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At a ceremony today, provincial and municipal governments, school boards, and a variety of other community partners signed on for the children of Toronto by endorsing "The Best Start Plan: Toronto Vision for Children."
Toronto's Best Start Plan is a 10-year strategy for meeting the early learning and care needs of the city's young children. It starts to bring together services from the existing patchwork, into a system that really works for Toronto's families. The plan builds on the Ontario government's Best Start vision to ensure children arrive ready to learn on their first day at school in Grade 1.
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The vision builds on existing services, including child care , family support programs, schools and other supports for families and children. Currently, families have to go to a range of different locations to get programs for children of differing ages. The vision will ensure that services are accessible close to the homes of the families who need them.
The Best Start Network is responsible for setting this vision, and taking a series of collective steps to make the vision a reality for families across Toronto. Network members include governments, school boards and community organizations across Toronto. Each partner plays a leading role in making decisions that affect Toronto's children, and all are committed to combining their extensive expertise to ensure families have the supports they need to ensure every child has the best start possible.
"Integrating services is not a new idea," said Councillor Janet Davis (Ward 31 Beaches-East York), Council Lead for Children. "Many of the partners you see here today have been working towards this model for many years. But this is the first time that governments, school boards and community services have signed on, in a formal way, to work together with a shared vision that puts the children of Toronto first."
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