CAFRA – Child Care Association For Resources to Administrators

CAFRA IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ORGANIZATIONS BY DESIGN PRESENT:
A LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT SERIES

CAFRA is hosting an online Professional Development Series for leaders in early learning and child care with sessions occurring Oct 2021 through May 2022. Please see the flyer for more information or send us a message! The next session is December 16 and the registration deadline for that session is December 1.

September 16, 2021
11:00am – 12:00pm

CAFRA is excited to be hosting a Town Hall-style meeting for Edmonton mayoral candidates to discuss municipal Early Learning and Care issues. Anyone is welcome to attend. It is a free event. Registration is required. Registration spaces are limited so register now! Town Hall Registration

CAFRA’s Advocacy and External Relations Committee has completed a briefing note regarding the federal funding of early learning and child care in Alberta. This briefing note provides a summary of what CAFRA would like to see included in Alberta’s early learning and childcare plan. You can view the document here.

Webinar: “What’s Next for Child Care Following the Federal Budget”

Written by Leah Tolman

I just finished listening to a webinar called What’s Next for Child Care Following the Federal Budget which was hosted by Child Care Now, Canadian Child Care Federation, and Child Care Resource & Research Unit. It was very informative and they were able to correct some misinformation that has been widely circulating in news reports and even referenced by provincial governments. Here is the link to the recorded webinar: What’s Next for Child Care Following the Federal Budget

A couple of things they noted:
– When the federal budget says that they hope to get to a 50/50 cost share between the federal and provincial governments, it DOES NOT mean provinces need to spend new money dollar-for-dollar to get the federal investment. Provinces currently cover most of the government costs associated with child care and the intention is that the federal government aims to match provincial spending levels. Again, not a dollar for dollar matching program.
– This new funding ($30 Billion over 5 years) is in addition to the 2017 funding negotiated in bilateral agreements AND in addition to the $420 million announced last fall for workforce development.
– This new funding ($30 Billion over 5 years) is intended for ALL LICENSED AND REGULATED child care, not exclusive to the non-profit sector.

They encouraged people to sign up to mailing lists on their websites to gain access to current information. I’ll put links below.

Child Care Now
Child Care Now on Facebook

Canadian Child Care Federation
Canadian Child Care Federation on Facebook

Child Care Resource and Research Unit
Child Care Resource and Research Unit on Facebook

News from CAFRA’s Advocacy Committee

Written by Leah Tolman
The advocacy group met at the end of the last membership meeting. We were able to draft a form letter advocating for ECE’s to be prioritized in the vaccine schedule. Please feel free to use it, share it, personalize it, etc. and send it off to the relevant decision makers. We are also sharing a form letter created by another group which advocates for PPE for childcare centres. Again, feel free to use it if it makes sense for you. 

One another note, big news yesterday out of the Federal government! There’s just so much going on in our worlds: creating new Program Plans, the end of the ELCC $25/day program, dealing with COVID-19 and all that comes with it (enrollment, centre closures, staffing issues, vaccines, PPE) the list goes on and on. I hope we can all take a moment to reflect on how momentous this moment is for early learning and childcare (not to mention women and families.) I’ve heard many of your voices and seen many of your faces in the media over the last few weeks, and many others have been advocating behind the scenes. Thank-you to all of you for working so passionately for something so important. 

Have you checked out Related Resources and Organizations lately? There are some new additions to the list! Click on “Professional Learning,” then “Related Resources and Organizations.”

Check out MacEwan’s BECCS program!

Watch this video to see Rakhi Pancholi, MLA, ask Minister of Children’s Services Rebecca Schulz about support for child care in this 3rd wave.
https://fb.watch/4UwXpiGLx0/

Hello Everyone,

The CAFRA Leadership Team invites you to review information about the upcoming Systems Leadership Series offered by Organizations by Design. This series will be offered online in nine modules. Sessions will be three hours, bi-weekly from March 9 to June 29  2021. We invite you to review the brochure below and/or visit their website: www.organizationsbydesign.ca for registration, learning objectives and module descriptions.

Here are more details as well: 
In today’s environment of continuous change and complexity, Early Childhood Educators may be searching for ways to build their capacity as systems leaders in their practice, with their teams or within their organizations. We can help!

With over 50 years experience in management and leadership roles in the not-for-profit, government, and for profit sectors, our Organizations by Design Inc. team and affiliates are able to draw upon a wide range of experience and education in leadership and team development, coaching, facilitation, change management, and collaborative initiatives.  

Adine Shuchuk, ED Jasper Place Family Resource Centre had this to say about the Building Collaborative Learning Teams (BCLT) we offered virtually in November 2020:
‘It was fantastic to be able to put language to some of our practices. There was so much new learning and now I have skills, tools and a framework to build a learning team. We are having learning conversations as staff and with our clients daily’.

ARCQE 11th National Child Day Conference:
Reimagining Pathways Forward…Supporting Meaningful Participation in Times of Social Distancing

February 9-11, 2021

This year ARCQE’s Conference will be held online. View the conference brochure here. For more information and the link to register, go to: https://arcqe.ca/professional-learnings/conference/. Early bird registration deadline is January 8! (Registration is first come, first serve, so get in early!)