TABLE 1.1: Key Stakeholders List (Best Start Committee and ... · PDF fileTABLE 1.1: Key...

REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY OF PEEL Integrated Status Update

2008/09

TABLE 1.1: Key Stakeholders List (Best Start Committee and Success by 6) Stakeholder/Partner Agency/Organization Ann Iannarelli Community Living Mississauga Anne Agnew City of Brampton Anne Fenwick Region of Peel, Health Services Anthony (Dr) Hutchinson Brampton Neighbourhood Resource Centre Barbara Wallace Best Start Health Coalition in Peel Beverley Bryant Region of Peel, Health Services Catherine Saftic Conseil Scolaire de district catholique centre-sud Chris Hartley Halton-Peel Preschool Speech & Language Program Cori Chapman The Credit Valley Hospital Daniel Lefebvre Conseil Scolaire de district du Centre-Sud-Quest Debbie Alves Peel Aboriginal Network & Credit River Métis Council Diane Jamison Conseil Scolaire de district catholique Centre-Sud Donna Palmer Region of Peel, Early Years Integration Elena DiBattista Success By 6 Gunta Jurevics-Lawson Region of Peel, Children’s Services Helen Lewis-FitzGerald Region of Peel, Early Years Integration Huda Abbas Multicultural Inter-Agency Group of Peel (MIAG) Jacqueline Foley YMCA Jane van Berkel Child Development Resource Connection Peel (CDRCP) Jean Latham ErinoakKids Jean Luc Bernard Conseil Scolaire de district du Centre-Sud-Quest Joan Arruda Family Day Care Services Joyce Temple Smith Malton Neighbourhood Services

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Kamalesh Visavadia Region of Peel, Children’s Services Kathy Russell-Kwan Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board Kelly Hoddinott Brampton Caledon Community Living Linda Lee Berkowitz Peel Children’s Centre Lorna Montgomery Trillium Health Centre –Peel Infant Development Lorna Reid Region of Peel, Early Years Integration Lory Wolter Mississauga Parent Child Resource Centres Lynn Petrushchak Dixie Bloor Neighbourhood Centre Margaret Douglin Region of Peel Maria Ivanova Centre educatif Eveil aux savoirs Mark Creedon (info only) Catholic Family Services Peel – Dufferin Maureen Thornton Caledon Parent-Child Centre Melanie Dixon Ministry of Children & Youth Services Mireille Coulombe Ministry of Education (Francophone) Moira Sinclair Ministry of Education Natalie Johnston Region of Peel, Health Services Pamela Martindale-Nevin Ministry of Children & Youth Services Reena Aggarwal Region of Peel, Early Years Integration Rob Bassford Ministry of Children & Youth Services Ronald Jaros Region of Peel, Planning Rose Asta Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board Sheila McWatters Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board Vacant Association of Daycare Operators Sherri Bain Brampton Library Sherry Baidwan Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention Shirley-Ann Teal Peel District School Board Sue Hunter Hunter Consultant Vicky Lowry Children’s Aid Society

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Please note this document provides only the highlights of the accomplishments of the Best Start Network in 2007/2008. The 2007- 08 Best Start Community Plan “Building on the Foundation – Moving Forward provides a detailed and comprehensive outline of the work of the Best Start Network to move forward with implementation of the Best Start Initiative. Please refer to this document for additional information about the on-going plans of the Network. It must be noted that much of the work described in the 2007-08 Plan remains on hold until such time as additional, sufficient funding is secured. TABLE 1.2: Thematic Status Update Theme Briefly describe/update the status of

the initiatives as identified in the 2007 Community Plan.

Identify challenges that have been encountered or that you foresee encountering in addressing the identified theme.

Provide an example of a best and promising practice that you’ve used to address these challenges.

Has your network developed any tools to support your work? Please describe (and attach) these tools

Please identify timelines (if available) for implementing your strategies and addressing challenges.

