Nearly 40 childcare workers in Chatham-Kent will soon be out of a job as the municipality moves to “modernize” special needs care for local children.
The Municipality of Chatham-Kent has announced that it will be ending its service contract with Linck Child, Youth and Family Supports for Special Needs Resourcing (SNR) programming, and transitioning to a new service model for licensed childcare.
The transition will take place in mid-April and will impact 24 full-time, six contract, and nine casual positions at Linck. The staff affected will be offered support through the CK Jobs program, along with help navigating any new positions created by Chatham-Kent’s new service model.
According to the municipality, the existing SNR model is unable to meet the growing and new challenges that the child care sector is experiencing.
“The sector has undergone considerable changes post-COVID and more recently, the announcement and implementation of the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care program has contributed to the need for change,” the municipality said in a news release.
Through the new service model, licensed childcare operators will receive direct funding to provide additional staff to children with special needs. The childcare operators will also work with the municipality’s Child Care and Early Years division to provide support to educators through coaching, professional learning, and capacity-building activities.
“We want parents and caregivers with children in this program to know that we are working with Linck through this transition to ensure that existing service levels are maintained and continued into the new model,” the municipality said.
Parents and caregivers with questions or concerns are encouraged to contact CK’s Child Care and Early Years division at 1-866-720-7975 or by email at ccey@chatham-kent.ca.
