The Ontario Government has moved Family Resource Programs from under the umbrella of the Ministry of Social Services to the Ministry of Education. (The City of Toronto will still oversee these services). All 0-6 programs have been amalgamated into one group; the Parenting and Family Literacy Centres, OEYCs, and Better Beginnings, Better Futures, will now be the same type of program with the same name. We will now be called "EarlyON Child and Family Centres". 

Along with this change, the Ontario Government intends to eliminate respite care from the core services. 

• We are concerned about the elimination of respite care from the core suite of services in the EarlyON Child and Family Centre, and the undue hardship this will cause for families who rely on this service.
• Too many Ontarians who have children under the age of 6 do not have access to part-time/flexible/short-term or respite care in their communities, and
• The Ontario government is ruling out the Renewed Early Years and Child Care Policy Framework so that "families can have access to programs better suited to their needs",
• Families in Ontario said that "they wanted more; more responsive hours of care that meets the demands of modern life", therefore,

We the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to sustain and fund respite/flexible child care under the banner of EarlyON Child and Family Centres as a viable option for families and their children.

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