Integration • There continues to be a strong commitment to service system integration in Peel region. Service providers and the agencies they represent have a long history of working collaboratively. A chronic shortage of services has necessitated this high level of cooperation. Members of the Best Start Network have a clear and spoken commitment to working together to further integrate the service system for children and families throughout Peel Region.

• Success by 6 Peel continues to provide strong leadership in the collaborative delivery of integrated services for children and their

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Theme Briefly describe/update the status of the initiatives as identified in the 2007 Community Plan.





families. The Best Start Network is a subset of this active partnership.

In 2007/2008, a number of initiatives moved the integration agenda forward: • The Peel Best Start Integrated

Programming Committee Partnership Agreement was completed and signed-off. (Please see Appendix B for a complete copy of the agreement) Best Start IPC meets monthly to plan support systems and develop tools to facilitate integration within the 7 Best Start sites in Peel.

• A Pre-School Consultant located at

Peel Children’s Centre and funded by Best Start provides consultation to parents in the 7 Best Start sites located in Peel and the St. John Fisher Neighbourhood Learning Place program.

• Lack of committed

funding to ensure ongoing consultation services

• Results in increased

numbers of children identified as needing services, which is putting pressure on

The Peel Best Start Integrated Programming Committee Partnership Agreement is an outstanding example of a tool that supports integrated program development and delivery. Please see appendix x.

MOU/Partnership Agreement for 3-year term, June 2007 – June 2010; reviewed annually

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• An outstanding example of

integration in the Region of Peel is the success of St. John Fisher Neighbourhood Learning Place. This hub represents an active partnership between:

• St. John Fisher School • Dufferin-Peel District School

Board • St. John Fisher Church • Success by 6 Peel • Halton-Peel Preschool Speech

and Language • Brampton Neighbourhood

Resource Centre • Malton Neighbourhood Services • Peel Children’s Centre • Region of Peel, Children’s

Services • Region of Peel, Public Health • Brampton Library

• This year, a number of new initiatives were implemented through the St. John Fisher Neighbourhood Learning Place:

already lengthy waiting lists.

The Peel Best Start Integrated Programming Agreement provides a solid framework for the St. John Fisher Neighbourhood Learning Place partnerships

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• Partnering with Brampton Neighbourhood Resource Centre to support youth programs

• Partnering with the YMCA to provide wraparound service for school age children between the ages of 6 and 12 as well as providing programming for summer. March break and PD days

• Supporting an outreach team at Ontario Works

• Reviewing the possibility of developing partnerships with children’s mental health

• Supporting additional community outreach by providing programs at local apartment buildings, parks, and community centres in addition to the wide range of programs provided on site.

• Kindergarten teachers of the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board and Peel District School Board

• Engaging Principals and

Vice-Principals in understanding and embracing fully the Best

• Arranging time for Board

teachers and Best Start child care staff to meet together for training,

• Continue dialogue with

Best Start sites and school personnel to facilitate greater

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as well as the French Language school boards worked cooperatively with Best Start child care centre staff.

Start integrated programming approach at local site levels as well as relationship building

• Challenge of staffing

ratio differences between school board JK/SK and child care

informal activities, joint visits to model programs (e.g. Toronto First Duty Bruce-Woodgreen)

• Local site meetings between Principals, Vice-Principals and child care Providers

• Comprehensive evaluation/research process being developed

• Initial meetings at

Superintendent-Senior Management level with PDSB

Revising Toronto First Duty “Indicators of Change” into a Peel-specific checklist (in progress) Research tools (e.g. surveys) in process of being developed

integration of service by facilitating meetings and providing additional resource support

• Establishment of local site committees by Fall 2008

• Information-sharing, training and research update session planned for Principals and Vice-Principals of all 7 sites: Fall 2008

• Research data collection anticipated to start Sept/Oct 2008

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• Community Living Preschool Services collaborates to integrate children with developmental challenges into the licensed child care system

• The Community Services Inventory

(CSI) has been expanded to include LINH child and youth information

• Coordinated Info Peel data which

provides information about resources for children with special needs is now available online.

