Council meets four times a year to oversee the College of Early Childhood Educators’ activities in regulating the profession in the public interest.
Here are highlights from the meeting held on January 15, 2025.
In the Spotlight
At each meeting, Council discusses key achievements in fulfilling the College’s strategic priorities. One of the College’s strategic priorities is proactive public protection. This means we look for and apply evidence-based strategies to prevent risks and harms in the practice of early childhood education. In January, Council discussed two ongoing projects:
Working Toward a Specified Continuing Education or Remedial Program
The Complaints Committee recently gained the ability to order remediation, such as courses or mentoring, at the end of an investigation into a complaint if that is needed to protect children and the public. This is called a “specified continuing education or remediation program” (SCERP). SCERPs help members gain knowledge and skills to practise the profession safely.
Other regulators in Ontario have been able to use SCERPs for many years. To apply this new power effectively and fairly, the College researched how other regulators use SCERPs to identify best practices. The findings from this research will be used to develop the Complaints Committee’s SCERP process.
Ongoing Prevention-Focused Communications
The College is communicating with employers and the Ministry of Education about low-risk concerns. These communications help employers support RECEs to enhance their practice and improve the quality of care. On top of preventing these low-risk issues from happening in the first place, this could reduce the number of cases reported to the College that do not involve professional misconduct so that the College can focus on higher-risk misconduct concerns.