Please quote Monash Mayor Shane McCluskey
In 2015, Monash Council undertook a review of its Family Day Care Service because support for the service had been steadily declining.
As part of the review, and following consultation with the families using the service and Family Day Care educators, Council resolved at that time to continue with the service provided it be cost-neutral with no additional cost to Monash ratepayers. Council also determined that if there was a cost, the service would be reviewed again.
Unfortunately, keeping the service cost neutral has not been achievable. Despite a number of promotional activities over the past three years to boost usage, numbers have continued to fall with a reduction in families using the service and a drop in the number of educators providing care.
At the 25 June 2019 meeting, Council made the decision to no longer provide this service. This was a difficult decision to make but one we could not put off any longer, given our commitment that it would not cause an additional cost to ratepayers.
This does not mean a Family Day Care service will not continue in Monash. There are other providers who offer this service if families chose to continue to use it, and families can still stay with their current educator if they both move to the same provider.
To give our educators and families adequate time to find another provider of their choice, the FDC service will close in six months from 31 January 2020. We will be working closely with our educators to assist them in making the transfer to a new operator of their choice and this is why we have allowed for a seven month transition process.