• Peel Public Health provides a comprehensive range of programs and services through an integrated service delivery model with community-based organizations including child care centres, Hubs and OEYC sites.

• A number of programs are unable to integrate children without 1 to 1 support and this level of support is very limited.

• There is a significant waiting list for children with special needs to access child care.

• There is no ongoing

funding to support the costs of the CSI

• Lack of adequate

funding to deliver core public health programs including Healthy Babies, Healthy Children creates obstacles. Securing

• Workshops for Early Childhood Educators offered at low cost or free of charge. “Lunch and Learn” sessions increase the level of accessibility of these training sessions.

• Continue to provide workshops for Early Childhood Educators and to promote Regional training opportunities.

• Work will continue.

Efforts will be made to secure additional funding for translations.

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• Infant and Child Development Services

Peel continues to take steps to further integrate their activities with the broader service community.

• Making Connection Groups • Movement Groups for children with low tone and delayed motor development • Drop-In clinics for premature babies, toddlers and their parents • Co-fund PEPStart Early Identification Clinics with Healthy Babies Healthy Children helping to identify approximately 200 children per year.

sufficient resources to meet the demand to deliver more services in a wide range of community sites to support integration, is therefore, a priority.

• There is too little to meet

the increasing demand for early intervention to children at high risk for delay.

• Evidence based and

evidence influenced best practice wait list management techniques are being implemented

• Work is being done to recognize those children for whom an early diagnosis will make a large difference with other supports provided to children for whom this may not be so critical.

• Infant and Child

Development Services Peel will continue to provide training for a range of staff on the use of evidence-based care pathways for premature babies and their families. This means that fewer children will be followed who don’t need to be followed and more children and families who require services will have the correct amount of intervention and

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monitoring of development.

• Training in intensive screening for 4 ½ year old children will be provided to those working with older preschoolers.

Parent Engagement

In addition to the activities provided through Hubs and OEYCs (see below), a number of initiatives to support parent engagement are underway throughout Peel Region. • “Welcome to Kindergarten” orientation

nights, in 34 DPCDSB schools and 63 PDSB schools.

• Funding for program

expansion

• Increasing awareness

and promoting availability of programs

• The Dufferin-Peel

Catholic District School Board will be expanding” Welcome to Kindergarten”

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• The “Roots of Reading” Literacy

program was introduced for budding readers. This program highlights early literacy skills and the role of parents/caregivers as their child’s first and most influential teacher.

• Community Living organizations are

offering a range of workshops for parents to support parental capacity to

• The number of parents

working outside the home means that it is often caregivers rather than parents accompanying their children to the programs.

• There is no funding

available specifically for translation so this

• Offer programs at a

variety of times including evenings and weekends to increase accessibility to parents.

• Deliver programs in locations outside the library to reach families who are not regular library customers. (Another example of service integration)

• Parent education and

support groups.

orientation sessions from 34 schools to a Board wide initiative.

• The Brampton Library

will continue to explore strategies to expand the capacity to provide a range of programs for families through greater integration with organizations and agencies such as OEYCs and Hubs, including the soon to be launched mobile hubs, LIONS.

• Continue support

groups and workshops for parents.

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meet the diverse needs of their children.

• A committee has been formed to

increase the capacity of the organization to meet the needs of children and families from a range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

• Wherever possible, parents are matched with resource teachers who share their language and/or who are familiar with the culture and traditions of the family.

• Peel Children’s Centre provides all its

programs in collaboration with parents. • Fathering Groups are among the

popular programs offered through Child Development Resource Connection Peel that have the OEYC operating at capacity.

• There is a high level of parental engagement in the evaluation process.

continues to be a significant challenge.

• Workshops for parents

may not be as accessible as is wanted owing to a limited capacity to provide them in a range of languages.

