood programs and participate in the review and updating of the City design guidelines
· To integrate the continuous quality improvement process into our current program evaluation and planning process
· To implement our internal financial assistance and sponsorship program for low income families
· To identify and pilot two - three revenue generating service approaches
· To review the agency governance structure

Outcomes
· 16 licensed toddler spaces are open in the fall of 2004 at 1140 West Pender
· A model of child care delivery that tests the need for longer hours of care, the needs of part-time/contract workers, and a new fee structure within the Pender Street Centre based on the market research findings
· Enhanced programming model within 2 early childhood settings which enhance school readiness and promote positive child development outcomes
· A downtown service providers plan for early childhood and family services is developed that builds on existing services, responds to the needs of the emerging communities and capitalizes on the use of new facilities
· A commitment by the VSB for the delivery of kinder care and school age programming in the new Elsie Roy school beginning in September 2004
· 6 family support and parenting programs are offered on weekends and evenings
· Operational plans for Shaw Tower(37 spaces) and Concord Centre (69 spaces) are developed
· Equipment lists for infant, toddler, 3-5 group care, preschool, kinder care, family place and school age care and revised design guidelines for future city facilities are complete
· Continuous Quality Improvement process policy and procedures developed for use within our agency
· A budget established for the support of current families facing financial hardship
· Full sponsorship of 3 children through a partnership model with corporate and community agencies
· Plan, implement and report out on 2-3 revenue generating services
· Recommendations for a new governance structure for presentation to the membership

Goal: Improving Service Coordination and Collaboration

Objectives
· To coordinate with the VSB on the development of kinder care and school age childcare
· To work in partnership with local service providers to develop training and social networking opportunities for front-line providers
· To partner with downtown providers on the development of a fully resourced early childhood and family resource plan.
· To coordinate service delivery for young children with the local community centre
· To strengthen coordination among service providers and public partners through participation in the City wide child care committee, Windows of Opportunity, interagency teams, child care administration networks and training committees

Outcomes
· A commitment from VSB for the delivery of school age programs in the new school
· The delivery of 4 network- based training sessions to 160 providers across a range of early childhood and family programs
· A plan, and operational budget, for a system/range of early childhood supports for families with young children living downtown
· 2 programs for preschool aged children delivered in partnership with the local community centre
· A system of early childhood development services that are integrated with existing neighbourhood hubs

Goal: Strengthening Private and Public Partnerships

Objectives
· To secure corporate support for Sponsorship program for children from disadvantaged/marginalized families
· To develop relations with the Downtown Business District
· To secure financial support from business in fundraising activities
· To evaluate the pilot, and expand the emergency child care services to new sites

Outcomes
· 3 children are fully sponsored within VSOCC early childhood programs
· Established formal connections with the DVBIA
· Corporate/business sponsorship for VSOCC Cookbook and 3^rd annual Sports Day secured ($10 000)
· Emergency child care service evaluated and expanded to one additional facility

Goal: Facilitating Effective Communication

Objectives
· To provide ongoing opportunities for dialogue with community members, local businesses and funders which inform and respond to the changing and unique needs of families living downtown
· To complete the public version, and implement the marketing strategy, of our business plan
· To facilitate ongoing opportunities for dialogue with local and provincial government officials regarding the impacts of recent policy changes on children

Outcomes
· Informed community, funders and local business
· Informed members, community and funders regarding our strategic plan for the future
· Informed government officials

Key goals and focus from last year (2002/03) that we will continue to build and enhance further include:
· Facilitating mechanisms for improving the quality of child care
· Facilitating professional development and networking opportunities for staff working with families and young children
· Improving service coordination and collaboration through involvement on city-wide / network based committees and through joint projects/initiatives
· Facilitating and collaborating with the VSB on the construction of the new Elementary School

 

APPENDIX D
 

Budget 2003 - 2004
Administration and Agency Support Budget

Revenue

Membership Fees: $ 2,800

MCFD (Deferred/Supported CC) $ 20,000

MCAWS (Child Care Resource/Ref) $ 2, 000

*City of Vancouver $105, 711

Fundraising $ 30,000

Internal Admin Fee Transfer $118,940

Total revenues $279 451

Expenses

Human Resources (salary/benefits $204,085

+ pro. D)

Program (food + financial assistance) $14,970

Facilities (utilities, cleaning, etc) $40,940

Administration (insurance, office, $36,600

Professional services)

Total expenses $296,595

Surplus/(deficit) ($17 144)

*We are requesting an administration grant from the City of Vancouver for $105,711 for 2003 - 2004.

Note: Annual Operating Budget 2003 - 2004: $2.3 million
2004 - 2005: $3.6 million
2005 - 2006: $4.7 million

Administration Grant Request
Budget Breakdown

Vancouver Society of Children's Centres request to City : $105 711

Grant will be used to support the cost of compensation for the Executive Director position and partial compensation cost for the Program Director position within VSOCC.

Executive Director
Base salary: $ 66,625
Benefits plus employer required costs $ 11,993

Program Director
Base Salary (portion only) $ 22,217
Benefits plus employer required costs $ 4,876

Total Expenses to be covered by admin grant: $105,711

Key functions of these positions include:

· Development of new services and centres
· Facilitating quality child care services
· Service coordination and collaboration
· Strengthening sustainability for early childhood services

* * * * *

Comments or questions? Send us e-mail at info@city.vancouver.bc.ca
© 2002 City of Vancouver