District of Sooke Child Care Needs Assessment & Action Plan

Child care planning is an emerging area of practice that has increasing relevancy for communities across Canada. With increased funding available through the B.C. Ministry of Children and Family Development for the Community Child Care Planning Program, grants are now available for BC municipalities to complete child care action plans.

The District of Sooke’s Child Care Action Plan was developed in accordance with the UBCM guidelines, which provided an important guiding framework. Given this area of planning is still new for many communities, CitySpaces was able to develop a unique methodology to suit the context, and determine applicable targets. The study involved quantitative data analysis to determine key demographic trends and involved significant community engagement to ensure the needs of service providers, and parents/guardians were fully represented.

The study focused on a robust engagement process to understand how child care is used, and what challenges parent/guardians and providers are experiencing. In total, 913 people were engaged, which represents 1 out of 14 people in Sooke – a very significant accomplishment. For this Child Care Action Plan, the consulting team chose to steer away from a more “traditional” open house, and convened two focus groups, three pop-ups, two surveys, and five one-on-one meetings, in recognition of parents’ limited scheduling flexibility. These engagement sessions formed an important backbone of this project, which was then augmented by a literature review to determine space creation targets.

The resulting Child Care Action Plan presents a set of actions that respond to the community’s current and future needs, and specifies the importance of convening a child care action committee to advise the District on child-care related matters. Further monitoring and evaluation are critical to ensure the intended objectives are achieved, and Sooke Council is advised of any necessary amendments that may be required to the Child Care Action Plan.