• Successfully reaching all

parents due to diversity/settlement issues

• Securing sufficient

funding for

• Work collaboratively with

Best Start sites outreach workers to reach these parents and address their unique needs.

• Develop strategies to

reach out to multicultural communities to determine was to provide services that will meet the needs of these families.

• Continue to implement

best practices for resolving challenges.

• E-val. will be

completed in the

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• Peel Health Survey conducted a client satisfaction survey with parents participating in Healthy Babies Healthy Children High Risk Home Visiting Programs. Participants expressed a high level of satisfaction with the services provided. 98% were satisfied with the overall service and 96% were satisfied that staff were respectful of their language and culture.

Literacy: • Literacy specialists provided more than

230 workshops on literacy and brain development through evening workshops and “Lunch and Learn” sessions.

• Family Literacy programs have continued to grow and there are now more than 80 locations up and running.

administrative support to facilitate the evaluation process.

Early literacy specialists continue to have a high demand for more sessions during the day and evenings and weekends. More demand from agencies that support newcomer communities. Adult literacy issues.

Trying to have sessions with larger numbers to make good use of our time. Providing train the trainer sessions to professionals. Using materials that adequately support all learners.

We use an early literacy checklist in our professional development work. The central west early literacy specialists also meet twice a year to share and network.

spring of 2009. The provincial network will be encouraged to include more OEYCs throughout Province in the evaluation process.

• Staff will be trained to

facilitate Perinatal Mood Disorder groups beginning in the fall of 2009.

We continue to modify programs to suit community needs. We remain flexible in our service delivery methods. We are always open to new collaborations.

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Workshops for Parents: In the Spring of 2008 a total of 33 workshops for parents were offered at the 12 Regional Learn.Play.Care. Child Care Centres. The sessions were provided free of charge, were open to the community and included a light meal and child care for those requiring it. Positive Parenting Networking Group and Scan of Services Agencies and service providers within the Region of Peel were contacted to find out what services they provide to children and families. This information was used to create an environmental scan of services which highlighted services/programs offered, target age group, fee for service(s) if any, waitlist information, registration process and contact information for agency/programs. Representatives from the agency were also asked if they would like to attend a Networking Group meeting to share this information with other service providers

There have been some challenges around enrolment at a couple of locations i.e. Low enrolment or no enrolment. Another challenge is around attendance for session. Registration for the sessions may be high but attendance may not reflect the registration numbers. The one challenge is people’s time for attending meetings.

To address the attendance issue reminder phone calls are being placed to registered participants two days before the scheduled session. To address this issue the group members have agreed to meet twice a year and to share relevant information via e-mail throughout the year.

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and to discuss issues or barriers to providing services and to look at how this group would stay connected. The group has determined that it will meet twice a year to update on services and share information on identified topics, i.e. Participant feedback on programs. All About Positive Parenting – Guiding Your Child’s Behaviour Pamphlet

The pamphlet was created by a joint working group made up of Children’s Services & Health Department staff which was created from a larger, newly formed Children’s Services & Health committee. The purpose of the committee is to ensure the community is receiving the same ‘key messages’ in the literature created by the Region Of Peel along with the same look. The ‘theme’ for the pamphlet was chosen to support a community campaign promotion that

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Central West Blind Low Vision Program • The CWBLVP started in 2007 and is

another example of integrated service delivery. Services of the program include: • Family Support • Intervention • Child Care Consultation

• Public Awareness and Parent and Professional Education

While the bulk of services are provided in homes, efforts are made to integrate children and their parents into community based programs provided through Hubs. Please see Appendix C for additional information

the Health Department was working on. It was also recognized that working together (Children’s Services & Health) made sense, as we were able to tap into everyone’s expertise.

