Government of Canada announces close to $500,000 in funding for Understanding the Early Years (UEY) in Manitoba

Winnipeg, November 18, 2005—Ken Dryden, Minister of Social Development, today announced the Government of Canada plans to invest $490,281 in a new Understanding the Early Years (UEY) community, comprising francophone areas across Manitoba. The funding will provide information and research that will help official minority language communities throughout Manitoba support the success of children entering school.

"For communities, for parents, the question always is: How are our children doing and how can we help them do better?" said Minister Dryden. "With the knowledge provided through Understanding the Early Years, communities can identify and fill those gaps that might be preventing children from doing and being their best. That's a powerful tool."

"We know that the early years are critical to a child's development," said Minister Reg Alcock, President of the Treasury Board and Member of Parliament for Winnipeg South. "By forging partnerships, collecting information and sharing knowledge, the community sets its own course to support young children effectively."

"Understanding the Early Years is extremely valuable in promoting community action to support young children," said Raymond Simard, Member of Parliament for Saint Boniface. "The expansion of Understanding the Early Years reinforces our commitment to innovative programs that ensure the future of Canadian children."

This UEY community represents a group of 22 francophone official minority language communities under the Division Scolaire Franco-Manitobaine. Its members share the same sense of belonging, socio-linguistic identity, and collective responsibility for the learning capacity of children living in minority language situations. This francophone community extends across Manitoba.

UEY is a community-focused initiative, involving parents, teachers, schools, and community agencies. Through community level research and mapping, the initiative will provide high-quality data on children's readiness to learn and on family and community factors that influence children's development. The goal is to better understand children's readiness to learn and to develop action plans to respond to their needs.

The UEY initiative began in 1999 as a research pilot project. The Government of Canada announced the expansion of this initiative in 2004 and allocated $68 million to extend it to as many as 100 communities over seven years. The first UEY Call for Proposals closed on April 11, 2005. It invited proposals from communities that had at least 300 five-year-old children entering senior kindergarten or an equivalent level, had an established community coalition, could ensure local school board participation, and had potential candidates for the community coordinator role.

Twenty-one UEY communities were selected from across the country.

Funding for this initiative was provided for in the February 2005 federal budget and is therefore built into the existing fiscal framework. This project has been reviewed to ensure compliance with the Department's administration of its grants and contributions program.

For more information on UEY, visit www.sdc.gc.ca.

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This news release and backgrounder are available in alternative formats, on request. Call 1 800 788-8282 on a touch-tone phone or through a teletypewriter (TTY).

For more information:

Sarah Bain
Press Secretary
Minister Dryden's Office
(613) 941-0766

Media Relations
Social Development Canada
(613) 941-1110
Website: www.sdc.gc.ca

BACKGROUNDER

Understanding the Early Years (UEY)

Understanding the Early Years is a Government of Canada initiative that helps give Canadian children the best possible start in life. The early years of life (from birth to age six) critically influence long-term health and well-being of children. During these early years, children establish the foundation for their future learning, behaviour, and health. Children generally thrive in families and communities that meet their physical and developmental needs.

Understanding the Early Years provides communities with information on children's readiness to learn, family and community factors that influence their children's development, and local resources to support young children and their families.

Each community participates in a three-year cycle, during which the following data are collected:

• teacher assessments of children's readiness to learn;
  
  
• direct assessments of children's readiness to learn;
  
  
• information from parents on the family and community; and
  
  
• local-level information on services and resources available to children and their families.

The success of Understanding the Early Years depends on community involvement. Communities play key roles as sponsor, coordinator, and coalition, which are essential to the successful implementation of UEY.

For more information on Understanding the Early Years, visit www.sdc.gc.ca.

Understanding the Early Years (UEY) Division Scolaire Franco-Manitobaine, Manitoba