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Essential workers are being referred to available childcare spaces for their children.
Essential workers matched with childcare spaces
Published 12:18 PDT, Thu April 23, 2020
Last Updated: 2:13 PDT, Wed May 12, 2021
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More than 2,500 essential service workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic have been referred to open child care spaces through the province’s new child care matching process.
This process helps match parents who are frontline workers with licensed child care spaces for children up to five years of age. Children over five are being offered in-school supports by the Ministry of Education.
The spaces are prioritized for children whose parents work in public health and health services, social services and law enforcement, first responders and emergency response sectors. Additional spaces are going to families working in other essential roles.
So far, the provincial government has invested $38 million to ensure essential service workers continue to have access to reliable licensed child care, and centres that close are able to reopen. As of April 16, 2,530 child care centres offering up to 58,650 spaces around BC are receiving funding to remain open.
Child care centres receiving this funding continue to be eligible for the Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative, which allows licensed child care providers to reduce and stabilize their monthly child care fees. In addition, the Early Childhood Educator (ECE) Wage Enhancement has added $1 per hour to the wages of 12,000 ECEs, which increased to $2 per hour on April 1.
In addition, families accessing care from these providers may be eligible for the Affordable Child Care Benefit. As of March, more than 51,500 families have benefitted from it.
Child care providers who have closed due to COVID-19 are also receiving support to help them pay fixed costs—like rent, lease and mortgage payments—and allow them to reopen after the temporary closure.
To support families who may be struggling with loss of employment and income, child care providers receiving these extra payments must not charge parents fees for any periods of closure or for any vacant spaces while they are open, including when a parent chooses to temporarily withdraw a child due to COVID-19.
Parents are asked to continue to care for their children at home if possible. All children and staff who are ill with a fever, or have cold, influenza or infectious respiratory symptoms of any kind, must stay home.
Essential workers looking for child care can fill out a “parent” form to identify their need for urgent child care. Forms can be accessed online: www.gov.bc.ca/essential-service-child-care or by calling (toll-free) 1-888-338-6622 and selecting Option 4.
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