On behalf of our Early Childhood Development Roundtable, First Call submitted a letter to Mitzi Dean,
Minister of Children and Family Development, requesting the restoration of the positions of Provincial Advisor for Infant Development Programs (IDP) and Supported Child Development Programs (SCDP), which were cut many years ago.
As we have learned from both from the history of these positions before they were eliminated and the excellent work done by the continuing Aboriginal IDP and SCDP provincial advisors, the loss of these two provincial leadership positions have negatively impacted the field and the families they serve.
The provincial community of practice for IDP and SCDP has become isolated and fractured. Regional Advisors in some regions of the province are more able to meet, while others are rarely, if ever, able to do so. Provincial Advisors have a crucial role to play in bringing cohesiveness to a fragmented system, even more so because of the pandemic.