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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1986-06-11, Page 7F,tt vv. omen o ° from page 3 few hours away from the children. A woman with ideas and creative ability would like to start her own business or do volunteer work in the community, but is unable to find child care for her preschooler. More neighbourhood child care centres would assist both of these women. A rural child care labour pool should be established to assist farm families in their unique situations, said McQuail. Children playing around a tractor and farm im- plements creates a safety hazard when both parents are needed to work during peak farming periods. Children have been injured and killed because there was no one caring for them while the parents worked on the farm. Modern farming necessitates much dangerous equipment which is not an ap- propriate play environment for children, McQuail told the task force. A child labour pool would also provide safe, adequate child care for children who are left alone in the house while parents do chores. A before and after school program within existing schools ,in also necessary because children are arriving home on the school bus to an empty home. Parents are not free to come home from work to meet the children. Working parents also have a problem arranging for the' children to be eared for between the time they must leave for work and the time'the bus picks them up for school. "An awareness must be created within the community and the municipal govern- ment concerning the rural family's con- cerns and child care needs," said McQuail. During bad winter weather conditions, early school closings have children arriv- ing home early because of bad, weather. They walk up long snow -drifted laneways while parents are still away at work. Wood stoves create a fire hazard in homes for children who may otherwise be old enough to be at home alone for an hour or so after school. Many informal day care providers will GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, JUN§, 11, 1986—PAGE 7 )1eSakirectliin Women's organization recommends labour pool to provide child care on the farm and after school programs for latch key kids not issue a parent a receipt for `babysit- ting' services because she does not want to declare this as income for income tax pur- poses. The parent is unable to take advan- tage of child care expenses as a tax deduc- tion. More formalized arrangements are necessary with child care workers who provide care in their homes, McQuail told the task force. More neighbourhood child care centres are also necessary. Informal child care arrangements are often less than adequate, unsafe or unreliable. Children may' be left in front of a television rather than being supervized. More quality care should be available from trained child care pool workers or day care centres. A single parent has extra pressure re- quiring the support of quality accessible day care and financial subsidies as well as day care spaces must be made available. vaiil ble. Increased indirect subsidy government to day care centres is also necessary to pay child care workers for the value of their work. "Highly skilled and educated child care workers are sub- sidizing day care in this country with low wages," stated McQuail. "Many people in Huron County have • stereotypical expectations of women. They feel a woman's place is in the home. There should be an increased awareness of women's needs, roles and contributions within the community," she said. Parenting programs and more neighbourhood child care centres are also necessary because the incidence of child abuse in Huron County is reported as twice the provincial average. "Just as an earlier generation realized that locking people away in cages did not rehabilitate them, we know now that a custodial situation such as informal babysitters provide, where children are encouraged to spend hours daily in front of a TV set is an unacceptable solution to our need for regular child care." said Mc - Quail. 'Women ma e ee recom- mendatons to the task force in their brief. They recommended the federal govern- ment continue its indirect subsidy past the end of December 1986 to existing municipal cost sharing day cares and ex- tend the program to cover all non-profit day cares. Existing day care centres are threatened because the government in- tends to withdraw this subsidy "It is critical to maintain these' 'excellent existing facilities which without the in- direct subsidy will be forced to raise per diem costs to the point that parents will not be able to afford them," said McQuail. Women Today also recommended that on a country wide scale the federal govern- ment fund one of the national farm organizations to set up and run Childcare Labour Pools to provide child care on an as -needed basis right on the farm. These organizations have local chapters, usually county associations which could be offered the funding tot organize and run these pools. This service would operate during the busy seasons of the year for that particular area. The farm family would pay a set rate for the service. The training given workers would include farm safety, basic first aid, infant care and nutrition. On farm care is