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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1989-01-31, Page 17• • 4 4M44 A.1? .4.44:c., 3Y0,4174.*4441,,m,..,4.0 • ...•• • • p-riva. te home da best meets local REl Private home day care (PHDC) is the program that could best meet local needs, concludes a just released report on day care needs in Huron County. The report, compiled by Beth Fulton and sponsored by Women Today, was funded by the Secretary of State. "While more daycare centres, nursery schools, And, before -and - after -school care programs are needed, the most desired and, in- deed, the program that could best meet the many local needs is private home day care," the report states. According to the report, "Childcare Needs in Huron County", the majority of the 125 who responded to a survey distributed by Women Today in ferred PHD-C to childcare options pr The Women Toda arty 1988 pre - 'eight other sented. comes ep on the heels of recent attention to county council's rejection in June 1988, of a social servicesllepartment proposal for private home day care. The Community Child Abuse Co- ordinating Committee (CCACC) has questioned county council's decision to reject the proposal and requested local residents to make known their fgdillg§lor or againstrtkprotO041. • Of thoseorponding toile vrowir Today Survey, C *I saw PHDC as very useful, while only five per cent felt it would be "not at ,all useful". The next most preferred option among those presented in the survey was a half-day nursery school program which would operate a few days a• week. That option was seen as very useful by 42 per cent of the • • • respondents, while 14 per cent saw it as not at all useful. Survey respondents were drawn from across the county, rep- resenting residents from villages, farms, non-farm rural properties, and the county's five towns. Among the farm families who described their current childcare arrangements in the survey, the majority reported they -take their children with them when doing farm work. This was recently raised as a concern of the CCACC which said private home day care could prevent farm accidents involving children which occur when families find it necessary to bring children along while doing farm work. The most common form of childcare reported by respondents who worked off the farm or away om the home is to leave children at the higne of family members. The report also concludes there is a much larger need for quality childcare — not just babysitting — • than the present services can offer. In addition, it states that parents who choose to stay home during their children's preschool yearsalso feel the need for support services. While Women Today states it is not within its mandate to provide childcare services, it is within ith. mandate to help facilitate com- munity action and provide resources ,forgrOUPS and individuals iflvolved • in this issue. As a first step in this direction, Women Today representatives say they are awaiting funding from the Secretary of State for a follow-up project which would organize and assist local groups and individuals to create better childcare in the county and to raise local awareness of available childcare resources. When Today also hopes to est- ablish at least two working groups to advocate 'for better childcare ser- vices and to create a system whereby information on childcare and children's services is accessible to the general public. Dinner will honor volunteers The Wingham and District Hos- pital will pay tribute to its yolun- teera-'-thia:1YO_At. *01 a special luncheon to be held- otr-calada--- Hearth Day; Friday, May 12. News of the event was announced in the regular monthly report of the public -relations committee k:resented to the January meeting of the hospital's board of governors by Board Chairman Mary Lou Thompson. With as many as 160 who could attend the affair, the board spent some time discussing the size of facilities available in Wingham. Hospital Auxiliary, President MOO she *wood :=19fierofftintki :111#0.41terto• stfWVOtiritiii!447.:***101' to accroliMtdate such alit& 'crowd, "The thing is, we don't want to miss anyone," Executive Director Norm Hayes said. "It's better to to go outside town than .to miss someone." The committee also hopes to bring in a guest speaker, perhaps from the Ontario Hospital Association, Mrs. Thompson said. 01! • • , 44 ' GUIDE ENROLLMENT -- Becky Van Camp, centre, was enrolled as the ',ewes; member of the Be/grave Girl Guides last weekend by Leader Vicky Piluke. Leader Mary Vair also is shotw. ot:r1Jiralt7' ALLEN BALSER of Wingham found some bargains at bet weekend's' Friends of the Library book sale at the. Wingham Library. Auditor general's claim result of misunderstanding There is no skullduggery involved between hospital foundations and hospitals when it comes to the 'trans- fer of funds from one to the other, members of the -Wingham and Dis- trict Hospital's board of governors* were told last Thitriday evening. During his report to the board's regular January meeting, hospital Executive Director Norm Hayes was critical of recent statements made by the provincial auditor gelvfglvggain,04:11r919*enC'Cin newspapers, 4141 'broadcast atm! ProgrArns acro*St10 Province. The auditor general was criti- cizing hospitals for "hiding" operat- ing capital within the umbrella of their foundations. He reasons that since the provincial government funds hos- pitals, any year-end surpluses should be used for reducing operating costs rather than set aside for capital purposes by transferring the funds to the foundation. "First of all, the government really Only funds the hospitals 80 per cent," Mr. Hayes said. The other 20 per cent is raised by the hospital itself." There are very strict rules governing foundations and how they are allowed to'reteive and admini- ster ftinds;Mr. Hayes added. "I don't , think that the auditor, general, when he arrived on the; scene, had any :clue ,ahotit how hos- pital's go about getting , their - money," Board -Chairman Mary Lou - Thompson said. However, she, added that the auditor ittneratitimit,the,ohlik ohs' &NOW aboutthelegialatiOC "There's a- great, misconception across the Province as to foun- dations" she said. "I mean, even among (hospital) board people." Wingham representative Ross Davies pointed out that people who donate money to the foundation for capital purposes would be upset if they were to find out their gifts were going for operating purposes only. "It's not skullduggery, merely a misunderstanding on the part of the auditor general," Mr. Hayes said. "In any event, feel comfortable that we're not playing any games." SVCA program brings safety message to schools The watereOUrses and ponds which beautify'ba*yards and local parks ean..alsO: represent a real danger, sayg- the Saugeen Vlley Conservation Authority Spring rains, and melting snow and ice can quickly change familiar summer streams into life- threatening torrents. To remind students to stay away from, waterways in spring, the SVCA and local offices of the Ontario Provincial Police and the Canadian Red Cross Society are taking their "Flood Waters and You" safety program into the classroom again this year. The locally dekrtoped program is being offered to more than 40 schools in the SVCA area during the months of January and February. Through group discussions, films and experiments, the program sponsors hope that students will be able to recognize the dangerous side of a watercourse. The activities will highlight how floods develop, local danger spots, safety and rescue skill.s, as well as the flood -related interests or the /pending. thive agencies. Judge Carter granted ad - ken Westman, SVCA general journrnent until Wednesday, March manager, says that although there 22. has been tremendous support for the program from area school boards and teachers, the flood safety message has to be echoed at home. Henschel case is adjourned until March /he casovagainst former Brussels Stockyards owner Klatis Henschel and his wife Kristin has been ad- journed until March. The Henschels made a brief ap- pearance in provincial court, Wingham, last Wednesday. They are charged jointly with 10 counts of theft over $1,000 and nine counts of fraud over $1,000. The charges stem from the Henschels' disappearance last fall and sub- sequent bankruptcy of the stockyards operation. Duty Counsel Alan Mill, acting on behalf of the Henschels' lawyers, requested that Judge R. G. E. Hunter grant the adjournment as new charges against the couple are •