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Other (optional) Meeting the needs of a rapidly growing population The population of the Region of Peel has increased dramatically by 251,055 or 25.4% with whole neighbourhoods now existing where none existed in 2001. For example, Wards 6 and 10 in the west and east areas of Brampton have seen a growth of more than 70,000 people over the past 6

2007- 08 Best Start Community Plan “Building on the Foundation – Moving Forward talks about the need to develop an innovative strategy to meet the needs of brand new communities where services are scarce, there is a lack of infrastructure and public space is at a premium. To address this need and fill the gaps in service provision the LION project is now underway. LION stands for Learning In Our Neighbourhood. Two (possibly three) RVs have been purchased and will be retrofitted as mobile early learning parent education and support centres The mobile centres will provide services to communities where close to 29% of children are not ready for school as evidenced by EDI scores. Programming is being developed collaboratively among community partners

Schools in the Region of Peel are operating at or beyond capacity and there is an extremely limited capacity to access suitable public space to implement programs and services for children and their families. Sustainable operational funding

Constant staff training. Good, clear health and safety procedures and processes. Parent/participant feedback mechanism to address programming needs and supports. Comprehensive evaluation process being developed. Sustainability plan developed. Mechanism to foster and strengthen partnerships is being developed

Evaluation framework. Communication plan.

Please see Appendix D for the Project Action Plan and Timelines The units should be on the road by early-mid September, 2008

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years. 49% of Peel’s residents are immigrants or newcomers.

The anticipated outcomes include: • Children will be more ready to enter

grade 1 and have the necessary skills to optimize school success

• Parents/Caregivers have neighbourhood access to early years services, parenting information, as well as information and service around health, education and settlement

• Parenting skills enhanced and strengthened

• Social isolation will be reduced thereby increasing community engagement and cohesion

• A gateway to other services will be provided

• Parent/Caregiver will have familiarity and understanding of limited community supports including schools

• Increased partnership and integrated neighbourhood based service delivery

• Supported and informed development of service infrastructure in high need areas

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TABLE 2.1: POPULATIONS AND PARTNERS’ UPDATE Highlights – Part A

Key Updates/Accomplishments from 2007/08 Key Activities for 2008/09

Francophone Peel has a Francophone Steering Committee. In 2007/2008, the committee was formed, the workplan developed and terms of reference finalized. Please see Appendix E the complete workplan. The Region of Peel hired a Community Engagement Specialist to work specifically with Francophone and Aboriginal Steering Committees. Organizations and Programs are increasing their activities and programs with and for the Francophone community: • The Brampton library ordered additional Francophone materials in

late 2007 and older, dated materials were weeded out of circulation.

• Francophone families with children with special needs have access to one Francophone resource teacher who also provides service coordination.

• Peel Children’s Centre has hired a Francophone employee increasing capacity to meet the needs of the Francophone community.

Infant and Child Development Peel has bilingual staff to support provision of services to the Francophone community.

• Complete an inventory of Francophone services available throughout Peel Region to develop a service directory for parents/caregivers

• Map Francophone community services/programs • Advocate for additional Francophone ECEs • Increase the amount of material that is translated into French • Align the work of the Regional Francophone Language Network

with the Peel Francophone Steering Committee • The French language book collection will continue to be

enhanced in response to community need. • Networking with other organizations and the Regional French

Language Network to explore the challenges inherent in finding trained Francophone staff and coordinating hiring practices.

• Infant and Child Development Services Peel will attempt to

address the shortage of sufficient Francophone literature by pooling with other similar organizations to share available resources. Additional resources will be sought to further develop materials.

