Our goal is to create and maintain a high quality, family-focused system that promotes self-reliance and local solutions brought about by collaborative community partnerships.
The St. Thomas-Elgin Ontario Works Guiding Principles
Partnerships
A primary objective is to ensure that families, child care providers, community agencies, municipalities and St Thomas-Elgin Ontario Works, work in partnership to ensure that children in need of child care receive appropriate and high quality care.
Self-reliance
The child care service must focus on assisting families in need to achieve ultimate financial independence wherever possible. St. Thomas-Elgin Ontario Works expects parents to take responsibility and actively participate in ensuring their children receive appropriate, high quality care.
Accountability
St. Thomas-Elgin Ontario Works in partnership with the Ministry of Children and Youth, will set clear performance standards for service providers and will support those programs, services and agencies that are effective and efficient and of high quality.
Child/Client Focus
While operating within the Child Care Service Guidelines, programs and services that support the best interests of the child will be the ongoing priority.
Flexibility and Fairness
Sensitivity to urban and rural issues, a variety of approaches, choice, and diversity of care, are the criteria for program and service development and support.
St. Thomas-Elgin Ontario Works has developed a Child Care Program that:
- Supports children and programs that foster early childhood development
- Focuses on positive early starts for children
- Develops programs, services, policies and procedures that are enabling for parents in need, to achieve financial independence
- Gives ready access to information, staff and services to parents and their children
- Is integrated with employment programs in order to eliminate barriers for parents working towards employment and financial independence
- Is local, personal, flexible, offer choices and respond readily to emerging conditions
- Supports children with special needs in partnership with appropriate agencies