Province announces new child, disability staff funding

The province of Manitoba is creating a new $10-million program to help the disability services, child care and child welfare sectors with staffing shortages, Families Minister Heather Stefanson announced on Wednesday.

Based on the province’s assessment of staffing needs in those sectors, approximately $6 million will go toward disability services, approximately $3 million to child care and approximately $1 million to child and family services.

The program will run from now through March 2021.

“As COVID-19 has spread throughout our province, we have seen a significant spike in the number of cases amongst the staff that serve children and Manitobans with disabilities every day,” Stefanson said. “There are currently 25 agencies funded through our Community Living disABILITY service programs that are experiencing active COVID-19 cases right now.”

That represents 34 program participants and 67 staff who have tested positive, she said.

Asked if the province would top up the funds for the program if they run out before the end of the fiscal year, Stefanson said they would cross that bridge when they get to it.

Also announced was a new 24-7 phone line agencies can call to request on-site support, guidance from health officials or help with other pandemic-related issues. An eight-person rapid response team has been created by Manitoba Families to be ready to assist the 100 agencies it partners with to help Manitobans with disabilities.

On Wednesday, the Sun received a copy of a letter Stefanson sent out to child care centres in the province regarding the program from Lorraine McConnell, the executive director of Brandon daycare Children’s Den Inc.

According to an application form attached to the letter, child care facilities will be able to apply to the program to cover overtime costs for staff, sick time expenses paid to staff who have exhausted their existing benefits and extra staffing costs beyond regular costs.

For sick time expenses, employees have to try to access other benefits like the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit before their employer applies for the new Manitoba benefit.

Staffing costs incurred while a facility or cohort is ordered to close for isolation and parent fees are not being collected are also covered.

However, facilities with an operating surplus equivalent to three months of Department of Families revenue may be considered ineligible.

Despite the possibility of receiving additional funding from Wednesday’s announcement, McConnell is still worried about the organization’s long-term sustainability and if Children’s Den will actually end up qualifying for the funding.

“Anything they’re willing to offer in support, that’s great,” McConnell said. “I just hope that most of us are actually eligible.”

She said she believes the caveat about operating surpluses is a big problem because the more money a centre spends before getting assistance makes it more likely to have to shut down. While she believes the program might be of more use to other sectors, she has doubts many child care centres in the province will actually be able to access these new funds.

Being able to reopen after the initial shutdown of child care centres in the early days of the pandemic has helped bring in more revenue, but there are numerous additional expenses caused by COVID-19.

Under the COVID-19 licences, they’ve had to have more staff on duty at the same time while being able to accommodate fewer children under distancing rules. Purchasing extra cleaning supplies and personal protective equipment has also been a drain on resources, although McConnell said the medical-grade masks recently provided to them by the provincial government have been of good quality and a big help.

As previously reported by the Sun, Children’s Den had to lay off many of its staff during that early pandemic closure period. McConnell estimates that 50 per cent of people laid off have not returned to the industry. She also said that some people have chosen not to return to work out of fears that they could be exposed to COVID-19 through working at a daycare.

Every time someone in the industry is forced to self-isolate after potential exposures, it contributes to an already-existing staff shortage.

If not for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, McConnell believes Children’s Den would have already had to shut its doors for good.

Even so, Children’s Den will likely need more government assistance to stay alive.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @ColinSlark