Helping Kids Get A Stronger Start
February 2, 2011
McGuinty Government Seeking Input To Help Improve Services For Young Children
Ontario is seeking input on the best way to provide more timely, effective and convenient supports to children and their families. The input will help the province develop Best Start Child and Family Centres in communities across the province.
Building on the government’s full-day kindergarten plan to help kids get a stronger start, developing these centres will help integrate and connect services for families of young children, providing parents with the right information and supports at the right time. The final framework is expected to be released this summer.
Participate online or download the form at www.ontario.ca/beststart, or contact the ministry for more information at:
Best Start Child and Family Centres Initiative
Ministry of Children and Youth Services
56 Wellesley Street West, 14th Floor
Toronto, ON M5S 2S3
Establishing Best Start Child and Family Centres is an important part of the province’s Open Ontario Plan to support young children and families and provide them with the foundation they need to succeed.
QUICK FACTS
- Regional meetings will take place in: Hamilton, Casselman, Toronto, Sudbury and Clinton.
- The phase-in of full-day kindergarten, already under way, and the proposed establishment of Best Start Child and Family Centres in communities across the province were key recommendations in Dr. Charles Pascal’s report With our Best Future in Mind: Implementing Early Learning in Ontario.
- Last September, 35,000 four- and five-year-old children in nearly 600 schools started full-day kindergarten.
- Since 2003, Ontario has increased funding to early years programs by almost $50 million.
