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Childcarecanada.org have released an analysis of the Role of child care in creating inclusive communities and access for all, examining the institutional interactions of 127 Canadian families with disabled children and making recommendations for fully inclusive government-funded universal child care.

The paper, authored by authored by a team of ECE, health and nutrition academics from University of Guelph, Ryerson University, and McMaster University; Martha Friendly of the Childcare Resource and Research Unit in Toronto; and Arlene Haché of Keepers of the Circle in Yellowknife; found that while the families with disabled children in the study participated in numerous early-years services, 79.5% experienced exclusion.

The article is informed by evidence from the Inclusive Early Childhood Service System longitudinal research project that has been mapping family interactions with the early childhood service system sectors since 2014.

The study found that “exclusion occurs through policy and regulations families confront to gain entry, maintain enrollment, and contend with professional meta-texts”.

The study notes:

·      For more than five decades, Canada has attempted to create a universal, inclusive child care system without success. This failure is partly linked to the division of responsibility for social programs under Canadian federalism whereby responsibility for implementation falls to provinces and territories. Without federal leadership, the Canadian child care system remains primarily a market model with a patchwork of commercial and not-for-profit services, high fees, and high variability in access dependent on geographic locations.

The authors argue, “A national child care system designed for everyone would help to level the economic and developmental playing field for Canadian families by expanding access to quality care regardless of income, resulting in positive outcomes for all children, families, and society.”

Starting in 2015, the study recruited Cohort 1 families from 5 Ontario communities (District of Timiskaming, Wellington County, Hamilton, Toronto, and Constance Lake First Nation). With new funding in 2018, they expanded into Cohort 2 recruitment (Powell River and Comox Valley in BC, Yellowknife in NWT, Brandon in Manitoba, and Peel region in Ontario).

The authors stress the importance in looking at family experiences as way to study governing principles. They note, “The comprehensive knowledge of our participants is unique in its scope and provides a comprehensive lens on the interactions between systems and policies that are relevant to staff of programs and policy-makers who write the rules that govern these programs. Our policy recommendations are informed by the experiences of children and families who have interacted with multiple agencies across systems that serve all young children and their families.”

The study identified a lack of universal access to early intervention, which is a provision under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In addition, all Canadians have the right to access services free from discrimination, including ECEC services.

The recommendations include:

·      Removal of qualifying criteria for supports that are connected to medical or standardized assessments

·      Integration and coordination of services for universal access and to honour entitlements

·      Family support to engage with these systems

The study notes: “The families in our study experienced multiple barriers to workforce participation. First, even when children participated in child care or school programs, they were more likely to be excluded part of the time, which conflicted with parents’ work schedules. Second, many families struggled to gain entry to services as a result of disability discrimination, which caused them to not be able to secure child care. Consequently, many of these families relied on other, non-publicly funded child care options fully paid for out of pocket. Finally, the amount of work families carried out to participate in the complex systems of early-years services often precluded their participation in the workforce. Many studies show that participation in inclusive, high-quality child care is the best way to start disabled children on the path to participation in their communities and a trajectory to academic achievement. From an economic policy standpoint, these experiences are likely to translate into employment and community participation in adulthood.”

Noting that the data from the study indicates “repeated and relentless exclusion for some families, with most families having experienced exclusion from at least one program”, the authors recommend: “Any national child care strategy needs to be intentionally designed to ensure the full participation of all children, including those experiencing disability and developmental differences.”

Most significantly, the study notes that the IECSS research “provides evidence that the current system is not inclusive” and advocates that the current system should not be replicated using public funds to implement similar approaches. “Any definition of inclusion must be disability inclusive and recognize both program-level inclusion and the role of child care in creating inclusive communities…. Funding must be allocated to ensure adequate staffing, training, and facilities so families are actually in a position to care for their children and participate in the workforce. Regardless of whether they are part of the workforce, their children must have equal access to ECEC services, including early intervention, family support, and health care.” The authors strongly recommend that “both the federal government and the provincial and territorial governments must connect funding to inclusive practice. This approach will ensure that human rights commitments are enacted and that all children and their families are recognized as citizens entitled to both employment and participation in society.”