Manitoba is set to begin mandating new child abuse prevention training for more than 7,500 people who work closely with young kids.
The province announced a three-way partnership with the federal government and the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P) on Thursday, with the goal of creating a first-of-its-kind model for early childhood educators to detect and prevent child abuse.
“Our goal is to equip every child-care worker in Manitoba with the necessary knowledge and tools to keep children safe from abuse,” said Nello Altomare, the province’s education minister.
“By making sure early childhood educators have the training, information and support to recognize signs of abuse and how to report them, we can help make sure more children and families get the help they need.”
In-depth training, policies and age-appropriate curriculums will be provided to educators who work with infants to 12-year-olds across 1,150 facilities in Manitoba, including child-care centres and home-based child-care providers. Students currently enrolled in early childhood educator programs will also receive access to training.
Funding for the initiative comes from the Canada-Manitoba Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, which gave $98 million to the sector over four years. Funding to the tune of $250,000 from the federal and provincial governments is going to C3P to facilitate the program’s launch.
“Child-care providers have unique relationships with children and families and they have a key role in safeguarding children,” C3P education director Noni Classen said.
“This initiative will increase early childhood educators’ capacity to protect children by providing access to professional development opportunities and evidence-based resources to help keep the children in their care safe.”