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Th ousands of day care centres of some kind exist in Halton from REGISTRY on page 8 umbrella of the Milton Community Resource Centre, which is a recent amalgamation of Milton Community Information Services (MCIS) and the Milton Children and Youth Centre (MCYC). "We are trying ta get the message out and develop a campreheosive database of ail chjld care in Halton," said Nicky Pearson, program supervisor for the reg- istry. Ms Pearson admitted the 138 day care providers currently registered barely scratch the surface of the potential thousands of day care operators in Halton. She said research suggests that 60 per cent of children under five years of age, and 73 per cent of children between 6-12 are in some kiod of day care situation. 0nly about 10 per cent of children are in a regulated envirooment, she said. "Other registries are impressed with the methods we use and want ta study us," said Ms. Pearson, citing Haldiman-Norfolk, Cambridge and London. "It' s very successful, especially with home care providers." The organization also offers training to providers such as health related certification programs, and workshops on dealing with misbehaviour, stress man- agement and a basic caregiver package. Registration costs home care providers $50. Licensed operatars pay $60 for a basic listing and have about $115 in service options they cao choose. "We help parents ask the right questions before placing their children in care," said Ms Proctor. Ms Pearson added that parents have been pleased with the screening pragram. The registry initiative started in January, 1997 after about twa years of planning and study co-ordinated by Halton Region, Ms Pearson said. Thus far the registry has, received about 10,000 calîs with requests for more than 45,000 individual day care searches. * Blacks Photography " Fortinos (Rural) " Lansing Buildait (P) "*M&M Meats " Sears " Shoppers " Spectrum Flooring (P) " Zellers 44" Child care requircments cao be wide ranging, including the need for ail-day supervision, or just for care during specific times. The age of the child also plays a substantial part in determining the castit. Ms. Pearson said the average cast for care is about $3 per child, per hour. Families with more than one child can often negatiate rate reductians. Infant care is in high demand with only il regis- tered locations in Halton taking babies. It cao cost more than $40 per day for infant care. While only a small number of ail child care providers are registered, Ms Pearson said time will bring many more into the fold as parents start demanding their day care meet the standards of other registered centers. However it is important ta remem- ber the agency is flot a regulatory body. "Some Iicensed centers hold out because they are already licensed by the province and feel that designa- tion is certification enough," said Ms Pearson. "Others are full and don't need the promotion we pravide." The registry is also pramotiog itself through the business sector. Good day care helps business because it lowers absenteeism and increases productivity, according ta Ms Pearson. She cited Magna, which recently put day care facilities ino its headquarters in Aurora. The organization bas also received requests for other information regardiog children's activities such as camps, and daytime summer activities. "Parents are scared when they try ta find respoosi- ble, reliable, quality child care," said Ms Proctar. "We try ta quell fear and calm people down a bit. It cao be pretty traumatic when you leave your kids for the first time." 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