Dear Editor,
Re: “Variety is the spice of life,” Feature, Jan. 20; “Love of variety makes it doable,” Column, Jan. 20.
As a the current board president for Richmond Society for Community Living, and parent of an adult child with a disability, I really appreciate your interest in highlighting the funding crisis in services for children with disabilities and special needs.
If families that have a child with a disability can’t access child care, parents can’t work. This affects not just the household income but our economy. R.S.C.L. regularly hears from parents who are un-employed or under-employed in order to care for their child(ren). Making ends meet in one the most expensive cities to live can pose a real hardship for families who are already dealing with challenges. At the same time, employers report a shortage of qualified staff, which negatively affects our economy as a whole.
If kids can’t go to pre-school, they are not as prepared as they could be for their school years. Not only does this present the possibility for challenges for the child to successfully integrate into the classroom, but the end result is that the child needs increased supports that cost the school district and the Ministry of Education.
This funding issue affects more than the families who are wait-listed. It affects the economy, the classroom and our communities. We are very lucky to have private funders like Variety who work so hard to meet the needs of children when government funds are not available. But we need to hold our government to account for why they have not invested in children with special needs for more than a decade.
Melanie Arnis
Richmond
