On behalf of the YMCA of Greater Saint John, thank you to the members of the committee for this great opportunity. I'd like to welcome you to Saint John.
I have been working at the YMCA for 10 years now and have served as president and CEO since 2011. Before that, I worked in business, and I can say that it has been an eye-opener to see the level of poverty that exists here in our city. More importantly, I think, I need to express the level of support and willingness in our community to improve the situation that exists. It's fundamental. For more than a decade, community groups and business leaders have been working to reduce poverty.
As for what the YMCA does, we support 2,400 people a year in Saint John through the YMCA's Strong Kids program, which is our annual fundraising campaign focused on raising much-needed resources to give kids the opportunity to live healthier and happier lives today and in the future. Really, the goal today is to bring your attention to the importance of early learning and child care in breaking the cycle of multigenerational poverty.
As Randy mentioned, Saint John, New Brunswick has the highest rate of child poverty in the country. In the south end, where an evidence-based early learning centre already operates, 90% of the attendees are in second- and third-generational poverty. Further, New Brunswick has some of the highest adult illiteracy rates in the country.
To address these challenges, the YMCA of Greater Saint John currently operates an early learning centre, which began as a three-year community pilot project in 2009. What is different about our model of early learning centre is that it not only provides early child education to children, but also supports the family. We are already seeing positive impacts in our community.
By taking innovative neighbourhood-based approaches and centring services for children and parents within community hubs, we can have a greater, longer term impact that breaks the cycle of poverty. When services are spread out across multiple locations and parents face additional challenges such as literacy or disabilities and lack of transportation, navigating the system can be difficult.
Consider Krystal's story. She is a mother of three, one of whom has autism. Initially, Krystal visited the early learning centre at her social worker's insistence. Impressed by the staff, she has been at our centre ever since. According to Krystal, “...the best part is we no longer have to take a bunch of buses for all of the kids' appointments”. She said:
It felt like we were always running from place to place. A lot of times I just cancelled because I was too tired to go. Now our early interventionist, speech therapist, occupational therapist, physiotherapist and social workers all come and meet us at the centre.... I don't miss [my] appointments anymore.
Also, the children are doing wonderfully.
Our model of early learning is designed to help families like Krystal's in a way that reduces barriers for parents and gives children the support they need.
Almost 90% of our children receive some type of financial assistance in the early learning centre, and over 50% of the children are below the targets for developmental levels. To address this situation, we deliver a free kindergarten readiness program for those not in licensed care. We also offer nutrition classes tailored to children and parents working together to learn about healthy food. We also provide information to parents when they need help. We connect them with community organizations such as food banks, parenting classes, and case workers. We even help fill out forms in cases where literacy is a problem.
The Saint John Early Learning Centre has had many positive results over the last eight years of operation. Our capacity has expanded, with 7,000 family visits each year. Twenty partner organizations are engaged with the centre. The better school preparedness score went from 40% to 80%. We have increased kindergarten readiness programs in two other locations, and there are more programs provided. We have enhanced program offerings based on community needs and now offer 17 different programs.
We have achieved these results while working with limited resources. To meet the needs of the community, additional funding will be required. Currently our programs operate with support from the provincial government and the YMCA's Strong Kids program. Currently, we do not receive any federal funding for this program. In addition to leading national policy development, the federal government can provide much-needed funding so that many more families can access these poverty-reducing programs.
In the coming weeks, we will be submitting a proposal for federal funding for a pilot project called “Learning Together”, which will test the feasibility of a model for integrating child care, kindergarten, family support, and the delivery of social services in a school-based community hub. Our aims include: increasing the school readiness of children; increasing reading proficiency; and, increasing early learning access for all low-income families by providing full funding to all families that fall beneath the low-income measure. The project will expand on the work of the current centre, implementing a program and research model and creating two new centres in the priority neighbourhoods.
My colleague Dr. Erin Schryer will speak to the research component she will oversee as part of the Learning Together project.
The anticipated return on investment for this program is high. According to economist Robert Fairholm, high-quality child care in Canada will return $2 for every $1 invested, and societal long-term benefits exceed costs by more than two to one.
Also, a study led by Dr. Gina Browne at McMaster University showed that lone-parent families on social assistance who received comprehensive services, including quality child care, resulted in 25% of the families exiting social assistance, compared to 10% without those services. The study showed that offering comprehensive services to single mothers and their children pays for itself within one year. This is due to reduced health and social services, and a high level of exits from social assistance.
Innovative community-based approaches that support parents and children are needed to tackle multi-generational poverty. This will require support from the federal government. Public investment in initiatives such as the Learning Together project that we have proposed can have a transformative effect, building the economy, supporting families, and helping children get off to their best start.
Thank you for this opportunity. We greatly appreciate it. We look forward to continued stakeholder engagement throughout the development and implementation of the poverty reduction strategy.