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Perth Care for Kids -  History

Perth Care for Kids (PCFK) started its roots back as early as 1986. At that time, a board of 12 members until the title of Perth Advisory Group for Family Services to establish a resource centre. In the late 1980's, the government had identified the need for child care support in rural communities and was funding major child initiatives to establish Rural Resource Centres. Perth Care For Kids (through the Perth County Advisory Group for Families and Children) received funding from the Ministry of Community and Social Services and by November of 1989 had established their first Resource Centre and mobile toy lending library.

The very first Resource Centre was situated in the basement of the Downie Mutual Insurance Company in Sebringville. The purpose of the government's Rural Resource Centres was to provide services and resources to parents and informal caregivers but Perth Care for Kids identified many families and communities that couldn't easily travel directly to the resource centre. To meet the needs of these families, they hired a resource worker who was set up with a van (donated by a local service club), to transport toys, equipment, books and other resources to various parts of Perth County.

Toy lending locations were established in Kirkton, Rostock, Atwood, Milverton, Listowel, Shakespeare and St. Mary's. At each location, the toy library assistant set up a display of several hundred toys, children's books, tapes, videos and resource books selected from a sizable Perth Care For Kids inventory. All items were available for two week loans. With a quickly growing resource inventory and toy collection, space soon ran out at the Sebringville location, so Perth Care for Kids moved to St. George Street in Mitchell.

The concept of community playgroups with resource and toy lending may seem quite simple, but they actually accomplished a great deal. Traveling playgroups, set up in local communities, eliminated some of the issues families faced in dealing with transportation and rural isolation. Playgroups provided an informal, casual environment where parents and caregivers could meet and share ideas and conversations while their children experienced meaningful play activities. Through toy lending, families could avoid financial burden of purchasing expensive toys and equipment but children were still benefiting from the enriching play opportunities.

After establishing the Resource Centre and toy lending programs, Perth Care For Kids next developed a Rural In Home Child Care Program. In 1991 this seasonal program was established to directly meet the needs of Perth's large rural communities. Summer students were hired to provide child care on family farms from mid-June through the end of August - the busiest farming season.

In 1992 Perth Care For Kids also established a Home Child Care Service, licensed under the Ministry of Community and Social Services (now the Ministry of Children, Family and Community Services). Child care providers throughout the county were licensed through PCFK to provide child care in their homes. These homes received regular inspections and were monitored by the Home Child Care Visitor. Perth Care For Kids provided toys and equipment where necessary and provided various training opportunities and workshops to ensure quality care.

Perth Care For Kids had not forgotten about regular, full and part time child care. In June of 1993, the Perth County Advisory Group for Family Services, still acting as the advisory board for PCFK, submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Community and Social Services for a Hub Model Child Care Centre in Mitchell. The proposal was approved and construction began for the new Perth Care For Kids building in the fall of 1994. The Child Care Centre opened its doors to children in July of 1995, caring for 6 kids.

In the 7 years that Perth Care For Kids has been caring for children at its centre in Mitchell, they've added 15 new staff positions, 3 new programs and now care for 135 children each year. Since 1993, Jean Ann Goll has been serving as Executive Director of Perth Care for Kids and has overseen this period of tremendous growth.

In January of 2002, Perth Care for Kids was appointed the lead agency to offer Ontario Early Years programs and services in the Perth-Middlesex riding. The Early Years facilities consist of a playroom, resource office and board room at the Falstaff Family Centre in Stratford, and a resource office in Listowel hosted at the Listowel Day Care facility. The Ontario Early Years in West Perth operates at the Perth Care For Kids building in Mitchell, and the Middlesex satellite site has a play room and resource office in Ilderton, hosted by the local library.

Perth Care For Kids still embodies many of its earliest principles - providing information and support to parents and caregivers of young children throughout Perth County.  Perth Care For Kids still provides community outreach playgroups with resources and toy lending throughout Perth County under the Ontario Early Years programs and services in Perth-Middlesex. It continues to license Home Child Care providers and has a dedicated staff person to monitor and provide expert consultation to its providers. PCFK has recently added an Emergency Child Care Program to provide high quality child care to families in Perth on an occasional, temporary basis, when other forms of child care simply cannot be found.

We are proud to be the host agency for the Perth-Middlesex Early Years Centres.