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A co-ordinator with a child-care policy resource institute says the website launched by the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services to help provide parents with information about licensed child care in Ontario is lacking crucial information.
"I was extremely disappointed when I saw it, the information is very lacking," said Martha Friendly, the co-ordinator of the Childcare Resource and Research Unit, which also deals with early learning issues.
For example, the site was missing the type of facility &emdash; such as whether it is a home or a school &emdash; whether it is a not for profit, and information about the training of the staff, she said.
That is one of the main indicators of the quality of care that can be delivered, Friendly said.
The site is designed to help parents choose among 4,500 day-care facilities in the province by listing the licensed daycares and their inspection reports.
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"I think that people should be asking the province to put better information on the website," she said, but warned regardless how much information is available, no parent should rely solely on online resources for choosing a care facility.
"I don't believe parents should be choosing child care on the basis of a website, they certainly have to go and check it out themselves," said Friendly. "But at least it's a way of sifting the information."
- reprinted from CBC News Online