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Highlights – Part A


Aboriginal Peel has an Aboriginal Steering Committee. In 2007/2008, the committee was formed, the workplan developed and terms of reference finalized. The accomplishments in 2007/2008 include: • Created a poster for Aboriginal families providing contact

information for Aboriginal community groups. • Hired an Aboriginal ECE to train centre staff and children so that

Aboriginal learning is a part of all environments and curriculums • Provided training and information opportunities to enable members

of the Best Start Network and the broader community to develop a deeper understanding of the issues and challenges facing the Aboriginal community which includes First Nation, Metis and Inuit peoples

• Identified potential locations for an Aboriginal gathering place • Planned and organized the first Peel Aboriginal Day Celebration

Organizations and Programs are increasing their activities and programs with and for the Aboriginal community: • Adding Aboriginal resources to classrooms in the Dufferin-Peel

Catholic District School Board • The Brampton library maintains a collection of items for children

that explore and celebrate the history and contributions of Aboriginal people

• Infant and Child Development Services Peel has an Aboriginal staff person on staff but has no clients who have identified as Aboriginal to date

• Peel District School Board and Dufferin Peel Catholic District

• More than 860 people gathered to celebrate during a full-day event on June 7, 2008. Many agencies and organizations throughout Peel participated in this exciting initiative, further evidence of an increasing level of integration within the region. 20 families took this opportunity to identify as Aboriginal and volunteered to provide consultation support to on-going efforts to support Aboriginal families in Peel Region.

• Work with Aboriginal families to develop curriculum content for Aboriginal specific programs

• Pilot curriculum kits in L.P.C. Centres and OEYCs • Continue to invite guest speakers to the Aboriginal committee to

provide information and updates about initiatives for children and families

• Create questionnaires including web-based sites to obtain feedback from the Aboriginal community

• Fee subsidy application forms will include a voluntary option to identify as Aboriginal so that information can be provided

• Increase membership on the Aboriginal Steering Committee. • Plan and organize 2009 A Gathering: Peel’s Aboriginal

Celebration • Identify space for “gathering places” in downtown Brampton,

Bramalea, and Cooksville • Identify funding for a Friendship Centre or similar program and an

Aboriginal Head Start program • National Aboriginal Day story time in June 2008 which will be

continued at all locations • Continue development and maintenance of collection of

resources Please see Appendix F for the complete workplan.

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School Board provided representatives for the Peel Aboriginal Steering Committee to co-ordinate planning

• Peel Planning consulted with PASC for advice on how to include the Aboriginal perspective in the Official Plan update

• The Atkinson Foundation at OISE, UT consulted PASC on strategies to attract Aboriginal youth into Early Childhood training programs.

The Region of Peel hired a Community Engagement Specialist to work specifically with Francophone and Aboriginal Steering Committees.

Child Care Wage Improvement: • Provided one-time wage improvement funding of $1,600 to

approximately 2,300 early childhood educators. Special Needs: • With increased special needs resourcing, 900 children were served

within the licensed child care system in 2007. It is important to note that this increase does not meet the increased demand that is a reflection of dramatic increases in population – 25.4% between 2001 and 2007– in Peel Region.

• Inclusion training has been provided to increase awareness of inclusion practice and to develop a network of inclusive child care programs.

• Continue to lobby the Provincial government for annualized

funding to increase salary levels in recognition of the professional role of early childhood educators

• Distribute 2008 wage improvement funding to eligible staff • Strengthen audit process for all wage subsidy payments • The Peel Preschool Special Needs Resourcing Group will

continue to meet to develop strategies to address the continuing shortage of resources available to meet the increasing demand for special needs resourcing. This includes addressing the challenge of meeting the needs of the many children with special needs who are not in the licensed child care system. The group will also collaborate with community partners to develop a comprehensive listing of available training and workshops for the

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• While Infant Child Development Peel supports the Child Care

sector by providing OT consultations in centres, the resources available currently do not come close to meeting the demand.

• 2,500 phone calls were received through SNAP Peel, the single

point of access for families requiring special needs services. Fee subsidy: • Income testing has been successfully implemented and

approximately 5,300 children received fee subsidy. Service levels for 2007/2008 were achieved.

Waiting Lists for Fee Subsidy

child care community,

• Efforts will be made to secure additional funding to increase this

service. In the interim, as much consultation as possible will be provided within available resources. This expands the capacity of professionals to whom the consultations are provided to ensure better and more timely referrals and to increase their skill level at creating environments that most effectively support the children

• Continue to distribute 2008 Best Start special needs funding to

special needs agencies and supporting the flexibility to support children and families in licensed care, OEYCs, Hubs and Readiness Centres.

