Why some Island parents want more oversight of unlicensed home daycares
CBC
Some Island parents are pushing for more regulation and oversight of unlicensed home daycares on P.E.I.
With 2,000 families on the waitlist to get into a licensed centre, many are relying on unlicensed home operators to care for their children.
But beyond limits on how many children can be in the home, there are no rules those operators are required to follow. They're also not inspected or monitored in any way by P.E.I.'s Department of Education and Early Years — unless it receives a complaint.
"There has to be accountability to at least somebody," said Margaret Bond, who has been trying to help her teenage daughter find childcare for her baby. "It's a very, very important role these people play in our young children's lives. And you don't just leave your child with anybody…
"But people have their back against the wall because they need to go to work, they need to go to school, they need to go on with their lives, and they need childcare. A lot of people are in a position where they just need to find someone."
Bond says her 16-year-old daughter got on the province's child-care registry months before her baby was born this summer. With no hope of getting a space at a licensed centre, though, Bond reluctantly looked at unlicensed options for her granddaughter.
Last winter, she said an operator guaranteed her a full-time spot for this February, so Bond stopped the search. In November, the operator told her there was no spot for her granddaughter after all.
"I trusted the people that had given me this lady's name... It was not that it was somebody we did not know," said Bond.
"If there were some policies or rules or some sort of regulation by somebody, I don't think that would've happened, because then it's holding people accountable."
Raven Nichols would like to see more accountability too.
The mother of four spent years searching for childcare, and has gone the unlicensed route. She told CBC News that there are good operators out there, but it can be tough to know who to trust.
"You can't really verify somebody's skill set, or whether they're qualified or not," said Nichols. "You don't necessarily know who's going to be in the home and around your children, or if there are environmental factors in their home too.
"I've walked into private daycares where there's somebody smoking upstairs, or animals put away that you didn't know were there. It's a little nerve-wracking.
"So I think there does need to be a lot more oversight."
Jenelle Hughes says she worries every time her two older children take their car to get to Fanshawe College in London, Ont., from their home in Dutton.
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