Chapter Three

	Growing the STCC
	1995-1997

Following six intense seasons of consultation, negotiation and ongoing development of a collaborative, community-based consortium model, the new STCC Program and the National Capital Region Emergency Child Care Consortium (NCR-ECCC) were born in June 1995.

Charter members were Ernst and Young Management Consultants, the former Carleton Board of Education, the Ottawa Civic Hospital, Nortel Networks and the County of Carleton Law Association. Shortly after, in 1996, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers and Mitel Corporation joined. In 1997, the Consortium welcomed Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and in 1998 the former Ottawa Board of Education joined through the newly amalgamated school board - the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. Subsequent partners have included Nepean Hydro, the law firm of Fraser-Milner, Eftia, and the Union of Postal Communications Employees.

A unique approach
STCC employs an innovative, client-centred approach to its service delivery guided by STCC Principles of Service Quality. The service is driven by client need and developed to best meet family need at a stressful time. Great care is taken to handle every request for care in the most efficient way possible. The three service options of the original STCC service were refined to meet partners' and families' current needs: in-home child care (the only option for mildly ill children); licensed home child care and licensed group day care centre (when regular child care arrangements had broken down). Requests for care by parents can be made 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Caregivers - the energy source of STCC
From the beginning, qualified, well-treated caregivers have been the essence of a successful, viable, high-quality STCC service. Significant effort and resources are directed in the recruitment, screening, training and orientation of STCC caregivers.
For many STCC caregivers, the program has provided an excellent opportunity for learning and working with children and families in emergency care situations.

Client response: excellent care for children; peace of mind for working parents
By focusing on the needs of the client and being attentive to details, STCC has been able to maintain a very high level of satisfaction among its registered families. STCC clients continue to give STCC high marks, and act as the major source of referral for new care placements. Here are some choice comments selected from parent evaluation.

• "Excellent service. Very courteous and prompt in responding to my needs…Caregiver was mature, experienced, friendly and competent. My children really liked her"
• "The STCC caregiver was fantastic with the children. She made them feel comfortable from the moment she arrived…The reports she provided at the end of the day were so thorough and detailed, I felt as though I had been there myself."
• "This is an excellent service for working parents. It goes a long way toward relieving the stress associated with caring for sick children while trying to work full-time"
• "I have promoted this service at school and more of our staff are using it. It is a great service"
  

Positive, continuous service growth
Since July 01, 1995, its first day of operation, STCC has sustained steady, positive growth. The service grew "like Topsy" in its first two years. By the end of Year Two (June 1996), demand for the service had almost doubled - an 84% increase in growth. In those first two years, STCC was able to meet 92% of all requests for care.

STCC's ability to meet all requests for care was challenged in its fourth year. The service has experienced an increased number of service "turnaways". Two periods of heavy demand in November and February when flu and virus bugs invaded Ottawa schools and homes posed a real challenge for the service. For STCC management, the crux of the issue of meeting a high level of service requests rests with an adequate roster of available caregivers.

Finding and keeping skilled caregivers in regular and peak times - an ongoing challenge
Recruiting and keeping skilled caregivers in a competitive, temporary labour market is a significant challenge for STCC. Through a J.W. McConnell Family Foundation-funded research project on caregiver recruitment and retention, STCC has identified a strong need for a dedicated staff person responsible for recruitment and retention.

As a result of a 1999 detailed analysis of care supply and demand conducted with J.W. McConnell Family Foundation funding, STCC is beginning to address the cyclical flows of emergency child care. The service now has the data and analysis to better identify minimum numbers of caregivers required for specific times and areas.

Sustaining growth - The ongoing challenge of financial viability
Secured, infrastructure funding remains a constant challenge for STCC. The unique features of the NCR-ECCC public-private partnership model enabled the STCC Program to secure, four-year, graduated funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, initially to develop the pilot phase and later to continue to operate and evaluate the service. In 1995, the contribution from the Trillium Foundation represented approximately 53% of the total operating budget, with the balance secured by partner access fees. In 1998-1999, the Trillium contribution represents approximately 31% of total operating costs; the balance of funding realised through partner access fees (60%) and research and project co-ordination fees (9%).

Maintaining infrastructure funding without depending upon any one source is a real challenge for the program. Exploring service diversification to include elder care; transferring the program to a larger organization with complementary services; exploring government subsidisation of service costs are some of the ideas and plans STCC has investigated to address the ever-present issue of viability.

A public service, a private model
Although the current STCC program provides care to a distinct group of consortium partners and their employees, the Program remains committed to providing a community-based, accessible emergency child care service. Through a special initiative with Interval House, an Ottawa shelter for women and children fleeing violence, STCC ensures the service is provided to parents in crisis. With start-up funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, STCC, in partnership with Interval House, launched a special pilot initiative in the spring of 1998 to provide emergency child care at the shelter for designated periods.

The pull between public accessibility and private service provides an underlying, consistent tension for STCC. The Program must secure financial viability through the consortium model; it also has a community-based mandate to provide an accessible service.

The Interval House initiative is one example of how a private consortium can include public initiatives.