Community Daycare Wait List
The Daycare maintains three waitlists: one for toddlers (children up to the age of 36 months), one for 3 to Kindergarten, and one for existing clients whose children are already enrolled in the Daycare.
- Why?
Because … due to the limitation on the number of two year olds we may accept on any given day, it becomes confusing to incorporate them into the 3 to K list. They are far less likely to be able to take a space simply on a chronological basis – that is, when a space becomes available – even if they’ve climbed to the top of the list, because there are fewer two’s allowed in the program. - Why can you only have a maximum of four toddlers on a given day?
Because that’s what the Child Care Regulations state. All care providers – including those who provide care in their own homes as well as those in designated Centres – must abide by the terms of the Community Care and Assisted Living Act and its associated regulations.
For more information, please call Community Care Licensing at Vancouver Coastal Health: (604) 983 - 6793 or go to: http://www.vch.ca/environmental/licensing
- Why do you say ‘may’ when talking about accepting two year olds?
Because we’re not required to accept them at all. Enrolment is at our discretion. However, we recognize that many parents of very young children want daycare and we are doing our best to accommodate this community need.
The two-year old list
Children’s names may be placed on the list at the age of 18 months. Not earlier. The date (and time) on which a child goes onto the list will be recorded.
If a two-year old space becomes available, it may be offered to the parents of the child who is at the top of the list. They will have the option of taking that space or, if their child is younger than 24 months, paying for the space until the child reaches the minimum age. If they opt to pass on the offer, they may stay at the top of the list or be taken off entirely (it’s their choice). The space may then be offered to the parents of the child whose name is next on the list.
When a child who has been on the two-year old waitlist turns three without having been offered a two-year old/toddler space at the Daycare, his/her name will be moved to the 3 to K list, and be incorporated into that list based on the original date of contact, which may have been as many as 18 months earlier.
Why don’t you take names of children who are younger than 18 months? That is, babies? Because it doesn’t actually advance their parents’ cause, and instead creates a cumbersome list that’s more difficult to manage.
Consider: Baby Matilda is put onto the list as soon as she comes home from the hospital on, say, Tuesday, May 1. Young Wilfred, aged 20 months, is put onto the list on Wednesday, May 2. Hermione, aged 32 months, is put onto the list on Thursday, May 3. All of the parents are flexible, wanting two days per week.
A space comes up on a Tuesday and a Thursday, for a 30-36 month old child (let’s say there are already two 24-30 month olds in care on those days).
Well, Matilda’s parents are highly unlikely to want to pay for two and a half years’ worth of space to hold a place for Matilda. Wilfred’s parents will be offered the opportunity to pay for ten months’ worth of space. Chances are, they’ll decline and take their chances that another space will come up when he’s closer to being eligible to take it. The space will be offered to Hermione’s parents, who will snap it up, skipping over Matilda and Wilfred (who would retain their order and placement on the list).
You can see that if we were to accept babies onto the list, what we would end up with is baby gridlock in sections of the list, with the babies’ parents repeatedly being offered space and declining. After multiple phone calls, we would end up offering the space to children farther down on the list whose ages made them much more reasonable candidates.
And so, by restricting names to those of children 18 months old and older, we avoid having to wade through ineligible babies every time a space becomes available. Children will come onto the list based on their birthdates – which keeps them in a more natural order – but at a point when they are close to being able to take advantage of a two-year old vacancy in the Daycare.
The three year old to Kindergarten list
Children’s names may be placed on the list at the age of three years old. Not earlier. The date (and time) on which a child goes onto the list will be recorded.
A child’s name may be entered on the 3 to K list directly or, if the child’s name has been on the 2’s list, it will be transferred when the child turns three.
If a 3 to K space becomes available, it will likely be offered to the parents of the child who is at the top of the list (unless we have that way-too-many-of-one-sex thing happening). They will have the option of taking that space at that time, or may they opt to pass on the offer if the timing doesn’t work for them – in which case they may choose to stay at the top of the list or be taken off entirely (it’s their choice). The space will then be offered to the parents of the child whose name is next on the list.
If a three to K space comes available, it will be offered to the child whose name is at the top of the list regardless of whether this is the day(s) for which the parents have indicated a preference. If that day doesn’t work for them, their child’s name may stay at the top of the list, and the space will be offered to the next child, and so on. So passing on a day does not mean being bumped off the list, or to its bottom: a child’s name may stay at the top of the list until the day(s) the parents need become available.
Merging the Lists
It’s all pretty straightforward up to this point. And then the two year olds turn three.
As two-year olds on the 2’s list turn three, we must move them over to the 3 to K list. But it doesn’t seem fair to put them at the bottom of this list if they have been on the 2’s list for as long as 18 months, possibly situating them behind children who have been on the 3 to K list for far less time. And so we integrate them into the 3 to K list based on the date when they first went onto the 2’s list.
For parents of children on the 3 to K list, they may find that there are suddenly new names in front of their children’s. We can see that this may not be entirely well received in some quarters. Frankly, the issue gets a bit Solomonic, but we are doing our best to be fair.
Vacancies and current clients
We will keep a third list. This one will have the names of children whose parents would like to increase their days, or switch to other ones. This list will be consulted FIRST when a vacancy comes up, effectively giving existing clients priority over those waiting to get into the program. However, child will not be moved to another day without an assessment of the group dynamic.
Staff
Staff members (existing and new) who need child care while they are working in one of BCC’s programs are given priority when it comes to spaces in the Daycare and The After School Club. We do this because without our skilled and hard-working staff, we could have no programs.
The Daycare, its Waitlists and The Preschool and The After School Club
Enrolment in the Daycare, or a place on a Daycare waitlist, does not give any standing with respect to The Preschool or The After School Club. Community Daycare Wait List