Quebec and Ontario Childcare Policies - Essay Example

Quebec and Ontario Childcare Policies Quebec and Ontario Childcare Policies A longitudinal study reveals a pattern of change in the childcare policies in Quebec and Ontario. The nature of change and their impact on the welfare of children manifest through a range of similarities and differences across the board. The pattern of change in the two regions shows some significant improvement from 1990s to the present moment. In the course of time, policy makers structured the childcare system in ways that enhanced harmony between the systems. The roles of various related departments remained synchronized in order to provide a uniform interpretation of policies, actions, and plans in a comprehensive and meaningful whole. These changes marked a break from past systems that featured multiple departments working separately for the promotion of children welfare without any manifest order and consistency within the systems. In January 1997, the Quebec government passed special legislations that provided support to parents in one of the strategies employed towards ensuring sustainable and quality childcare in the region (Baker, Gruber & Milligan, 2006). The measure focused on improving some systems and structures including adjusted systems of remuneration in order to empower them to improve their livelihoods. The underlying assumption revolves around creating a pool of resources that would naturally trickle down to the children by way of good nutrition, care, health, and education. The Quebec restructuring of children welfare policies remain anchored on the overarching policy that supports family values and promotes love for children (Baker, Gruber & Milligan, 2006). Therefore, it became necessary to develop specific laws that would provide the operational frameworks of good and quality childcare processes. Towards the year 2000, there emerged some specific focus on low-income parents as the government engaged actively in the process of uplifting the parents to achieve some aspect of self-sustenance in order for them to collaborate with the government in the overall process of providing support for their children (Baker, Gruber & Milligan, 2006). Also included in the emergent policies were specific provisions that enjoined communities and the general societies in the promotion of the welfare of the children. Such provisions included safeguards against abuse and other laws meant to protect the rights, liberties, happiness, health, security, and safety of the children. In this regard, it becomes necessary to investigate some of the forces that occasioned the various legislations that meant to safeguard the rights and privileges of the children in Quebec. The basic philosophy revolved around the fact that children formed a fundamental aspect of the family unit, and that the structure, future, and power of the society depended on their welfare. Recent policy formulations from the early 2000 towards 2005 and beyond tended to foreground quality early childhood education, quality childcare services, and parental insurance at the core of the policy structure (Baker, Gruber & Milligan, 2006). Policy makers relied on the fact that the welfare of the children operates from a comprehensive point of view that incorporates the diverse aspects of life into one unitary blanket that would consolidate the various aspects of children’s rights and general welfare. The act passed in 1997 entitled Respecting Childcare Centers and Childcare Services contained special provisions that provided details for support of children through quality care consistently until they finished primary school (Tougas, 2002). The policies underpinning these changes have been designed in a manner that assigns primary responsibility to parental system but the system is organized in a manner that incorporates governmental support in terms of providing structural and financial support to the childcare systems. Comparatively, childcare policies in Ontario have developed at a much slower pace as compared to Quebec. There have been lesser policy modifications necessary to revamp and increase value to the welfare system (Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services, 1996). As such, it would be necessary to consider the fact that some of the challenges facing the welfare system are necessarily related to structural and policy structures, which support weak systems that do not conform to the rising needs of improved childcare. As such, it becomes necessary to consider some of the issues that engage with the challenges of reforming the childcare system. In essence, critics contend that the current system is supported by systems and structures that have lost relevance in the current dispensation of children’s welfare. On this score, there is the need to engage with the realities of the moment. Some analysts predict that the Ontario healthcare system is headed for an imminent collapse if the government fails to come up with strategic measures to revamp the system. Analysts observe that the system suffered from a consistent reduction of services from 1990s to the current period (Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services, 1992). On this score, it is important to consider the fact that some of the changes suggested by critics include the structural reorganization of the policy framework on which the current system is anchored. In order to fulfill such an effort, it would be necessary for the concerned parties to determine the nature of changes that have taken place from both the societal level and family level. Like any other modern society, the Ontario community is increasingly faced with constant change that has shaped up in perceptions, values, mores, and traditions of family life. In 2010, the government, the Ontario healthcare system witnessed a positive intervention following the introduction of the full day kindergarten by the government (Doherty, 1994). This step was in line with the government’s stated commitment of adjusting the education and child development system to the realities and needs of the 21st century. Despite this development, financial pressures and a mismatch between the new policy and structural factors are likely to lessen the benefits of the development. Calls for the revamping of the education system illustrate the underlying challenges in