Planning for Child Care: A path to quality and affordable child care in Salmon Arm

The Government of BC has identified a child care space shortage in our province. To better understand the impact this is having on families in Salmon Arm, the City of Salmon Arm and the Child Care Planning Committee are interested in hearing from you about current child care services in our community.

This short survey will help us understand how families feel about childcare options in Salmon Arm so that we can communicate our community’s child care needs to the provincial government and plan for the future in a way that meets our community’s needs. Thank you for taking the time to provide your input.

This survey will take approximately 8 minutes to complete.

The deadline for survey completion is Monday September 30, 2019.  The survey results will remain anonymous.
Section 1 – Demographic information

The following questions 1-6 support the Salmon Arm Child Care Planning Committee and the Ministry of Children and Family Development’s understanding of family demographic composition in Salmon Arm.
1.Please select your age:
2.What community do you live in?
3.Do you identify as Indigenous?
4.Do you identify as a visible minority?
5.How many children do you have within each age group?
1
2
3
4
5+
0 – 12 months
12 – 18 months
18 – 36 months
36 months – 5 years
5 – 12 years
6.What is your annual household income?
Section 2 – Child Care Access, Programming, and Fees

In this section, we are looking to understand your experience in trying to obtain child care. These responses will help the Child Care Planning Committee and Ministry of Children and Family Development support addressing gaps in child care in your community over the next 10 years.

There are a number of ways in which families refer to child care. To help guide you through the next section of questions, we have provided the following definitions for child care as described by the provincial government:

· Licensed Child Care: Licensed child care programs are monitored and regularly inspected by regional health authorities because they must meet specific requirements for health and safety, staffing qualifications, record keeping, space and equipment, child-to-staff ratios, and programming.

· Registered License-Not-Required Child Care: Registered license-not-required child care providers are unlicensed but have registered with a Child Care Resource and Referral Centre. 

· License-Not-Required Child Care: License-not-required child care providers can operate legally in B.C. Since they are not registered or licensed, they are not monitored or inspected and they do not have to meet standards for health or safety. Unlicensed child care providers are allowed to care for up to two children (or a sibling group) who are not related to them. Parents and guardians are responsible for overseeing the care and safety of their children in these care arrangements

· In-Child's-Own-Home Care: This type of unlicensed care is when parents arrange for child care within their own home – like a nanny or a baby-sitter who takes care of their children. Children from other families cannot be included in this arrangement and the care provider cannot be a relative who lives in the home. There are no legal requirements for monitoring this type of care and no specific qualifications for the care provider are required, which means the child care provider may or may not have formal child care training or experience.
7.Do you currently use child care?
8.What kind of day care service do you use/need? (Please check all that apply)
Currently Use
Need
Licensed group child care (0-18 months)
Licensed group child care (19-36 months)
Licensed group child care (30 months-school age)
Licensed preschool
Licensed group child care (school age)
Licensed multi-age child care
 Registered license-not-required care
Unregistered license-not-required care 
In child’s own home care (nanny or baby-sitter)
Family or friend
On-call care
Care on statutory holidays
Overnight care
Drop-in care
Weekend care
Care during school closures
Extended care before 6:00 am
Extended care after 7:00 pm
Part-time care
Full-time care
Pick-up
Drop-off
Licensed family day care
9.If you don’t use child care, who takes care of your children when you’re away? (Please check all that apply)
10.When your regular child care isn’t available, what do you do?
11.Is your child care conveniently located close to (check all that apply):
12.What distance do you travel to your child care provider’s place of work?
13.Are you satisfied with the child care you are receiving?
14.Is it your first, second, or third choice?
15.Thinking about your most recent experience securing child care, how long did it take to secure a space? (duration of time on waitlist, if applicable)?
16.Did you expect the process to take as long as it did? Please explain 
17.Have you ever had to change child care providers? If so, why?
18.Please rate how important the following factors are for you in your selection of child care:
Not Important
Neutral 
Important
Very Important
License or registration of child care provider
Education or certification(s) of child care provider
Quality of child care
Convenience of location
Flexible operating hours
Siblings at same location
Programming that recognizes our family's culture
Programming in our family's first language (other than English)
Specialized support for children with additional behavioural, physical, or developmental needs
Access to subsidy or fee reduction
19.Please rate your satisfaction with the following services:
Not Satisfied
Neutral 
Satisfied
Very Satisfied 
License or registration of child care provider
Education or certification(s) of child care provider
Quality of child care
Convenience of location
Flexible operating hours
Siblings at same location
Programming that recognizes our family's culture
Programming in our family's first language (other than English)
Specialized support for children with additional behavioural, physical, or developmental needs
Access to subsidy or fee reduction
20.What kind of child care services or supports would help your family thrive?
21.Does your child need extra support to be able to attend child care?
22.Is the support in place?  
23.Approximately how many child care waitlists are you or have you been on?
24.Do you or your partner’s employer offer any kind of child care support? 
25.Are you accessing any subsidies to manage the cost of child care?
26.Do you have anything additional to share about the state of child care in Salmon Arm? Please add any additional comments:
Thank you for your participation in the survey.  Your input will be used anonymously to support Child Care Action Planning for Salmon Arm.
Current Progress,
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