Our services support educators in licensed child care programs in providing quality, inclusive early years programs.

What is inclusion?

Inclusion is the acknowledgement,  acceptance and celebration of each person’s uniqueness including, but not limited to,  their abilities, gender, cultural background, religion, personality and lived experience.

An inclusive environment is one in which everyone experiences a sense of belonging and is supported to enable full participation in the program.

What do consultation services provide?

Consultation services support the inclusion of all children, of all abilities, in licensed child care settings at no additional cost to parents/guardians or the child care centre.

Our Child Care Advisors work with the program staff to support the development of strategies to promote quality, inclusive programs.

The intent of our consultation services is twofold:

• To support the inclusion of all children in early years programs; and
• To increase the capacity of program staff to be confident and capable of providing an inclusive quality program for all children.

There are two types of consultation services that are offered to programs:

1. Child Specific Consultation:  to support the inclusion of a child into the program who has identified additional needs (both diagnosed and undiagnosed).  To best support the program staff in developing and implementing appropriate strategies, parental/guardian consent and participation is required for this level of service.  The parent(s)/guardian(s) will receive copies of all reports and will be included in all meetings.
2. Room Consultation:  to support a program in creating quality inclusive environments for all children where the need is not based on having a child(ren) with identified additional needs enrolled.  Parental consent is not required as this service is not child specific.

What is enhanced support funding?

Enhanced support funding is available to licensed child care programs through Children's Services to hire temporary additional staff who are not included as part of the ratio.

Enhanced support staff are hired by the child care program to support the program in offering an inclusive environment. The role of the enhanced support staff is to assist the educators in all aspects of the program to support the inclusion of all children in the program; it is not one-on-one support.

Enhanced support staff are employees of the child care operator. 

Who completes and submits the application for enhanced support funding?

• The child care program. 
• If the child transfers to another child care centre, and enhanced support will be required at the new centre, the new program must submit a new application.

When does enhanced support begin?

• As soon as the centre identifies a need, an application can be submitted.
• Once the application is received and approved by Children's Services, enhanced support can begin.

What is the duration of the enhanced support funding agreement?

• If approved, the agreement will be for a minimum of 12 weeks.
• The agreement may be extended in 4-week intervals, if both parties agree the need continues.
• The number of approved hours for enhanced support per day will depend on several factors including, but not limited to:
  • the expressed needs as identified by the program.
  • the days and hours any children with special or social needs are enrolled in the program.
  • safety concerns.

What are the qualifications of the enhanced support staff?

At minimum, someone who has previous experience working in child care or early years programs. Preference will be given to a registered early childhood educator or someone who has previous experience working with children of varied abilities.

Learn more by calling Children's Services at 613-933-6282 ext. 3315.