implementing piecemeal developments on the existing structure of childcare and child development structures in Ontario. Past and recent reports warn of the possibility of crisis in the wake of delayed structural changes and decreased financial initiatives from the government and other stakeholders (Doherty, 1994). An appraisal of the challenges facing the Ontario childcare system must embrace the diverse nature Ontario society particularly from the perspective of the urban population versus the rural populations. Some of the issues that have affected the implementation of the childcare policies are related to the manifest disparities between the two regions. According to policy analysts, the current policies are generally designed for the benefit of average urban households. This is because a range of unique characteristics that require the attention of policy reviewers defines the rural populations. In 1991, Ontario had nearly 300,000 children aged between 0 to 9 years in the rural areas. The same statistics showed that over 70,000 women with underage children worked outside their homes (Budget Finances, 2009). Another challenge facing rural populations revolves is that some of the issues that children with working parents fail to get the necessary child care that is necessary for normal growth. Rural households operate under irregular patterns that are often disruptive of the value and essence of livelihoods as understood together with some of the structural challenges that attend to the policies of care and the adjustment of systems and structures for the benefit of the general society (Friendly & Prentice, 2009). Rural children face limitations of developments, and require a child-development program, which suits their specific needs. Periods following the introduction of full-time kindergarten programs were followed by the clamor for the introduction of flexible policies that could respond to the diverse needs of the children. The childcare program must be comprehensive in such a manner that it captures the child development schedules on daily, seasonal, and annual bases. Pressure groups and children’s rights activists have pushed for the implementation of flexible policies in order to achieve a sense of equity between the rural and urban population of children. The management of the childcare system in Ontario operates under biased structures, which favor the development and growth of the urban populations, while systematically sidelining the rural groups (Friendly & Prentice, 2009). Attention to the plight of rural children continues to pile with pressure groups enjoining academic and social experts in seeking convergent points that might harmonize the childcare policies. Comparatively, the rural areas face the disadvantage of poor infrastructure, a shortage of child development services, lack of variety, and poor funding for the existing systems. Other challenges facing the rural populations include low levels of incentives for private initiatives and the reliance on poorly funded government services. Rural parts of Ontario require some significant aspect of creativity in order to exploit the readily available resources for the pursuit of the objectives of children well-being and meeting the general developmental needs of the populations. Experts in childcare contend that children in rural areas could benefit from some of the naturally available resources as compared to the ones in the urban areas. However, the disparities in the levels of child development show that the urban environment has more synergies for growth as compared to the rural populations. In this case, it becomes necessary to consider departing from generalized childcare policies in order to develop some aspect of modulated childcare policies, which respond to the needs of the occasion. Analysts have proposed the incorporation of affirmative action policies for supporting children from the disadvantaged parts of the country or those with some peculiar needs that require special attention outside the mainstream policy framework. Critics of Ontario childcare policies contend that the current policies do not cover the entire scope of childhood (Middle Childhood Matters, 2012). According to those who hold on this view, the government has not invested sufficiently in the welfare of children in a manner that would be commensurate to the needs and challenges they face after transcending from kindergarten. In the opinion of these critics, children between the ages of six to twelve do not receive sufficient care in the current systems. According to these critics, there is the pressing need to revamp the system in ways that would provide services and involvement that is more parental for children in the vulnerable categories of age (Middle Childhood Matters, 2012). Overreliance on the school-based approaches to childcare, according to critics, tends to overlook the importance of parental and societal approaches, which are necessary for the growing children. References Baker, M., Gruber, J., & Milligan, K. (2006). What can we learn from Quebecs universal childcare program. Toronto: C.D. Howe Institute. Budget Finances. (2009). Status Report on Quebec Family Policy. Budget Finances. Retrieved from http://www.budget.finances.gouv.qc.ca/budget/2009-2010/en/documents/pdf/FamilyPolicy.pdf Doherty, G. (1994). Rural Child Care in Ontario. Child Care Canada. Retrieved from http://www.childcarecanada.org/sites/default/files/op4.pdf Friendly, M., & Prentice, S. (2009). About Canada: Childcare. Toronto: Fernwood Publishing Company, Limited. Middle Childhood Matters. (2012). Ontario Child Care. Middle Childhood Matters Coalition Canada. Retrieved from http://www.middlechildhoodmatters.ca/category/ontario-child-care/ Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services. (1992). Childcare reform in Ontario: childcare consultation: background papers. Toronto: Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services. Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services. (1996). Improving Ontarios childcare system: Ontarios childcare review. Toronto, Ontario: Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services. Tougas, J. (2002). Reforming Québecs early childhood care and education: the first five years. Toronto: Childcare Resource and Research, Centre for Urban and Community Studies, University of Toronto. Read More