October 8, 2015
Manitoba Government Partners with Mount Carmel Clinic to Create Child-care Centre to Support High-risk Moms
– – –New Spaces Part of Continuum of Supports for Pregnant Women, Moms with Substance Abuse Issues: Minister Irvin-Ross
A new child-care centre being built at Mount Carmel Clinic will offer up to 16 new infant spaces for families in the community and high-risk mothers with substance abuse issues in Winnipeg’s north end, Family Services Minister Kerri Irvin-Ross announced today.
“I commend Mount Carmel Clinic for taking the initiative in creating a new facility that will serve the local community as well as increase the availability of infant spaces for high-risk moms participating in the clinic’s Mothering Project,” said Minister Irvin-Ross. “This unique program serves as a single access point for a range of services that provide counselling, assessment and support to pregnant women and mothers with substance abuse issues and their children.”
The new facility at Mount Carmel Clinic will be operated by Anne Ross Day Nursery, an early learning and child-care centre in Point Douglas licensed for 48 preschool spaces. The 16 new spaces will provide a continuum of care for mothers in the Mothering Project as well as accommodate infants from the community if needed, the minister noted.
The Manitoba government is contributing up to $600,000 toward 40 per cent of the child-care centre construction costs. The 48 spaces for preschool children at Anne Ross Day Nursery will continue to be funded by the province.
“Providing quality early learning and child care in the community remains an important priority for Mount Carmel Clinic and a key element of our population health model of service delivery,” said Bobbette Shoffner, executive director, Mount Carmel Clinic. “We are committed to providing children and families a healthy start in Winnipeg’s north end.”
“This new expansion is very exciting for us and we are very positive about our future growth,” said Elaine Morris, director, early learning and parenting programs, Anne Ross Day Nursery. “Being responsive to the needs of the community, especially through early childhood education, is a priority for us.”
The child-care centre is named in honour of Anne Ross, who joined Mount Carmel Clinic as a nurse in 1948. Under her leadership, the original two-person clinic, with a focus on Jewish families, expanded and it became a community-oriented service, catering to the health needs of all area residents.
Minister Irvin-Ross noted that in 2015-16, Manitoba will invest more than $162 million in early learning and child care to support year two of Family Choices: Manitoba’s Plan to Expand Early Learning and Child Care, which includes a commission on early learning and child care to explore system redesign and move forward on the creation of universally accessible services for families who need them. The commission’s work began in February 2015 and a final report is expected in early 2016, Minister Irvin-Ross said.
Over the course of Family Choices, investments will be made to support 5,000 new and newly funded spaces, the minister said. In 2015-16, Manitoba committed funding for 900 licensed spaces.
Since 1999, the Manitoba government has:
- more than tripled annual funding for child care to more than $162 million;
- established a capital building fund to build new or expand existing licensed centres;
- funded more than 14,300 child-care spaces;
- increased wages by over 60 per cent and introduced a provincewide pension plan for child-care workers;
- introduced age-appropriate curricula and enhanced quality programming; and
- maintained Manitoba child care the most affordable in Canada outside of Quebec.
For more information about early learning and child care, visit www.gov.mb.ca/childcare.
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