Two child care subsidies discontinued by province

Jennifer Usher, coordinator with the Medicine Hat and District Child Care Association, says the news of the two programs being discontinued is disappointing.

“Both the Kin Child Care and the Stay-at-Home subsidy really affects families, because they’ve been using those subsidies in order to have preschool or in home care for their young children,” she said.

News of the program ending prompted lots of comments on the CHAT News Facebook Page, with many saying the program helped them get back to work sooner and eased child care costs.

Isabelle Kalau of Lethbridge was among those who responded. The 18-year-old used the Kin Care program to have a relative help take care of her two-year-old son Cody.

“I’m a full-time high school student,” she said during a phone interview on Wednesday. “I come to school 5 days a week, and then I go home, be with my child, and so the Kin Care program really helped for being able to pay for child care and spend time with my son.”

Usher adds with the programs coming into an end, parents in Medicine Hat who used the program will be scrambling to find available spaces for child care in Medicine Hat.

“We already have a real pinch on spaces in those sectors, so I definitely think it’s going to put a lot of pressure on those child care centres and day homes to find spaces for families,” she said.

Multiple reasons for program ending

CHAT News requested an interview with Rebecca Schulz, the Minister of Children’s Services for the province, but she was not available either Tuesday or Wednesday.

Schulz’s press secretary Lauren Armstrong provided an emailed statement.

“Budget 2019 provides $13.4 million (a total of $300 million) in new funding to support the growing number of families accessing child care subsidies,” the statement reads. “These subsidies were used by 0.08% of Alberta parents, and, given the former government left us with $5 million per day in debt payments, we needed to make sure spending was directed where it would do the most good.”

The statement continues, “We are focusing child care subsidies to assist low-income families to enter the workforce or attend school to access child care in settings where there is more oversight and legislated standards of care and safety.”

Armstrong says in a follow up email the change will save the government an estimated $5.3 million per year.

She adds ending subsidies for Kin Child Care and Stay-at-home care “will free up dollars to support more families who are working or attending school in accessing subsidy through licensed and approved settings.”

“Unlike Kin Child Care, licensed child care and out-of-school care programs and approved family day homes have checks and balances in place to support the safety and well-being of young Albertans,” Armstrong’s statement reads. “Kin Child Care had insufficient checks and balances to ensure it was in fact going toward caregivers, rather than parents.”

Armstrong says 6,478 children in Alberta received the Kin Care Subsidy as of June 2019, and 588 children received the Stay-at-home subsidy.

The province is also bringing in the Alberta Child and Family Benefit, which combines two previous programs (The Alberta Child Benefit and the Alberta Family Employment Tax Credit). The benefit was announced in Budget 2019, and according to the budget documents, will become available in July 2020.

Next Steps

Kalau says she is now looking at ways to balance work, school and spending time with her son when the subsidy ends.

“He’s only two, he’s still growing up and learning,” she said. “I want to be able to teach him that, you know, how to brush his teeth, or make him be able to dress himself. I want to be there for that.”

Usher says the Child Care Association will be meeting next week to determine the next steps, and she’s hoping to figure out next steps.

She says she’s hoping there are no further cuts to child care subsidies from the province.

“These kind of things from the government, the subsidies that are available, really do help families out,” she said. “So, we’re really hoping that the other subsidies that are available are kept. I think that will be the case, so we’ll see how it affects families coming up here in January.”

More information for families using subsidy programs can be found on the government’s website.

by Charles Lefebvre

Two child care subsidies discontinued by province

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