PART II:
A NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR ASSURING QUALITY IN CHILD CARE

"Everybody benefits from high quality child care and loses from poor quality child care. Therefore, mechanisms must be established that provide basic quality assurance through normal methods, but which also respond to and value the knowledge, concerns and insights of all stakeholders in quality child care."

In Part I of this paper, we concluded that Canada's children need a child care system that is based on a foundation of quality. We will now consider a strategy for assuring that quality. Although government roles in assuring quality in child care are very important, governments are only one of the partners. Consider for a moment the public school system. Governments, universities, school trustees, parental advisory groups, professional teachers' organizations, parents of students and teachers all have a role in assuring quality education. Communities, through local school boards, establish priorities based on the needs of their children, such as breakfast programs, English as a second language, or French immersion.

"Start with that which we can achieve."- Annette LaGrange, Alberta "We want to make the community a deserving place for children." - Gina Whiteduck, Assembly of First Nations

The Canadian Child Care Federation, in the National Statement on Quality Child Care, states that: "Quality child care serves the best interests of children and families in a partnership of parents, professionally-trained care providers, all levels of governments, training institutions, and provincial/territorial/national organizations who carry out complementary responsibilities."

Quality is assured by all the partners through gradual processes of planning administration, training, monitoring, advice and support. ¹¹ There need to be checks and balances at all levels. For quality to be assured, all of the roles must be acknowledged, co-ordinated and supported.

"Provincial standards should be made equitable, based on what is optimal rather than being based on the lowest common denominator."-- Christine McLean, Newfoundland	They can assure quality by: Legislating regulations that protect health and safety and promote child development; and Effectively monitoring and enforcing these regulations. Why is this important? Regulations are designed to ensure that measurable standards for service delivery are adhered to. Although regulations alone cannot assure quality, they can set the stage. Research in the United States found that as state standards increased, the quality of child care programs also increased. 12
"Optimal Standards are legislatable. Start with optimal standards and allow an adjustment period. Develop a code of ethics as a basis of standards of practice." - Robyn Gallimore, Ontario	Many parents believe that it is governments' role to assure quality in the regulated child care sector and therefore assume that a provincial/territorial child care licence means that a child care program will meet the needs of their children. What do we have now? In reality, licensing requirements often reflect only minimal standards which, according to Gillian Doherty, "do not extend beyond the level of basic health and safety provisions in other words, a level intended simply to ensure that the service does not harm a child."
"Regulations don't solve all the problems - they only set the frame for minimal behaviour/expectations. If you want quality, optimal programming has to be your goal." -- Marilyn Morrice, Manitoba	Standards for administration, facilities, health, safety, programs and training vary widely across Canada. A few examples: Staff/child ratios for infant care range from 1:3 to 1:7. Newfoundland does not have any regulated infant care Training requirements can range from first-aid training to an early childhood education diploma for at least two-thirds of the staff. Specialized training for working with school-age children is not required in any province or territory. Specialized training for working with children with special needs is required only in Ontario and British Columbia. Most family day care is not licensed, although some provinces license the homes themselves and others license agencies to monitor the homes. The maximum fine for a first licensing offence can range from $300 to $2,000, with some provinces having no fines at all.
"No matter how well designed and objective a system of enforcement may be, all inspectors should and will use discretion. Discretion, however, can be a dangerous thing when put in the hands of a poorly trained or inexperienced inspector." - Christine McLean, Newfoundland	Even the "best" regulations can slip to good intentions if they are not effectively monitored and enforced. Currently, the implementation of regulations through monitoring and enforcement varies significantly across Canada. Of particular concern are the inconsistencies around frequency of inspections, monitoring procedures, the training of inspectors, the number of government departments involved and disciplinary actions for non-compliance. In an informal survey conducted by the CCCF, 68 per cent of child care respondents stated that the monitoring of programs in their province/territory was inadequate. Recent government reports from Ontario (1990) and Alberta (1994) address similar monitoring and enforcement concerns.

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