Hand in hand

Access to early learning and child care services reduces poverty by strengthening individuals and families, helping our schools and businesses, and giving more people the opportunity to make meaningful contributions to our society.6 We lay out a blueprint for a quality early learning and child care service system that reflects the strengths and meets the needs of local communities across Ontario. [...] Recommendation 2: Shared accountability The province and municipalities develop a shared accountability framework for the funding and delivery of an early learning and child care service system based on common definitions of terms and consistent measurement methods and formulas. [...] Regardless of the purpose of the services (accountability), the funding of the services (sustainability), or the implementation of the service (flexibility)— children still deserve to receive quality services based on established best practices. [...] They are eager to work with the province and with the wider community to develop service plans with service levels that reflect the actual needs and costs of delivering services to the community. [...] It must declare that investments in children underpin the entire social and economic structure in Ontario and, in fact, lay the foundation for provincial prosperity.14 In addition to ensuring that the province’s children are fairly supported on a consistent basis, the province and municipalities must work to allocate that funding across the province using a consistent and equitably applied formula