Child Care in Canada - Essay Example

Child Care in Canada Who are the stakeholders? How does the issue impact each, and what are the desired outcomes for each stakeholder group? The main stakeholders in Canada’s Child Care include parents, policy-makers and child care providers. In most cases, parents or at times, other members from the extended family are the ones who provide care to the children. This leaves the family as the main stakeholders in child care. They have the biggest responsibility in ensuring that the children are well taken care of. The care ranges from providing their basic needs, making sure they are disciplined, and guiding them as they grow up. Their desire is to have children who are well groomed and grow up to be successful later in life. A part from the family members, most of the care is provided by private agencies or individuals. In other extreme cases, for-profit agencies and also non-profit child cares step in to provide childcare. Child care facilities that are publicly operated in Canada are very few. Such facilities are either operated by the municipal or the provincial government. A good number of the facilities are managed or owned by agencies, private individuals, or business. However, the territorial/ Provincial governments in Canada are charged with the responsibility of providing child care facilities in the education system (Gordon and Michael 57). Through facilities such as kindergarten, the government intents to have each child grow up to access the basic child care. The policy makers happen to be major stakeholders in Canada’s child care. According to the Canada’s Constitution, the child care legislation authority is under the provincial jurisdiction. This authority includes the power to prohibit or permit other child care providers, to come up with programs related to child care, to decide on the type of certification or education professionals in child care must have before they are allowed to offer their services, and enact regulations on the kind of child care facilities services that need to be offered. The provincial government has also been given power by the Canadian constitution to offer financial benefits to child care centres. These include tax credits and direct subsidies to providers of childcare. The federal government has assumed an indirect role in policies governing childcare by using the constitutional spending powers given to it. Such powers can also limit childcare forms initiatives. 2. Why and how did the issue become a social issue rather than simply remain a private issue? What do you see as the responsibilities of the affected individuals? In Canada, child care facilities that are family based are preferred to private residential options. This was mainly after researchers proved that therapeutic foster care for children were less restrictive in relation to placement outcomes compared to private residential child cares. Children in such therapeutic foster cares were seen to experience a significant increase in their self concept as compared to those in private residential child cares. Family based child cares are also cost effective thus being preferred. This has left childcare in Canada to be a social and family issue. During the early stages of a child development, child rearing is mostly under the natal family control. The state may step in later in an effort to monitor every child treatment through its welfare organizations on child care. However, the parents take most of the responsibility of caring for the children until they get the age of five or six. This gives the parents a total control over the kind of care their children receive. It is the responsibility of all members of the family to take part in child care. This also applies to social areas such as schools, churches and play centers. Schools are expected to come up with programs that will ensure children receive the best foundation in their mental development. Churches and play centers are out to ensure that the discipline of the children is given priority (Martyn 89). 3. What do you see as the responsibilities of firms in the Canadian economy with respect to the issue? Explain your thoughts fully Firms in Canada should not just seat back and leave the child care responsibilities to the government and families. Most of the firms can offer financial support to the programs and provide facilities in child care centres. Child care is not just a family issue or issue of the government but the entire nation. There are these children who grow up later in life and become the key players in building the economy of the country and manage such firms. Firms like insurance companies have a great role to play in child care support. This can be achieved through provision of life insurance to children. Such an insurance cover is important as it covers orphans. Insurance firms should make it easier for parents to obtain such insurance covers even if they are not in a position to pay for child support. The responsibilities of such firms vary. Firms can also support child care centres by proving additional facilities that can be used in the implementation of the basic facilities used in child care centers. A good example of such a case is the KidReach firm efforts to support childcare. Being a Microsoft firm in Canada, it has reached out with programs that are intended to empower the children using technology. These programs are done in form of software donations. Economic firms such as banks should be in the forefront in supporting child care in Canada. This can be achieved by the firms coming up with programs that are intended to support childcare initiatives in the communities. A good example is the Royal bank which has come up with an ‘After School Care program’ (Nina and Larry 123) 4. What do you see as the responsibility of governments? (Federal, provincial, municipal) and explain your response. In most cases, the governments, including the provincial, municipal and federal, are charged with the responsibility of coming up with laws that govern and protect childcare in Canada. The governments are also expected to support childcare programs in the best way they can. The provincial and municipal governments offer financial subsidies in different forms to support the cost incurred during the caring of children. These include child care systems that are publicly funded and provision of subsidized child care service and facilities. The governments also offer parents direct subsidies inform of direct payments and tax credits. Although the Federal government is not in a position to pass legislation or laws on child care programs or childcare services provision, it has the authority according to the constitution to legislate the childcare area. The federal government legislates social services related to child care for particular groups. Such groups include the Armed forces and Aboriginal peoples. In such situations, the federal government can implement specific kind of programs related to childcare (Susan 45). 5. Who should pay the taxes to support government activities in these areas and why The government of Canada has come up with measures that are aimed at ensuring every citizen contributes in one way or the other to child care support through paying tax. The government efforts have also ensured that parents and those involved in childcare receive monthly payments as away of supporting them. The taxation programs by the federal government include; Child Tax Credit and Family Allowance program as well as the newly enacted Child Tax Benefit. Through these programs, the tax collected from every citizen liable to paying tax is directed towards federal payments done on monthly basis to parents with a certain number of children in a family. Lower income families are the ones mostly targeted by these programs. The government has also come up with the Working Income Supplement for the poor families. This program provides additional resources to the working families who happen to fall under low-income levels. The government also uses the taxes collected by the territorial or provincial governments to fund the Canada child Tax Benefit. These programs ensure that the revenue earned from tax is directed towards childcare support (Martyn 78) 6. Are there are other groups or institutions that have a responsibility as part of this social issue? Explain Several independent persons and operators on child care have in the recent past been established as for-profit or private child care facilities. Considering that such facilities don’t receive any money from the government, they need to reach out for start up programs from new business as well as programs that are operated by the state or provincial governments so as benefit from the available funds. Such private child care facilities are important as in the absence of the basic parental care for the children; the facilities serve as best alternatives. Other institutions and groups should also be involved in supporting child cares through fundraising programs, offering charities, and donations. Examples of groups and institutions that have been in the fore front in supporting childcares facilities and programs include, Big One, Air Canada, Adobe, and Clarica Life Insurance Company (Susan 105) Work cited Cleveland, Gordon & Krashisky, Michael. Our Children’s Future: Child Care Policy in Canada. New York: University of Toronto Press, 2001. Print. Kendrick, Martyn. Nobody’s Children: The Failure of Foster Care in Canada. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1999. Print Howe, Nina & Prochner, Larry. Early Childhood Care and Education in Canada. London: University of British Columbia, 2001. Print Prentice, Susan. Changing Child Care: Five Decades of Child Care Advocacy & Policy in Canada. Nova Scotia: Fernwood Publishing, 20001. Print Read More