Mobile teams deployed to meet shortages in urban childcare (Antwerp)
The city deploys a mobile team of child counselors to compensate for shortages in urban childcare. “They will close the streets when people drop out,” says Alderman of Childcare Nabilla Ait Daoud (N-VA). “Eight child counselors have already been deployed at the moment. The number of basic days will be expanded to twenty.”
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Sickness absence in urban childcare still fluctuates between 20 and 22%. This forces the city of Antwerp to take measures.
Since the end of October, parents do not lose any grace days, and therefore do not have to pay, if they keep their child at home. That offer was initially valid until November 11, but has been extended until the Christmas holidays. A job has also been made of new hires, employing eight child counselors.
Because absenteeism remains so high, the city is now working on mobile teams. Twenty child counselors are deployed flexibly in the fourteenth urban child care initiatives where the need is greatest. “They will close the streets when people drop out,” says Alderman of Childcare Nabilla Ait Daoud (N-VA). “Eight child counselors have already been deployed at the moment. For the base days, that number will be expanded to twenty. In time, we hope to land on a mobile team of 25 people.”
In the meantime, the selection procedure for the recruitment of new child counselors has also been completed. Nine people will be hired and will become mobile in the mobile team. “In addition, we now have 20 people on our recruitment reserve in case we need to recruit new people quickly,” says Ait Daoud.
Ait Daoud probably thinks that it remains very difficult for childcare to deploy enough child supervisors everywhere. “20% of the approximately four hundred city counselors are sick at home,” she says. “That remains a lot, but with the mobile teams we hope that we can still compare the pressure.”