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Child Care Status Research Project

The Community and Neighbourhood Services Committee recommends the adoption of the recommendation of the Children's Action Committee embodied in the following communication (June 22, 1998) from the City Clerk:

Recommendation:

The Children's Action Committee recommended to the Community and Neighbourhood Services Committee that Council endorse the Child Care Status Research Project and authorize a contribution of $5,000.00 to the overall budget for the project; such funds to be paid out from the Children's Action Committee Budget, Account Code CD200-G39951.

Background:

At its meeting held on June 12, 1998, the Children's Action Committee had before it a communication (undated) from Mr. Peter Clutterbuck, Co-Director, Community Social Planning Council of Toronto regarding the Child Care Status Research Project.

Peter Clutterbuck gave an overview of the project.

The Children's Action Committee advises the Community and Neighbourhood Services Committee that it has requested that the Working Group include representation from the Commercial Sector, the Non-Profit Sector, Special Needs, and Licensed Home Child Care.

The Committee's recommendation is set out above.

(Memorandum (undated) addressed to Councillor Olivia Chow,Children and Youth Advocate, Children's Action Committee, from Mr. Peter Clutterbuck,Co-Director, Community Social Planning Council of Toronto)

Attached is a research proposal developed by Martha Friendly, Caroline DiGiovanni, CherylMcDonald, Petr Varmuza, Nancy Matthews and myself for consideration by the Children's Action Committee. We believe that this project is an important and timely one from a number of perspectives. The current restructuring and persistent budget pressures make 1998 a critically important year in establishing a baseline against which to measure the accessibility and quality of child care in the City. It is an opportunity to begin developing a means of tracking and measuring change in the system and assessing the impacts of policy and budget decisions. Although the research will not be available for this year's report card, in future years this will be an important piece of work to feed into the report card.

The purpose of the project is to develop baseline data on the status of child care in Toronto and set up the mechanisms to track and measure change in the accessibility and quality of child care in Toronto in the future. The first study will be released by the end of 1998.

There are number of forms that child care takes in the City including the formal, licensed child care programs like child care centres, unlicensed formal programs, such as boys and girls clubs, and unlicensed, unregulated relationships between parents and relatives or unrelated individuals, such as nannies. It is proposed that this first study focus on the formal licensed child care programs and a reasonable sampling of the unlicensed formal programs. To the extent possible, the range and number of unregulated, informal relationships will also be explored.

Much of the data for this first study will be obtained through the existing Children's Services Division data base and information obtained during staff assessments of child care programs. As well, samplings of unlicensed, informal programs and a review of existing data on the informal, unlicensed system would be done.

This project will be a partnership of a number of organizations concerned about child care in the City. However, it is proposed that the lead sponsorship for the project will be through the Community Social Planning Council of Toronto, with the report being produced jointly between the CSPC-T and the Children's Action Committee.

The City's Children's Services Division is prepared to make its information systems available and collect some additional information through field staff assessments. However, a dedicated research staff is necessary to complete the research design, co-ordinate research activities, and assimilate and analyse the data.

A budget of $30,975.00 has been established to support this project. Funding is being sought from a number of sources, including foundations and the Federal government. The CSPC-T is prepared to contribute $5,000.00 of research staff time to the Project. It is requested that the Children's Action Committee provide $5,000.00 to support this initiative.

Concurrent with this project, it is also recommended that the Children's Action Committee support a review of the policy, funding and status of child care in other provinces, such as Quebec, and in other countries such as England and France. The purpose of this would be to have information available to provide a comparative analysis of the state of the Toronto child care system with other jurisdictions. The research group is currently working on the details of this project, including budget and timelines.

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Research Project on the Status of Child Care in Toronto

Rationale:

Child care in Ontario is undergoing major restructuring as the Province devolves responsibility for managing the system to municipalities in Ontario. The demands of Ontario Works on parents receiving social assistance will place additional pressure on the child care system. The recently announced school funding formula also threatens the stability of many school-based child care programs, which are facing higher rents or relocation to higher cost premises.

Throughout the last decade, however, Metropolitan Toronto established itself as a leader in the development of quality child care programs. Municipal budget pressures have stressed the child care system in the 1990s, leading to cost cutting and higher user fees. Still, major program losses have been avoided. It is now clear that the scale of change presented by current restructuring and other provincial action will make 1998 a critically important year in terms of maintaining the accessibility and quality of child care in the new City of Toronto.

The status of child care in Toronto must be documented this year in order to provide baseline information against which to compare the impact of policy and resource changes in the coming years. This research project would establish this baseline data and set up the mechanisms by which to track and measure change in the accessibility and quality of child care in Toronto in the future.

Research Objectives:

The Status of Child Care in Toronto Research Project proposes:

(1)to document the accessibility and quality of child care programs in the City of Toronto in 1998;

(2)to produce and release a baseline report on the status of child care in Toronto by year end (1998); and

(3)to set up a child care data base and data collection system that will allow annual monitoring of the impact of policy and funding changes on the accessibility and quality of child care in Toronto.

Scope of the Research:

We recognize that child care in the 1990s takes a variety of forms:

-Licensed, regulated and formal child care programs (centres or provider-based), day programs and nursery schools that encompass operations run directly by the municipality, by non-profit community boards, and by commercial services providers.

-Unlicensed but formal programs operated by community-based agencies such as family resource centres and boys and girls clubs, school boards, libraries, and municipal recreation departments.

-Unlicensed and unregulated informal child care arrangements between parents and relatives or unrelated individuals (in-home or in the provider's residence).

