EXCERPTS:
A task force formed to look at Peel Region's continued role in child care delivery is scheduled to hold its final meeting this Thursday.
At that meeting, the task force will aim to formalize a recommendation for Regional Council to vote on.
"If the task force feels it has enough information to make a recommendation then it will go to council," said Gael Miles, Brampton councillor and task force chair.
In January, politicians decided to form a Council Task Force to engage in further consultations after a staff recommendation to close Peel's 12 childcare centres caused a firestorm with residents.
The report proposed the $12 million Peel spends annually to run centres be redirected to licensed non-profit and commercial daycares.
That would allow about 580 more kids to receive a daycare subsidy, as 4,000 are currently on the waiting list.
Peel launched the daycare study after the province announced it would introduce all-day kindergarten by 2014, which the region expects to lower demand for child care.
Residents reacted angrily to the report, arguing Peel could have done a better job reaching out the public.
As such, politicians decided to hold off on a vote until they'd had further discussions with stakeholders.
Since April, the group, comprised of nine councillors and the regional chair, has heard from parents, various experts as well as day care operators in a bid to formulate a recommendation.
Council will ultimately decide whether Peel will continue on as a service provider or operate solely as service manager.
It costs about $82 million to provide early learning and child-care in Peel, most of that ($52 million) going to fee subsidy.
The daily cost to provide care at Peel's Learn.Play.Care. centres is $83 per child compared to an average of $40 at other licensed child care programs in Peel.
The region figures it can serve more families by reallocating resources.
"One of the nice things about this debate has been the fact that people have come forward to say what a great job the Region of Peel is doing in the provision of child care. But on the other hand, we've found that it's costing twice as much for us to deliver these services than it is for the not-for-profit child care sector."
According to the project timeline, the task force will aim to table a recommendation for council in September.
Thursday is the final scheduled meeting for the task force but Miles noted there is a good chance members will need more time to agree on a course of action.
"It's possible, but I wouldn't want to second guess yet that they will be ready to make a decision at this meeting. The task force has looked at an amazing amount of information in quite a short amount of time."
-reprinted from Mississauga.com