ChildCareBC Bulletin

Edition 83, April 19, 2024

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2024-25 Child Care Operating Funding renewal – Important timelines

The 2024-25 Funding Agreement has been available since February for eligible providers to review and agree to the terms. Providers must agree to the terms and conditions of the 2024-25 Funding Agreement by completing the declaration section of their program confirmation form to ensure full approval of the Child Care Operating Funding renewal.

Eligible applications with fee increase requests for May or later have been receiving temporary and full approval. As in previous years, providers with fee increases requested for April 2024 that are above the 3% fee increase limit cannot be offered temporary approval.

However, those requesting an April fee increase can defer their scheduled increase to May 2024, or later, or change the proposed increase to under 3%, to ensure families can continue receiving the savings through fee reductions.

To resubmit a revised fee increase request, contact the Child Care Operating Funding Program Contact Centre at 1-888-338-6622 (Option 2).

As a reminder, providers who have requested a fee increase at 3% of the regional median or under and who submit complete applications and signed funding agreements will receive an automatic approval notification for the 2024-25 year within a few business days.

Providers will have until April 30, 2024, to renew their funding and be eligible for April funding. Providers can check for the most up-to-date status of their Child Care Operating Funding renewal using My ChildCareBC Services. As a reminder, participating child care providers can no longer charge waitlist and waitlist-related fees starting April 1, 2024.

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Early Childhood Educator Wage Enhancement

Child care providers approved to participate in the Early Childhood Educator Wage Enhancement (ECE-WE) may submit monthly ECE enrolment reports using the ECE Reporting Tool starting May 1, for hours worked in April 2024.

Payments are calculated based on the total number of hours worked each month, which is why ECE-WE is reported and paid after the end of each month.

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Opportunity to engage: Children and Youth with Support Needs

From March 2023 through December 2024, the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) is collecting feedback as part of its overall work to design an effective system of services for children and youth with support needs.

This engagement is inclusive of families, service providers, advocates, experts, those with lived experience, and Indigenous Peoples. Details about the many ways people can provide feedback and get involved are available on the Province’s dedicated children and youth with support needs engagement portal.

As part of this engagement portal, MCFD recently launched a discussion forum page. This discussion forum may be of interest to subscribers of the ChildCareBC Bulletin because it asks participants to consider and respond to at least one question specific to the early years.

MCFD is asking participants to consider, among other things, what services and supports in a child’s early development can best benefit children and families experiencing complex behaviours before they reach middle school age.

The intention of the discussion forum is to create open dialogue and to gather insights from families, professionals and service providers, advocates and others. If you are interested in participating, please visit the Discussion #2 – Symposium speaker series – Dr Robin Friedlander web page.

For additional information and resources about inclusive child care, early learning professionals are encouraged to explore the Behaviour in the Early Years Initiative, available on the Inclusive Child Care resources and supports web page.

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