For the purposes of this first research study, we proposed that a focus on full coverage of the licensed and regulated formal child care programs and a reasonable sampling of the unlicensed, formal programs. The 1998 baseline report will specify as necessary any limitations on interpretation of the baseline data arising from sampling methods. Ultimately, the study should be expanded to include unlicensed, unregulated child care arrangements. However, the degree of outreach and the sophistication of data collection methods for comprehensive coverage are beyond our means at this time.

Status Indicators:

Preliminary consideration of the areas to be covered in the child care database and suggested status indicators include:

-Program Characteristics: auspices; location; physical condition; hours, days; amount of exclusive space; use of shared space.

-Staffing: number of staff (FTE, PT, casual), student placements; volunteers (parents, others); resource teachers; non-teaching/program staff (administrative, housekeeping, other); employment program staff; staff turnover; staff pre-service training; staff preptime; staff meetings; staff experience level (e.g., combined years of service); personnel policies; professional development/ongoing training.

-Accessibility: number of spaces by age group; number of subsidized children (full, part-time); number of full fee children; average vacancy rate.

-User Characteristics: one, two-parent families; family income; parents' status in terms of employed/unemployed/in training/in school; first language; parents' occupation(s); special needs children; child turnover.

-Program Finances: financial contributions; in-kind contributions; actual costs; amount of full fee; debt.

-Quality: nutrition; equipment and materials; program activity.

Data Sources and Research Methods:

There is an existing data base upon which to build a more comprehensive picture of the status of child care in Toronto. As manager of the subsidized child care system, the City's Children's Services Division has statistics on its own programs and on programs with purchase of service agreements for subsidy for 1998 and years prior. The City will assume responsibility for the child care system in 1998 and, therefore, will have access to more comprehensive data on the broader formal licensed system in the future.

City staff do assessments of each child care program with purchase of service agreements at least three times a year, which also creates an opportunity to collect data on additional quality measures for this research project.

Sampling of other licensed child care programs and of unlicensed formal programs, such as family resource centres and programs in libraries and recreation centres, could also be done. Sampling could be used for self-administered surveys, interviews, and program observation.

Given the time frame for production of a baseline report by year end, we propose that a research design be developed that collects data from the following three sources:

(1)Quantitative data that the Children's Services Division has on relevant indicators in its existing information systems.

(2)Supplementary data on relevant indicators collected by City staff assessments on programs in the field.

(3)Self-administered survey information mailed to as complete a list as can be assembled of unlicensed, formal programs operating in the community.

(4)Sample of licensed and unlicensed programs for interviews with program administrators.

The City's Children's Services Division is prepared to make its information systems available for this research and to collect some additional information through its existing staff field assessments. The Division could also provide support for the design of a child care data base for annual tracking purposes on the selected quality indicators. Dedicated research staff will be necessary, however, to complete design of the research project, to co-ordinate research activities, including the survey and interview components, and to assimilate and analyse the data accumulated.

Research Products:

By the end of 1998 the Status of Child Care in Toronto Research Project will produce:

-A baseline report on the status of child care in Toronto in 1998 with some indication of change for some indicators prior to 1998 for which there is comparative data.

-A child care data base for Toronto that can be further developed in future years and can be used to measure changes in the accessibility and quality of child care in Toronto in the coming years.

-Research methods and tools (e.g., survey and interview instruments and protocols) for use and adaptation in future years.

Project Sponsorship and Guidance:

This research project will be a partnership of a number of organizations concerned about the quality of child care in Toronto. The lead organization, however, in terms of project sponsorship and contracting with research staff will be the Community Social Planning Council of Toronto (CSPC). The CSPC will produce and release the report in conjunction with the City of Toronto's Children's Action Committee. The support of all organizations contributing time or funding support to the project will be acknowledged in the baseline report.

A Research Project Reference Group will be created to guide the project and to provide support to the research staff. The Reference Group will be made up of representatives from:

-Community Social Planning Council of Toronto;

-City of Toronto Children's Services Division;

-Children's Action Committee of the City of Toronto;

-Better Child Care Coalition of Metro Toronto;

-University of Toronto Child Care Resources Centre;

-Catholic Children's Aid Society;

-Family Resource Centres of Metro Toronto;

-City of Toronto Department of Recreation; and

-Toronto District School Board and Toronto Catholic District School Board.

Representatives from most of the above organizations have participated in the development of this research project to this point. Others will be invited to join the reference group.

Timeline for Project Activity:

May-June:

-Explore and secure funding support.

-Complete construction of Project Reference Group.

-Set up project management.

-Recruit research coordinator.

July-August:

-Complete research design.

-Develop research tools and protocols.

-Orient/train data collection and field research staff.

September:

-Data collection.

October:

-Data analysis.

-Reports and review with Reference Group.

-Draft baseline report.

November-December:

-Production and public release of Report on the Status of Child Care in Toronto.

-Final data base set up for future tracking on child care status.

-Compilation of research protocol and instruments with recommendations for refinements.

-Reports to funders.

Budget and Additional Funding Required:

In addition to the Children's Services Division's commitment of data base and field staff and the contributions of time and expertise of the organizations participating in the Project Reference Group, the following resources are required to conduct this research project:

Research Coordinator (June - December, 1998)

.6 FTE @ $55,000.00 p.a. plus 15 percent$ 18,975.00

Research Assistants (e.g., field interviewers, interview

transcription, survey data inputting) 8,000.00

Report Production and Distribution 3,000.00

Administrative Expenses (e.g., Photocopying, fax,

transit for field workers) 1,000.00

Total Project Funding Required$ 30,975.00

(Revised May 19, 1998)

 

   
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