required, said McQuail because different farm operations require different working hours, which would require centres to be open for at least 16 hous a day. "With such sparsely populated farmland it's not very efficient to transport children to a centre 20 or so miles away and return to the farm to start work. she said. Farm work often starts before children get up in the morning and continues way past their bedtime in the busy seasons of seeding, haying and harvest, which could amount to five or more months of the year. A pilot project of this type in Bruce County was a great success, McQuail it told d the task force. She suggested pro- vide employment for youth in the rural areas. Third, Women Today recommended the federal government establish a program to provide capital funds for neigbourhood day care centres in any community, 1where 5 families with young'children have organized to start one. Women Today believes non-profit day care is the most ef- ficient provider of child care where there is sufficient population concentration. Capital funding would include building ac- quisition, renovation, equipment purchase and subsequent support would be through the indirect subsidy system. "We feel this is important because it is very difficult to gain the backing of „one of have rnoney on new em loyees. • Some Answered • Questions Do Baha'is believe in the Bible? Baha'is know the Bible is the inspired recording of the Teachings of Abraham, Moses and Christ. The Koran is the Teachings of Mohammed. The Baha'i Scriptures are the Teachings of Baha'u'llah. AU of them reflect the power of God and His ongoing spiritual education of His creatures. •PUBLIC MEETING* • A . DIALOGUE ON PEACE Thursday, June 12, 1986 at Holmesville Community Centre at 8:00 p.m. The program will include the • Award Winning Film "If You Love This Planet" Goderich 524-4620 P.O. Box 212 Kincardine 396-3589 P.O. Box 1069 Clinton 482-3388 P.O. Box 1250 Dungannon 529-3169 e. Yes, there's an easy way to save a lot when you're hiring new workers. Lire....: them from your Workers' Corripen=) . ". sation Board and you'll only pay a small portion of the wages until they've completed their on-the-job training. all Ron. on Moir is the person to talk to. He's the Workers' Compensation Board Employment Specialist in London. And he's an expert at matching people to jobs. '1 i1i'care ••<,ww ,nun„u.r ^'ausatzakoms.4 t£+ rss. S Yi the traditional financial institutions start up a new centre, because banks are not interested in people services. whThureyare interested in making profits l daycares do not make," McQuail told the task force. Women Today recommended in its fourth recommendation the federal government offer incentives to public and separate school boards to provide before and after school programs, staffed by nonteaching personnel for children through the sixth grade. There is surplus space becoming available across the coun- tryardeclining with as a d thiswould be an enrollmentmost excellent useof empty schoolrooms. "We feel it is a very important service particularly in rural areas where the schools and homes are located out in the countryside and where there are no alter- native activities for school age children to attend until their parents are available," said McQuail. "We feel it is most ap- propriate and cost effective to use existing facilities already equipped wtih gym- nasiums, libraries, washrooms and play equipment for this type of program." Women Today feels acutely that now is the time for some new solutions to these pressing problems, said McQuail. She pointed out that in the solutions there may be some other benefits as well, since social programs such as these would create much needed employment out in the rural areas for youth or women re-entering the workforce. "We recognize that it will cost some money,°but we feel it is important anand to the best interests of young o spend the money on these types of pro- grams which will reduce the chances of personal tragedies and social costs to society at a later date," observed McQuail. 'Our children deserve quality care by people who are trained and trustworthy. After all they are the next generation and the challenges they will face will be great, perhaps even greater than ours." The people Ron finds work for were injured on their previous jobs. But now, they're ready, will- ing and physically able tolearn the skills that a new job requires. If you need motivated, depend- able y. able employees, call Ron He'll suggest someone who's just right for your needs and tell you all of the ways you'll save by hiring them. Ron Moir, (519) 663-2331 (or Zenith k the operator for 61700 outside the London calling area). Specialist In Group Transportation Workers' Compensation Board Commission des accidents du travail '422 tazi TRANSPORTATION INTRODUCES State of the art Transportation in custom cruising to Huron & Perth Counties The new innovative design in our modernized coach Makes passenger comfort our number one concern. Along with being the most aerodynamic motor coach on North American highways today, it also offers an 8% increase in width to compliment the new stylish European seating and aircraft type storage. At Sherwood Transportation we bring the future to you first, 4