• The referral and intake for the Valley Infant Parent Program will

be completed through SNAP Peel supporting the single point of access for special needs services

• NEW PROGRAM – The Peel family shelter will be relocated and

the capacity of the children’s program will increase. Children up to the age of 12 will be served.

• It is anticipated that close to 5,500 subsidized children could be

served in the 2008/09 period current funding permitting • There is currently a waiting list of approximately 12 months for

fee subsidy – managing this will be a significant challenge in 2008/2009.

• It is important to note that the waiting list has increased by 17%

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• On January 31, 2008, 1,956 children were waiting for a subsidized child care space. This compares to 2,394 on January 31, 2007. The reduction is due to:

• Additional in-year and Best Start funding permitted more fee subsidy placements resulting in a significant decease in the waiting list between January 07 and January 08.

Quality Assurance: The increasing number of centres opening in Peel has resulted in an increased demand for quality assurance by Regional consultants. A fourth Purchase of Service Consultant was hired to meet the increased demand. In addition to quality assurance visits, consultants conducted approximately 80 professional development workshops based on individual program needs. • Raising the Bar – Peel Region funds the coordinator position. 89

programs have signed-up to participate in the quality initiative. Expansion of Spaces: A/ Francophone Centres:

• 2 new centres opened with a total capacity of 109 children (15 – Toddlers/64 – Preschoolers/30 – School Age)

B/ General Expansion: • New Purchase of Service Agreements – 6 • Next expansion for existing for Service Agreements – 23

between January 2008 and March 31, 2008. • It is anticipated that there will be approximately 300 quality

assurance visits completed using the Operating Criteria in 2008/2009.

• Peel will explore a Quality website similar to Toronto’s 100 sites will be signed up by September 2008 Federal capital funding for Francophone centres has been provided. However, no new centres will be opened in Peel. Best Start Capital funding has been fully utilized. Expansion of the formal system will be supported through fee subsidy for non-profits and through wage improvement.

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• Total number of new spaces – 1156 • Infants: 56 • Toddlers: 120 • Preschool: 476 • School age: 504

• There have been no new home child care agencies opened.

OEYC

Integration Accomplishments: The OEYC sites located throughout Peel Region have worked collaboratively to achieve a high level of integration with other services providers in the Region. A number of specific initiatives are identified below: • The Rose Theatre arts program, a collaboration between City of

Brampton and OEYC is offered every two weeks. A significant core of volunteers make this program possible

• OEYCs continue to work collaboratively with schools to support children’s success in school – for example the Caledon OEYC provides a tutoring program to children who have been identified by the schools as having learning challenges. Many of these

• The program will continue to be offered in 2008/2009 but only on

a monthly basis because the resources are not available to provide it every two weeks.

• Working to secure funding to expand French language services

in 2008/2009 to support an additional capacity to provide services to Francophone families.

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children are English language learners • OEYCs, along with hubs, readiness centres and parenting centres,

are increasingly seen as “the place to go” in communities to receive a range of services – other organizations are sending families to OEYC sites when they are unable to meet the diverse needs of a family

• OEYCs have strengthened their relationship with school based hubs

• OEYC sites provide a wealth of information about ALL programs available in the community to participants

Challenges: • Financial and staffing pressures have resulted in a reduced

capacity on the part of some partners of the OEYCs to sustain program delivery in OEYC sites

• When new initiatives are introduced, it is important that this happen within the context of current program and organizational structures to support further integration. When collaborative planning does not occur in advance, opportunities for integration and the ability to effectively support families are not optimized. For example, Family Literacy Centres, which provide a number of the programs delivered through OEYCs.

