On March 22, the Province of Ontario made provisions for certain child care centres to remain open to support health care and other frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the service manager, the City of Stratford Social Services Department has been working over the past few weeks to support the opening of emergency child care in Perth County for those essential workers. This includes supporting the Municipality of North Perth in the development and approval of their Emergency Child Care Plan.
Pending approval by the Ministry of Education, a total of 25 spaces are anticipated to be available at North Perth – Spinrite Child and Family Centre in Listowel from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. for children ages 18 months to 12 years. These spaces will be allocated in order of application, and will only be available to those on the list of workers eligible for emergency child care, and who have exhausted all other possibilities for child care. The list of eligible workers is available at https://www.ontario.ca/page/child-care-health-care-and-frontline-staff
Applications and registration for the emergency child care are available now. All registrations will begin with screening for eligibility by calling Early Years Coordinator Darren Barkhouse at 519-271-3773 ext. 404. Eligible families will then be contacted by North Perth – Spinrite Child and Family Centre.
Given the growing concerns about the spread of COVID-19 and its impact on our community, both the City of Stratford and Municipality of North Perth have developed policies and procedures with input from Huron Perth Public Health to ensure the health and well-being of the children, families, staff and the broader community.
North Perth Spinrite Child and Family Centre is licensed for 211 children, but will be accepting a maximum of 25 to ensure proper social distancing and safety.
Huron Perth Public Health has already granted approval for the provision of emergency child care at North Perth – Spinrite Child and Family Centre.
For more information, please contact:
Kim McElroy, Director of Social Services
City of Stratford
519-271-3773 ext. 252
Patricia Berfelz, Clerk
Municipality of North Perth
519-292-2062
