A council-led service delivery review has raised questions about the future of its children's services.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Wingecarribee Shire councillors will determine if Family Day Care and Mittagong-based Wingecarribee Out of School Hours (WOOSH) should remain available to parents at Wednesday night's council meeting.
Councillors can decide to continue with only one of the two services, withdraw both services, or continue both services but change the funding model, workforce plan and marketing strategy.
Council can also continue the services for three years, with another review to be conducted in two years.
A United Services Union (USU) representative said closures would result in the loss of seven permanent jobs and 10 casual positions.
"Families will suffer if these services close, forcing them to find alternate care arrangements that will likely cost more and involve lower standards of care," USU general secretary Graeme Kelly OAM said.
USU also voiced its concern over council's decision to keep the review confidential.
One of the challenges for the Family Day Service has been "maintaining and growing family day care numbers", according to council documents.
The process of bushfire compliance for educators in small towns and villages has also been an issue.
Councillors were briefed on the service delivery review in September, however they deferred any decision-making to allow discussions to take place with children's services staff and the USU.
There were 15 submissions received by council from stakeholders following the meeting.
Concerns included the lack of workforce participation for families and carers, the loss of a locally-based, not-for-profit administrative structure and a "lack of transparency" during the review process.
The children's services service delivery review was undertaken by council as part of the fit for the future improvement proposal.
The review analysed council's suitability to deliver children's services, the impact of changes to funding model and the impact of alternatives.
The review also focused on the service's capability to meet market demand and competition changes as well as the current and future availability of family day care educators.