• Development of partnerships and collaborations is labour intensive and engagement of partners is sometimes challenging. OEYCs continue, within the constraints of available resources to work as collaboratively as possible.

• Organizations such as Infant and Child Development Peel currently provide limited consultation to OEYC sites but this is limited due to finite resources on the part of Infant and Child Development Peel

• Further expand relationship between OEYC sites and school

based hubs to increase level of integration of services provision and one-stop access for parents

• Best Start has introduced new programs but the result has been

that agencies have had to reduce support to OEYCs as those agencies did not receive additional funding to expand their services to Best Start programs.

• As community based programs increase, base funding must be

increased to support collaboration and integration

• Infant and Child Development Peel is attempting to secure fiscal

funding to increase services to OEYC sites, particularly for those parents who are concerned about their babies but who aren’t yet ready to take the baby to a PEPStart early ID clinic.

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Parent Engagement Accomplishments: • More than 1,720 parents participating in the E-Valuation process

providing an unprecedented level of feedback about OEYC programs and services

• Increased demand for all programs – numbers are up • Post-Partum programs have been added including infant massage • Working towards inclusive programming – however, it is important

to note that in order to be accessible to all – universal – targeted programs are a necessity. For example:

• In 2007/2008, an outreach worker went every second week to a local soup kitchen. This staff worked with homeless and low-income parents who will not attend “formal” programs even though the OEYC site is only two blocks away.

• Programs for Fathers, teen parents and children and families coping with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder were offered.

Challenges: • OEYCs are reaching huge numbers of families, which is an

indication of the success of the programs and services being provided, but which is creating some real challenges for the sites. For example:

• Current physical plant is not sufficient to meet demand • Some sites have to lock their doors shortly after the

program opens because the number of participants has already exceeded capacity, leaving parents out in the cold, told to return another day.

• High numbers make it challenging to effectively meet the individual needs of families and their children

• Additional post-partum programming will be added in 2008/2009,

however, in order to meet this demand other programs and services will be reduced. For example, funding for the Let’s Get Together program in Caledon, a program for children with special needs and their parents, has been cut back to once every two weeks because the funding ended as of March 31, 2008. The Caledon OEYC is attempting to secure another funding source to continue this program.

• The OEYC programs will continue to explore strategies to

implement a range of programs and services to meet on-going demand but introducing new programs will result in a reduction of currently provided programs as there are simply not enough resources to expand what is provided.

• All OEYC sites are reducing hours and days of programming

in order to balance budgets. Without additional funding, OEYC sites will simply be unable to meet the demand for the programs and services provided.

• Due to limited resources, one OEYC satellite site is scheduled to

close in 2008/2009.

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2008/09



• Staff capacity is not infinite and it is an increasing challenge to meet the demand for programming.

DACS

• Conducted Peel Early Years Community Services Inventory beginning in January 2008

• Prepared EDI bulletins following analysis of EDI data • Parenting Services Survey completed for those parents whose

children attend the Learn.Play.Care centres • Create an evaluation tool for Childcare SNAP-Peel • Evaluate Success by 6 Peel Family Fair

Please see Appendix G for a complete list of the accomplishments and plans of the Data Analysis Coordinators.

Without additional resources, OEYCs are facing a significant challenge in 2008/2009 particularly with respect to recruiting and, more significantly, retaining staff. Hours are now being cut back and this dramatically increases the likelihood that staff will seek other opportunities. This creates an additional financial burden on OEYCs as the organizations then have to find training dollars to ensure newly hired staff are able to deliver high quality programs. • The analysis will be completed in 2008 • Revise parent survey and evaluation 2009 Family Fair

APPENDICES Appendix A: HUBS Appendix B: Integrated Programming Committee Partnership Agreement Appendix C: Central West Blind Low Vision Plan Appendix D: Learning in Our Neighbourhoods Action Plan Appendix E: Francophone Sub committee workplan Appendix F: Aboriginal Sub committee workplan Appendix G: DAC workplan

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2008/09

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