Author of the article: Edmonton Journal
Publishing date: May 04, 2021 • May 4, 2021 • 6 minute read • Minister of Children s Services Rebecca Schulz visits a daycare at Canada Place after annoucing with federal Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Ahmed Hussen who was online, new funding for the child care sector in Edmonton, September 22, 2020. File photo. Photo by Ed Kaiser /Postmedia
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We owe our children a quality, affordable, accessible, inclusive system of early learning and care. This requires licensing to ensure standards, a work-force strategy to support necessary staffing, program development to meet diverse needs, and planning to distribute child care where needed.
CALGARY The provincial government has announced some new funding for families who ve struggled with childcare costs, adding to its list of available benefits aimed at helping Albertans impacted by COVID-19. It s earmarked $108 million for the Working Parents Benefit, a program designed to help families who had to employ different forms of childcare between April 2020 and December 2020. All families who placed their children into licensed or unlicensed daycare, day homes, out-of-school care or preschool are eligible for $561 per child, provided they meet a number of criteria. The government says the effort is an attempt to reduce stress on families because of the COVID-19 pandemic.