The Little Phoenix Childcare is a brand new facility that welcomed it's first child in April 2022.
This facility is located in the Victoria Social Innovation Centre building at 1004 North Park Street, that houses the partner agencies Family Services of Greater Victoria(FSGV) and the Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre(VIRCS).
The United Way of Southern Vancouver Island helped raise funds to complete construction of the Little Phoenix Childcare, furnish the facility, fill the shelves with books and toys to bring the space to life. The architect is Alan Lowe, the designer is Western Interior Design.
The Little Phoenix daycare is the first trauma-informed child care program in Canada, and as our research indicates, the first in North America.
The concept of this Childcare is to create a daycare with staff trained to identify behaviours and emotional triggers that may indicate past or current/ongoing trauma for verbal and pre-verbal children who are from populations that have endured situational or personal trauma. The staff will consult with our in-house childhood trauma counsellors, art therapists and other childhood development experts who will help design play therapies and practices to support the child and ensure full-day care that supports the therapies in a setting that is peaceful, therapeutic but otherwise looks like a regular daycare facility. VIRCS and FSGV both have expertise working with and supporting children and families who have experienced trauma, including newcomer populations and populations who experience racialization and other forms of structural marginalization.
This facility is located in the Victoria Social Innovation Centre building at 1004 North Park Street, that houses the partner agencies Family Services of Greater Victoria(FSGV) and the Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre(VIRCS).
The United Way of Southern Vancouver Island helped raise funds to complete construction of the Little Phoenix Childcare, furnish the facility, fill the shelves with books and toys to bring the space to life. The architect is Alan Lowe, the designer is Western Interior Design.
The Little Phoenix daycare is the first trauma-informed child care program in Canada, and as our research indicates, the first in North America.
The concept of this Childcare is to create a daycare with staff trained to identify behaviours and emotional triggers that may indicate past or current/ongoing trauma for verbal and pre-verbal children who are from populations that have endured situational or personal trauma. The staff will consult with our in-house childhood trauma counsellors, art therapists and other childhood development experts who will help design play therapies and practices to support the child and ensure full-day care that supports the therapies in a setting that is peaceful, therapeutic but otherwise looks like a regular daycare facility. VIRCS and FSGV both have expertise working with and supporting children and families who have experienced trauma, including newcomer populations and populations who experience racialization and other forms of structural marginalization.
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The Inside of The Little Phoenix Childcare The use of pastel colours and the outdoor theme is intended to provide a calm and safe environment for the kids |
The intended referral model will grant several spaces to our human service partner agencies who work with populations who are transitioning serious life changes such as divorce, family violence, historical violence, significant health issues. Our intention is to reduce multi-faceted factors that can lead to mental health problems: addictions, violence. The development of such a service is the response needed to directly address the pressing issue of unidentified and unaddressed childhood trauma in pre-verbal children and children under 5 yrs of age. Our human service partner agencies will be able to refer clients who have childcare needs. The referred families will need to be eligible for BC daycare subsidy.
The goal is to design and deliver an innovative child care program that is inclusive of and responsive to the priorities, concerns and needs of parents and children who are experiencing, have experienced, various forms of structural and interpersonal violence and/or trauma. Also, the goal is to expand on the current understandings of how to : support child care staff to be responsive to families from diverse socio-cultural contexts, reduce environmental triggers for young children, provide seamless access to tailored therapeutic interventions for children, including art/play therapies and improve access for families to health and social services.
The goal is to design and deliver an innovative child care program that is inclusive of and responsive to the priorities, concerns and needs of parents and children who are experiencing, have experienced, various forms of structural and interpersonal violence and/or trauma. Also, the goal is to expand on the current understandings of how to : support child care staff to be responsive to families from diverse socio-cultural contexts, reduce environmental triggers for young children, provide seamless access to tailored therapeutic interventions for children, including art/play therapies and improve access for families to health and social services.
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Update Progress on the Daycare - June 2021
The Outdoor Play Area is finished |
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- Capital Daily - In our Good News Friday Episode we speak to Jane Lee, Executive Director of Family Services of Greater Victoria
- All Points West with Kathryn Marlow - Victoria's North Park Neighbourhood will soon be home to a daycare that specializes in supporting children who have been through traumatic experience
For more information about the Little Phoenix Childcare please visit the website: http://www.littlephoenixchildcare.ca/
