'I Chikicare worleer- identifies problems Crises must be fced By Debbie Luchuk With more and more dual in- corne families, day- and after- school care for children have become a much desired service. Unfortunately, there are al too few places in day care centres te put the children and many parents cannot afforci thé price of such care. Shelley Foskett, child care worker at Kids' Campus, one of Whitby's oldest day care facili- ties, identified fOur day care crises that thç community must face in the very near future. Latcli-key kida, children who have no one te go home te after school, carry a key with them to get in to th e house. Although there are sorne day care facilities with «after school" programs for such children they are not even enough te make a dent in the 40 to 50 per cent of school age children who require the care, she said. "T'he latch-key kids issue is sornething that needs to be addressed, and it's going te take a lot of people working together to correct the problem.? Solutions te the problem could include home day care, before- and after-school prograis at schools, or programs o eèred out of churches, drop-in centers, social, community and recrea- tional facilities. Another problem many. parents in Durham have, espe- cially GM workers, is carefo children while workingnih shifts.There is no 24-hour day -care service offered in the Region. «There is only one day care, Whiz Kids, that is open until 12 (Midnight). What'do shift wor- kers who work beyond that do?" F'oskett suggested that major industries in the area such as GM Chrysier, Dupont, Ontario Hydro and Lasco Steel could set up 24-hour day care centers te, accommodate the children of their shift workers. Emergency and sick care of children poses a problem for dual income families. It is often diffi- cuit for parents to get. time off work to look after sick kids, especially if the child requires prolonged care in a hospital. There are no day care facilities euip ped to take care of iii chli- "There' should be alternative care with medical supervision, mayb one center for the region, with a docter and a nurse." The federal government offers funding througah the Department of National Iiealth and Welfare te set up child care programis, and Foskett suggested that per- haps this could be used to set u such a «medicaV/day care center- for the region. To further cut costs, the pro- gram could be held out of a community center or hospital, or church. Summer day care programs are needed for school age chli- dren Foskett contended. «Tiiere should be more sum- mer day care for children and very few go beyond 3:30 p.m.? She said that a solution te this problem could be an after-sum- mer day camp prograrn at Dur-' ham College, to be run by early chldhood educaters. Foskett and hier associates at Kids' Campus recently wrote a paper on t he subject of da care reformn for a Durham College course. Unniversal day care, however, is flot a solution to the problem of funding for day care, Foskett said. "Basically, they (federal governmnent) can make ail the' promises they want, but I don't think it's going to corne true," she said, referring to promised' federal funding for universal day care. "WVhere is it going to corne from? "There should be different cri-' teria for subsidies. Every parent should take some responsibility for chuld care," she said, adding. that rnost people can afford even a littie of the fee for day care of their children. Spring has sprung, and it's time for our '1 annual 'Evergreen and Shrub' bonanzal e So Clean out the trunk, dust off the trailer, load up the kids-and head for Brouwers. 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Even then, we can flot be completely sure that someone ham not developed a technique one step beond the testing. Either way, the ideof the noble Olynpic athiete has died. In the ancient Oiympics, true beauty compassed the perfection and grace of the body, a rational and brilliant mind and a pure conscience. We have perfected the grace of the body with an irrational and dulled mind and a rotted conscience. It is tirne we ended the charade. ý fflý-8,A>