Another 605 places will be added in childcare. Flemish Minister of Welfare Caroline Gennez (Vooruit) has licensed these so-called ‘innovative shelters’. The places must be in use by 2029 at the latest.
In October last year, Minister Gennez launched a call for 600 additional innovative shelter places. These are initiatives such as inclusive childcare for children with disabilities or collaborations between schools and daycare centers. Applications were submitted for more than 4,000 places.
Of these, 605 will receive a permit. In Ostend, for example, there will be 42 places on the campus of the AZ hospital. These are aimed at parents who are training at the Miras adult education center or for parents who work in the hospital.
“Basic right”
“Childcare is a basic right for children and families,” says Gennez. “With these 605 new income-related places, we make childcare more affordable and accessible. At the same time, we support projects that make childcare stronger through the connection between family childcare and group care with education, work, welfare and inclusion. In this way, we ensure that more families find care that suits their lives and their needs.”
In December, Minister Gennez licensed 4,000 places with an income rate throughout Flanders and Brussels. There will be calls for new places in the future. “I want to create as many new places in childcare as possible by the end of this legislature. We see inspiring collaborations between childcare and companies or organizations that benefit everyone,” Gennez added.