As we anticipate two senior-level elections in the year ahead, there is much work to be done to till the ground for the next phase of growth for early learning and child care.
To date, the Foundation has supported the Toronto First Duty project as a living example of what the future of early learning and child care could look like across Canada. Toronto First Duty comprises a series of demonstration sites that bring together the three early childhood streams of kindergarten, child care, and family supports into a seamless service, located in primary schools and coordinated with early intervention and family health services. ACF’s support for model sites such as Bruce Woodgreen Early Learning Centre at Bruce School showcase imaginative integration and partnerships between the school board, the City and public health.
On a broader level, ACF has continued to support a variety of research projects and public education activities to help sustain attention on the early years through the ebbs and flows of policy-making.
As Toronto First Duty continues to evolve, three additional partnerships will continue to show us the roadmap to change:
The Atkinson Centre for Society and Child Development at the University of Toronto tracks progress and provides a research base for the development of Toronto First Duty with a view towards inspiring public policy makers and practitioners. The Centre will also implement a new research focus, in partnership with George Brown College, to better understand and address the challenges of newcomers to Canada who wish to enter the early childhood workforce. The project is an opportunity to contribute to early childhood leadership that reflects the diverse cultural, linguistic and racial make up of Canada.
Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU)… Martha Friendly and her shop are one of Canada’s pre-eminent voices on early learning and child care. The Unit has been exemplary in advancing public policy options that are based on solid information and best practices available from multidisciplinary research and practice. The ACF’s partnership with CRRU aims to bolster the Unit’s efforts towards evidence-based progress on early years policy in Canada.
Other Recent Grants…
HOMELESSNESS AND YOUTH
There is a growing recognition that Canada must do more to help at-risk youth succeed. Youth under the age of 24 are the fastest growing segment of the homeless population. On any given night of the approximately 33,000 Canadian who are homeless, between 8,00 and 11,00 are youth. What can be done about these issues? One place to look for answers is through Youthworks, a project launched in 2006 by Raising the Roof that is working with you-serving agencies from across Canada to engage in a change-oriented dialogue with hundreds of homeless and at-risk young people. In this next stage of the project, ACF is sponsoring Youthworks in its initiative to create a broad consensus for a comprehensive national strategy to address youth homelessness and to promote this strategy with policy makers, funders, community practitioners and the wider public.
EDUCATION
There is probably no better way to reduce the widening gap between rich and poor, to improve the life chances of disadvantaged people, or to build true inclusion into the fabric of our society than through wise investments in our public education system. People for Education has an impeccable reputation as a strong independent voice for public education and a credible source of information on education issues. With ACF support, People for Education will further advance its work by fostering a vibrant, informed and diverse constituency with the capacity to promote positive change in the public education system.
HEALTH CARE
Nursing Home Quality: Summarizing research evidence of the effects of the profit motive in health care care delivery. This study will summarize, through an ironclad methodological review of the literature in the U.S. and Canada, the quality of care in for-profit versus not-for-profit nursing homes. Top researchers of the Department of Epidemiologist and Biostatistics and McMaster University will lead the study.
INCOME SECURITY AND DISABILITIES
Episodic Disabilities can wreak havoc with the work lives and income support for people with conditions such as multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, some mental health conditions, cancers and forms of arthritis. The unpredictability of episodic disabilities can force people out of the workforce without warning, and then resolve to once again allow people to return to work. The Canadian Working Group on HIV and Rehabilitation (CWGHR) has been analyzing policies and models that address labour force participation for people with episodic disabilities (in its broadest sense) and designing sites to pilot and research the policy and program changes recommended in the analysis. With ACF support, the Working Group is convening key partners with the aim of developing an action plan to achieve policy reforms that increase labour force participation opportunities for people with episodic disabilities.
