While school was out for the summer the Ponoka Youth Centre was preparing for their role in the school year by implementing new changes to the centre and their programs.
Beth Reitz, executive director for the PYC, believes that the new changes will improve the efficiency of the youth centre programs.
“Over the summer we have been preparing for some big changes,” said Reitz. “This is going to help the youth centre not to run on such a deficit with our programs.”
The biggest change for the PYC is that it is now a government licensed agency which means the centre has the tools for accommodating more youth and families in their programs. The programs for which we are now licensed includes all of the programs for ages 6-10 the After School program, School’s Out Day program and Summer program.
By being recognized as a government licensed child care facility the youth centre is able to offer subsidization to those PYC families who qualify. The amount of subsidization can be up to $310 a month per child and is based on individual families.
This change also affects the daily cost of the After School Program and the hours that the youth centre is open. The cost of the After School Program will increase to $8 a day per child and will run Monday to Friday from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. and the School’s Out Day program will run from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m..
“While we are aware that this is a significant increase in cost, the amount that is charged for our programs is still less than it costs us to operate these programs,” said Reitz. “We have run our programs at a deficit for a long time and this increase will be of great assistance to the PYC in helping us to continue to offer quality programs.”
For more information contact the youth centre at 403-783-3112 or visit www.ponokayouthcentre.com.