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Excerpt: "The province has added an additional $3.6 million per year in Budget 2016-2017 to ensure that all preschool-aged children with autism spectrum disorder can receive Early Intensive Behavioural Intervention treatment, or EIBI, before they start school at age six."

Excerpt: "On May 9, 2016, the Ministry of Education filed new and revised regulations under the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 with the Ontario registrar. The new rules will take effect at varying effective dates, starting July 1, 2016."

Excerpt: "As part of today's $90 million investment to further enable the development of community hubs, the province will provide: $20 million to create space for new child care and child and family support programs through Ontario Early Years Child and Family Centres in schools; $18 million to retrofit existing child care space within a school to open up more spaces for children under four years old."

Excerpt: "Government is increasing salaries to early childhood educators employed at early years centres by two per cent, as of July 2016."

Excerpt: "Families in Toronto, Kingsville and Oshawa will also benefit through the construction of a total of 19 new custom-built child care rooms in local schools. This will create 318 total new licensed spaces for infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers."

Excerpt: "This year’s budget will recognize the early years as the most important years in a child’s development, investing in child care, and giving a much-deserved increase in wages for workers."

Excerpt: "The Provincial Government will invest over $13 million annually for the implementation of full-day Kindergarten beginning in September 2016, which includes hiring approximately 142 new teachers and providing additional student assistants. $277,000 has been allocated to implement the Premier’s Task Force on Improving Educational Outcomes to examine the K-12 system and focus on outcomes for all children in Newfoundland and Labrador, including our Aboriginal children. $1.4 million is provided for an additional 27 teaching units for inclusive education."

Presented by Bernice Cipparrone McLeod, Atkinson Centre Executive Director; Safra Najeemudeen, RECE, MA in Early Childhood Education Candidate Ryerson University, Atkinson Intern, April 2, 2016.
Presented at the Early Learning and Child Care Conference, Conestoga College.

Excerpt: "Learning does not start on the first day of school. Research shows that the early years are the most important years in a child’s development. It is a critical stage that has a significant impact on their future long-term health, growth and well-being."

Excerpt: "Through the Early Years Plan, parents can expect: Prenatal and early childhood support for mothers and children; Better access to high quality early learning and child care options; Support for families in their role as parents and caregivers; And programs that make sure children and families receiving support don’t “slip through the cracks.”

Excerpt: "The newly expanded children's autism program will make it easier for families to access services for their children by reducing wait times, providing more flexible services based on children's needs, and serving more children and youth. It will also help children receive intensive therapy services during the key early developmental years."

Excerpt: "This study investigated the effects of participation levels (dose) on child development (response) in five school sites offering integrated early childhood services as part of the Toronto First Duty (TFD) demonstration project. The TFD model offered an integrated school-based service array for children under 6, including public school kindergarten, childcare, family literacy, parenting supports and other early childhood services. While investigating program dose effects, this study also considered the social ecology of the child, including family- and school-level characteristics that might alter the effectiveness of community-level service integration efforts to improve child development outcomes in kindergarten as children enter school."