Activity 3.2 | Programs and Projects

Enhanced ratios

Many child care centres have hired an additional staff member to enhance their ratio. This is financially not available for every centre. With post-pandemic awareness of the increased risk of having staff who are ill, centres often use their extra staff to cover sick leave. This leaves little opportunity to utilize an additional educator in a much-needed support role. 

Each centre must make decisions about ways to support children and direct educators who are extra staff. The extra educator role allows centres to make decisions to meet all their centres needs. With stricter guidelines on government funding, it has proven to be even more challenging to hire a support worker. Government funding is based on the eligibility of funding per eligible child with developmental delays and disabilities (Island Health; The Supportive Child Development Program). 

According to Tysick and Christensen (2023), only 12.9 % of educators hired for the role of a support worker have their special needs (SNE) credential. it may be that health authorities have additional resources. As an example, Island Health offers some types of support to all child care programs regardless of a child’s designated diagnosis. They offer tools for inclusion and self-regulation, lending libraries, books and resource materials but this does not replace the need for additional educators in your setting.

However, advocating for additional funding may assist you with increasing your staff numbers. If all or most educators have some training in inclusive care it would benefit all educators and children. “As long as it is considered a specialization we will have challenges meeting children’s needs” (Vanderberg, 2025, personal conversation). Many SCD programs believe that the training of educators, altering the environment and being aware of biases can alter a program’s success (Vanderberg, 2025, personal conversation). The most important support is offering the mentorship of a consultant from the SCD team. 

References

Tysick, S., & Christensen, D. (2023). Inclusive child care in British Columbia: Envisioning a better future. ECEs for an Inclusive B.C.