Directorates
·	Director General's Office
·	Data Development
·	Strategic Evaluations
·	Partnership and Continuous Evaluations
Publications
·	Evaluation Reports
·	Evaluation Briefs
·	Labour Market Development Agreement Series
·	Lessons Learned Series
·	Evaluation Tool Kit Series
·	Evaluation Forum Newsletter
·	From Theory To Practice

1.1 Canada/British Columbia Child Care Strategic Initiative

On April 1 1995, the Governments of Canada and British Columbia launched Improved Access to Child Care, a four year, $32 million cost-shared agreement under the Federal Strategic Initiatives Program. The purpose of the federal initiative is to test new and innovative ways to reform Canada's social security system.

British Columbia is the only province in Canada to develop a child care initiative through Strategic Initiatives. The Strategic Initiative: Improved Access to Child Care is a federal-provincial cost shared program designed to pilot and evaluate innovative child care delivery models which will help to inform federal and provincial governments about the role of child care in the social security system.

The Government of British Columbia believes that by addressing the child care needs of working and student parents, job and educational opportunities will be more accessible for parents. To effectively work or study outside the home, parents require high quality, affordable and accessible child care. As such, child care is critical to government initiatives to strengthen the economy and reform the social security system.

Since 1992, the government of BC has worked with families, caregivers and communities to develop a strategy that encourages more quality, affordable, accessible child care. All projects funded through Improved Access to Child Care support this overall direction and the principles and objectives stated in the federal/provincial agreement.

Services developed and programs enhanced through the Child Care Strategic Initiative (CCSI) were designed to be consistent with the overall direction for child care services in British Columbia. Each project was intended to address at least one of the following core objectives:

• to improve the stability and quality of facilities and services;
• to increase the affordability for parents;
• to increase the availability of services and promote parental choice in the selection of the most appropriate child care arrangements for their families.

The CCSI is comprised of three main components:

• Community One Stop Access Centre
• Regional Delivery Models/Community Demonstration Projects
• Supported Child Care

1.2 Supported Child Care

In December 1994, the Government of British Columbia endorsed a new way to include children requiring some level of support in child care settings. The new direction required a shift in policies and practices from the previous Special Needs Day Care Program (SNDCP) to a new Supported Child Care (SCC), community-based family support program.

The overarching philosophy of the new SCC program emphasizes that:

• all families must have the same child care choices;
• some children need extra support to be included; and
• child care settings must be supported to ensure effective inclusion of all children.

The following principles guided the transition to SCC process and the development of a new service delivery model:

• inclusion;
• family-centred care;
• community-based services;
• individual planning; and
• a shared responsibility.

Rather than piloting the new service delivery framework, the Government of British Columbia chose to make the program shift over a four year period (1995-1999). The transition to SCC was made possible through the four-year Canada/British Columbia CCSI.

Inclusion in the broader child care system would be achieved, in part, through increasing the supports necessary for the provision of a safe and healthy environment for children who require extra support. Supports included both those required by the child and those required by the child care setting.

The implementation of SCC was expected to provide improvements in the accessibility, quality and inclusiveness of child care options available to parents.

1.3 SCC Objective and Expected Outcome

The objective of the SCC component of CCSI was to develop a service delivery framework to meet the needs of over 3,000 children who were utilizing services under the SNDCP in British Columbia in 1995.

The expected outcome of the SCC component of the CCSI was to create a more inclusive child care system in British Columbia where every parent has the same choices and every child belongs.

1.4 Summative Evaluation Report

The intent of this report is to outline the process of the transition to SCC and the components that were implemented to meet the intended outcome of an inclusive child care system for British Columbia.

This report provides a summary of the activities that were implemented over the four year transition. It is divided into ten sections.

Section 2 provides the background/context of the transition to SCC during the four years of the CCSI. The impetus for this transition process began prior to the 1995, however the CCSI provided a means of supporting the transition process through a four year period. At the same time, a number of other significant changes took place within the province of British Columbia that may have had implications for the transition to SCC. Section 2 lays out the bigger provincial context within which the transition to SCC was occurring.

Section 3 is the methodology section. This section describes some of the evaluative tools that are referenced in this report and were used in addressing the summative evaluation questions pertaining to SCC.

The remainder of this report addresses the six summative evaluation questions pertaining to SCC. These questions are outlined in the following description of each section.

Section 4 addresses the extent to which a service delivery framework was developed to meet the needs of children requiring extra support. Specifically, the extent to which the framework:

• supported the coordination of inter-ministerial activities within the appropriate ministries to undertake the project;
• contracted for a supported child care transition project coordinator;
• facilitated local transition planning process;
• trained staff, caregivers and parents;
• created formal networks to share information and resources;
• developed practices and standards for the integration of children with special needs; and
• developed a support guide and other materials to assist child care providers and families in making decisions on how best to meet the needs of individual children who need extra support.

Section 5 addresses the following question: overall and to what extent did SCC achieve its expected outcome, to create a more inclusive child care system in BC where every parent has the same choices and every child belongs?

Section 6 identifies how many more children are participating in inclusive settings under SCC and how well these children are being served.

Section 7 reports on the capacity to provide inclusive child care through SCC and how accessibility to inclusive child care has been impacted.

Section 8 identifies the resources that have been developed/devoted to supporting inclusive child care under SCC and assesses the impact of these resources.

Section 9 addresses the following questions: Is the SCC model a cost-effective way of achieving the expected outcomes? Are there more cost-effective methods of achieving the same outcomes?

Section 10 concludes with a summary of the events of the four years and the results of the analysis of the transition to SCC.